Bitrate Type Variable vs Constant, What should I use & Y?

[MrFixit]

Hi,
I have several Hikvision cameras both 3 and 4MP, I am not having any noticeable problems I am just trying to tune the cameras for best performance & video. The cameras come default with the bitrate type set to variable and I was wondering if that's the best setting or should I change it to constant & Y?

Thanks

 

[MaxIcon]

Variable can save bandwidth and recording space when there's little motion and/or simple scenes. If the scenes are detailed or with a lot of motion, it may not make a big difference. Low light images can cause high bit rates with VBR if there's a lot of noise, or if sharpening is set high so that the noise is highlighted more.

Constant will always use the same bit rate, network bandwidth, and recording space, regardless of the scene.

To check performance at different bit rate settings, it's important to check the scene when there's a lot of activity or motion, especially if there's a lot of complexity in the image. Static scenes with little change can look great at lower bit rates but pixelate when there's a lot of motion.

 

[MrFixit]

Variable can save bandwidth and recording space when there's little motion and/or simple scenes. If the scenes are detailed or with a lot of motion, it may not make a big difference. Low light images can cause high bit rates with VBR if there's a lot of noise, or if sharpening is set high so that the noise is highlighted more.

Constant will always use the same bit rate, network bandwidth, and recording space, regardless of the scene.

To check performance at different bit rate settings, it's important to check the scene when there's a lot of activity or motion, especially if there's a lot of complexity in the image. Static scenes with little change can look great at lower bit rates but pixelate when there's a lot of motion.

Thanks for the reply. So am I to take it if I have plenty of bandwidth & storage I should stick to "static"? All my cameras are set to static now, I used the bandwidth calculator in Hik tools for the recommended bit rate based on my camera settings.