Set the bitrate of a video for the quality and size you want

Overview

Bitrate is the amount of data a video spends per second, and it is the single setting that most directly trades quality for size. Pick a video and iEdit reads its current bitrate, then lists presets below it, from 0.5 Mb/s up to 40 Mb/s. Next to each preset is a plain quality label and the file size you can expect, so you choose between a labelled quality and a size you can see rather than between abstract numbers.

Only presets below the source are offered, because raising the bitrate cannot add detail the recording never had; it would only make the file bigger. The video is re-encoded with the phone's hardware encoder in H.264 or HEVC at its original resolution and frame rate, with location, device and date metadata kept and HDR saved as SDR. Progress and Cancel are shown during the job, which continues in the background and ends with a notification. The original file is untouched.

Set bitrate is for people who know the number they want: an 8 Mb/s upload target from a platform's guidelines, a 4 Mb/s ceiling for a presentation, a gentle reduction that keeps the picture close to the original. For a target in megabytes, Target size works out the bitrate for you; for a quick three-level choice, Compress video is simpler. Everything happens on your device, with nothing uploaded.