A year of consistent, strong updates continues over at Twitch, with the company now rolling out 1080p/60fps video support. That means a higher resolution and a smoother, less choppy video for the viewer.
The site is also removing its 3.5 megabit bitrate limit, opening the door for better video quality overall. Twitch still officially recommends a bitrate between 3 and 6 megabits, but the option to go higher is now there. Basically, a higher bitrate means that each frame given contains more information, boosting an image’s overall quality.
This change now means better quality of video, but it could also mean dropped frames or laggy quality for a viewer whose internet cannot keep up with the higher bitrate. It comes down to the broadcaster’s discretion.
Viewers will now have more choices in quality options as well, but in the end it lies in the hands of the broadcaster.
“Remember: with great power comes great responsibility,” Twitch warns. “Just because you can stream at 1080p and higher bitrates doesn’t necessarily mean you should. It’s better to have a stable stream at a lower resolution or bitrate than a higher quality stream that makes you drop frames. If you’re unsure, check out our streaming guide and use Twitch Inspector. We promise not to lead you astray.”
Twitch will roll out 1080p support to all channels in the coming weeks, but some broadcasters already have the option.
