What Are the Various Video Resolution Sizes? And What Are the Best Resolution Sizes for Different Media Apps like Youtube, Instagram And Tiktok?

Video delivery and consumption dynamics are rapidly changing in the present-day scenario. Keeping up with constantly evolving streaming standards is a difficult task for not only content creators and owners, but also broadcasting and streaming distributors.

Understanding and determining the right resolution for on-demand or live streaming videos is key to delivering high-quality content. 

What is the video resolution?

Video resolution simply indicates the number of pixels in a video frame. Pixels are the smallest unit that makes up a video. The most important requirement for a video to be high-quality is to have a higher number of pixels in it. Note that resolution and frame rate are the most vital features that determine the quality of a video, resolution weighing slightly heavier on the scales.

Various video resolution sizes and how they influence video quality

SD-

SD resolution refers to the standard quality resolution. Standard quality resolution means that the vertical pixel count of a video’s individual images is 480. A 480p resolution frame of a video is much more detailed than a 144p, 248p, or 360p frame/ image, but is less crisp and clearer than one having the resolution of 1080p or 720p.

HD-

HD or High Definition is the new streaming standard for resolution. It refers to a video frame height of 720 pixels or 1080 pixels. HD provides more detail per pixel and the image is clearer, sharper, and more natural.

HD comes in two versions: HD Ready (720 pixels) and Full HD (1080 pixels). Each variant has its own display resolution. HD videos are produced in both progressive and interlaced versions. The progressive version produces sharper images than interlaced videos, which display blurry images that look pretty similar to SD.

1080p is the progressive format of 1080 resolution and is widely used for internet content, especially on platforms such as Netflix and YouTube.

Full HD-

1080p resolution is commonly and more popularly known as Full HD. Most HD videos online you watch are essentially Full HD. It is the standard resolution used these days. Standard high definition or 720p is less detailed than Full HD. Full HD, on the other hand, is a poorer quality resolution than 1080p. Ultra HD (UHD) or 4K is at the top of the range with top-notch clarity and crispness. It is a higher resolution option and features better quality than 1080p.

Sometimes, Full HD and HD may be used interchangeably to refer to a video’s resolution. This can lead to confusion as HD may also be used to refer to standard high resolution or 720p. Here, it’s important to understand that while HD can refer to both 720p and 1080p, Full HD is only confined to 1080p. And in case you have heard the term HD Ready, note that it is only used for 720p.

Ultra HD or 4K-

Ultra HD is also referred to as 4K and displays videos in 3860 x 2160 p resolution. Instead of calling it 2160p, which is the vertical pixel count of a single frame in an Ultra HD video, some people started calling it 4K and UltraHD for the purpose of marketing. The logic that applies here is that 2160p videos have four times the pixels present in Full HD videos having 1080p resolution. Hence, the name 4k.

8K-

8K resolution of a video means that its frames or individual images are approximately 8,000 pixels in width. 8K UHD or 7680×4320 is the highest resolution we have today. The successor to 4K resolution, 8K is the new display resolution standard for videos. The term 8K is generic and refers to any resolution that has a horizontal count of around 8,000 pixels. Many different 8K resolutions are available and have been standardized by various organizations.

Video resolution values come suffixed with letters 'i' and ‘p’— What do they indicate?

Letters ‘i’ and ‘p’ written after pixel values such as 720 and 1080 indicate the way videos are recorded. While ‘i’ refers to ‘interlaced’, ‘p’ refers to ‘progressive’ or ‘non-interlaced’.

Interlacing almost doubles the frame rate of a video, without using extra bandwidth. Interlacing works by causing your eyes to see every other line in a picture frame. But since the eyes see the entire image in motion, the brain begins filling in the gaps to create a complete picture. Progressive scan videos, on the other hand, feature both the odd and even scan lines.

Resolution is everything for a video; at least, where driving traffic with video content is concerned

The resolution of a video can have a significant impact on one’s viewing experience, especially when it is being played on a large screen. Poor-quality videos can’t even keep viewers hooked for 10 seconds. And guess what, such videos scream low budget and destroy your brand image despite all your other marketing efforts. Hence, if you are a content creator, it is important to consider video resolutions when creating on-demand videos or live streams.

Video specification requirements for social media content change frequently. Here is what the current resolution requirements look like

Video spec requirements tend to change, just like trends in social media. Social media and streaming platforms strive to provide the best viewing experience possible for users. In trying to do so, they often have to keep updating their spec requirements.

Since the video experience you provide as a brand matter a lot, it’s important that you keep up with any such update. To help you share your best content with the rest of the world, we tell you here what specific resolutions you need for videos that you intend to upload on social media and streaming platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. 

For Instagram Videos—

You can upload horizontal, vertical, or square videos on Instagram. Although a lot of Instagrammers upload horizontal videos, they can be a little tricky to produce. Square videos are the best if you want to avoid that extra bit of editing work. Square videos are optimized for both mobile and desktop users and are relatively easier to produce. 

For Insta videos, the most appropriate width would be 1080 p, and there should be 1920 pixels vertically. For Instagram in-feed videos and video ads, you can have square, horizontal as well as vertical videos. While square videos need to have a resolution of 600 by 600 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio), horizontal videos work fine with a resolution of 600 by 315 pixels (1.9:1 aspect ratio). If you are considering vertical videos, then 600 by 750 pixels (4:5 aspect ratio) would be the most ideal resolution for you. For best results, Instagram recommends using the highest possible video resolution. 

For Instagram carousel video ads, the minimum resolution size required is 600 by 600 pixels. However, the recommended resolution is 1080 by 1080 pixels.

Although the minimum video resolution required for Instagram stories video ads is 600 by 1067 pixels, it’s 1080 by 1920 pixels as per Insta recommendation.

Instagram permits 2 to 10 videos or images for side-scrolling ads. So, marketers can be creative with various formats of media to boost user engagement.

For YouTube videos—

YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world. It is browsed by people having access to varying internet speeds. And that is why YouTube recommends that videos are uploaded at the highest resolution possible to ensure that they can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Videos should use native aspect ratios. Pillarboxing and Letterboxing bars should be avoided as YouTube frames videos automatically to stream them at the best versions on their video player.

Here are the recommended video resolution sizes for YouTube-

3840 by 2160 pixels (2160p)

2560 by 1440 pixels (1440p)

1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p)

1280 by 720 pixels (720p)

854 by 480 pixels (480p)

640 by 360 pixels (360p)

426 by 240 pixels (240p)

While the minimum resolution for a video is 426 by 240 pixels, the maximum is 3840 by 2160 pixels. YouTube also suggests uploading videos in the top-recommended resolution for improved user engagement. 

The supported aspect ratios are 16:9 and 4:3. And the videos can be at most 12 hours long.

For Tik Tok videos—

Tik Tok is popular with gen Z who enjoy creating and sharing videos and connecting with the global community. The app is used by 52 million people each day, generating more than $3,000,000 in revenue through this platform. TikTok marketing could be a great way for your company to make big money.

Recommended video dimension for TikTok is 1080 x 1920 pixels. While the most appropriate video orientation is vertical, the source ratio recommended is 9:16 or 1:1 with sidebars. For ad videos on TikTok, options for video resolution include 1280 x 720 px, 640 x 640 px and 20 x 1280 px. The best aspect ratios to use would be 1:1, 9:16, or 16:9. And the ad videos should not be more than 5 to 16 seconds long.

Final words

According to data published on pgi.com, Marketers have discovered some interesting facts about the importance of video quality-

 

  • A poor video experience can lead to 62% of people feeling negative about a brand.

 

  • 23% of those who have had poor video experiences with brands would be reluctant to buy from them.

 

  • 57% of people are not even likely to share videos of poor quality.

This compelling data points at just one thing— the importance of resolution for videos is huge! However, to store, share and post high-resolution videos is no cakewalk. Good quality, high-resolution video content is often bulky and could increase your site’s load times considerably. So, is there a way out? Yes! Mogi I/O can extricate you from this tricky situation by making your videos lighter without compromising on quality, with the help of AI-powered technology. So, don’t waste time and contact them right away or schedule a demo here for a better online presence.

Mogi’s Proprietary Video/Image Tech

Mogi I/O (www.mogiio.com) is an AI-enabled Video & Image Delivery SaaS that helps Content Platforms to Improve Customer Engagement by enabling Buffer free Streaming Experience for the user through a patented multi-CDN upstream architecture called Mogi Streaming Engine, Enhanced experience through quality enhancement and compression of up to 50% both during transcoding itself and Deeper user insights through Advanced Video Analytics.

Mogi’s Core Image Tech provides up to 80% lossless compression on images, making them extremely light for easy loading. It also auto-resizes images based on the screen size of the device to better optimize the image quality and the view . Finally, the smart crop also removes non-prominent areas from the images. Mogi’s Core Image Tech can be integrated seamlessly with your existing system. You can either choose your CDN or our CDN and we would work, either way, compressing and optimizing images on the fly. Clients have got up to 4x faster website load time, and 50% savings on bandwidth and CDN bills through lighter images.

Contact us now to make your website load faster, rank Higher on SEO, and reduce bounce rates – susheel.srinivas@mogiio.com

 
 

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