Note that bitrates are not the only measure of potential picture quality. Other factors to consider are the quality of the source material and the type of compression (codec) used.

Codecs differ in their efficiency in compressing the original picture. Theoretically, one codec could provide a much superior picture over another with both having the same file size. Nevertheless, the differences between codec efficiencies is currently not great enough to disregard bitrate–it’s still the best measure of potential picture quality.

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Note: Bit rate is the amount of data that is processed per second as you watch the HD content.