A common question we receive from our users is regarding the required internet speed to have a smooth experience with Suite Storage. This comes down to understanding the relationship between your internet speed and the bitrate of the media you are accessing.
Understanding Bitrate and Internet Speed
Bitrate: This refers to the amount of data processed per unit of time in a media file, commonly measured in megabits per second (Mbps), and provides a measure of the video's quality and clarity.
Internet Speed: This determines how quickly data can be transferred from the internet to your device, also typically measured in Mbps.
For an optimal experience, your internet speed should be close to or greater than the video's bitrate. If the bitrate of a video surpasses your internet speed, you'll likely experience buffering, lag, or interruptions during playback.
⚠️ For the times when the above isn't possible, Suite has developed an intelligent caching system so users can work off Suite with reduced dependency on their network. We strongly recommend configuring your cache settings to take full advantage of this capability.
Recommendations
Match or Exceed Bitrate: For the optimal experience without the need to pre-cache, your internet speed should be greater than or equal to the bitrate of the media you are reading.
Example: If you're working with a video file with a bitrate of 50 Mbps, you'll need an internet connection speed of at least 50 Mbps for uninterrupted playback.
Account for Other Activities: Remember that other activities on your network, such as downloads, streaming, or other devices using the connection, can affect the available bandwidth
Wired vs. Wireless: Use a wired connection whenever possible for significantly faster and more consistent speeds.
Check Your Speed: Consider running an internet speed test to get a real-time understanding of your available bandwidth.
Calculating Your Video's Bitrate
To estimate the bitrate of your video file, you'll need three key pieces of information:
File Resolution: This is the video's dimensions, typically expressed as width x height (e.g., 1920x1080 for Full HD).
Compression Ratio: This indicates how much the original video data has been compressed. It's often presented as a ratio, like 10:1, meaning the data has been compressed to one-tenth of its original size.
File Format: This refers to the codec or method used to compress the video (e.g., BRAW, Apple ProRes, H.264).
With these details in hand, you can reference codec-specific charts or tools to get an approximate bitrate for your video.
💡 If you are playing back a video in Premiere at 50% quality, you can cut your bitrate calculation in half.
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