YouTube Standard videos — Video Specs
YouTube Standard videos accepts up to 7680 × 4320 (8k) supported; 1920 × 1080 recommended (min 1280 × 720 for 16:9) at 16:9 (standard); other ratios pillar- or letter-boxed by the player, up to 12 hours or 256 GB, whichever comes first (15-minute default until the account is verified) per upload. Use this page as a quick reference before exporting from your editor — every value is sourced from the official platform documentation.
Specs at a glance
- Resolution
- Up to 7680 × 4320 (8K) supported; 1920 × 1080 recommended (min 1280 × 720 for 16:9)
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 (standard); other ratios pillar- or letter-boxed by the player
- Max duration
- 12 hours or 256 GB, whichever comes first (15-minute default until the account is verified)
- Max file size
- 256 GB
- Framerate
- 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 fps (encode at the recorded rate; deinterlace first)
- Video bitrate
- 8 Mbps (1080p30 SDR) up to ~85 Mbps (2160p60 4K HDR)
- Video codec
- H.264 High Profile (recommended) in MP4; VP9, AV1, ProRes, DNxHR also accepted
- Audio codec
- AAC-LC or Opus; Eclipsa Audio for immersive
- Audio bitrate
- 384 kbps (stereo), 512 kbps (5.1), ~128 kbps/channel (Eclipsa immersive)
- Max title chars
- 100
- Max description chars
- 5,000
How it compares
YouTube Standard videos side-by-side with the platforms creators most often weigh against it.
| Platform | Resolution | Aspect ratio | Frame rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Standard videos | Up to 7680 × 4320 (8K) supported; 1920 × 1080 recommended (min 1280 × 720 for 16:9) | 16:9 (standard); other ratios pillar- or letter-boxed by the player | 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 fps (encode at the recorded rate; deinterlace first) | Long-form |
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 recommended (1080p is the maximum Shorts resolution) | 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square — any square/vertical clip ≤ 3 min is auto-classified as a Short | 24–60 fps | Vertical short-form |
| Facebook Feed videos | 1280 × 720 minimum; 1920 × 1080 recommended | 16:9 (landscape), 1:1 (square), 4:5 (vertical), 9:16 (Reels) | Up to 30 fps | Long-form |
| Twitch Live streams | 1080p standard; up to 1440p / 4K with Enhanced Broadcasting (TEB) | 16:9 | 30 or 60 fps (60 recommended for gaming) | Live broadcast |
How to choose for YouTube Standard videos
Master at 1080p or 4K and let YouTube transcode down — uploading 720p caps every viewer's quality. Stick to 16:9 unless your subject is genuinely cinematic (then 21:9 inside a 16:9 frame). Match your project's source frame rate (24 for cinematic, 30 for talking-head, 60 for gaming or sports) — never up-convert. Verify your account to lift the 15-minute upload ceiling to the full 12-hour / 256 GB limit.
Best practices
- 01Upload the highest-quality master you have — YouTube re-encodes once and the source quality determines every downstream rendition.
- 02Use H.264 High Profile in an MP4 container with the moov atom at the start (`-movflags +faststart` in FFmpeg) for fastest processing.
- 03Encode at a constant frame rate matching your project and deinterlace interlaced sources (1080i60 → 1080p30) — variable frame rate uploads from screen recorders often desync with audio.
- 04Add chapters in the description (timestamps starting at 00:00) to unlock the chapter player and watch-time bumps.
- 05Set a custom thumbnail at 1280 × 720 (16:9) under 2 MB — the auto-generated thumbnails almost never beat a designed one.