How to estimate streaming data usage with Sharelink

Overview

Monthly streaming data usage can be manually estimated by taking into account the following factors:

• the total bitrate configured on the VidiU Pro or VidiU Go, including both the audio bitrate and the video bitrate
• the time duration you want to stream for each event, typically at an hourly rate
• the number of events per month

The audio and video bitrate specified on Teradek encoders are listed in megabits per second (Mbps), and these values need to be converted to megabytes per second (MBps) per second, which is the value used by the mobile network carriers on their data plans.

Once converted to Megabytes per second, the value is converted to Gigabytes per hour to estimate the usage for Sharelink uplink traffic.

Examples

To simplify the calculation process you can use online utilities to sum the audio and video bitrates, and convert from that summed bitrate value in Megabits per second to Gigabytes per hour.

That Gigabyte per hour estimate could then be multiplied by the number of hours per month that you anticipate streaming.

Below are sample calculations using the Wolfram Alpha, but any number of online calculators may be used to make this calculation.

Example 1 : Streaming with Facebook's recommended limits

Video bitrate : 4 Mbps

Audio bitrate: 128 kbps

The combined bitrate is (4 Mbps + 0.128 Mbps) = 4.128 Mbps.

After conversion from Megabits per second to Gigabytes per hour, this is approximately 1.9 Gigabytes per hour (rounded up).

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=4.128+Megabit+per+second+to+Gigabytes+per+hour

Example 2

Video bitrate : 1 Mbps

Audio bitrate: 128 kbps (recommended by most streaming platforms like YouTube Live or Facebook Live)

The combined bitrate is (1 Mbps + 0.128 Mbps) = 1.128 Mbps.

After conversion from Megabits per second to Gigabytes per hour, this is approximately 0.5 Gigabytes per hour (rounded down).

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1.128+Megabit+per+second+to+Gigabytes+per+hour

Example 3

Video bitrate: 2 Mbps

Audio bitrate: 128 kbps (recommended by most streaming platforms like YouTube Live or Facebook Live)

The combined bitrate is (2 Mbps + 0.128 Mbps) = 2.128 Mbps. 

After conversion from Mb per second to Gigabytes per hour, this is approximately 1 Gigabyte per hour (rounded up).

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2.128+Megabit+per+second+to+Gigabytes+per+hour