# Digital signage storage and bandwidth

Video length, bitrate and the number of screens give the storage per screen and the traffic on your connection.

*Verified 2026-10-25 · https://roitechnologies.net/tools/content-storage-and-bandwidth/*

> **Short answer:** A video file takes its bitrate in megabits per second times its length in seconds, divided by 8, as megabytes. One hour at 8 Mbit/s is 3.6 GB. Most signage players download their files once and play them from local storage, so traffic is the size of the content times the share you change each week. A screen that streams live uses its bitrate all day.

## How it is calculated

- Video per screen in GB = bitrate in Mbit/s × minutes × 60 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000. GB here means 10^9 bytes; a file manager that counts in GiB shows about 7% less.
- Images per screen in GB = number of images × average size in MB ÷ 1,000.
- First download = storage per screen × screens. Speed needed = that in gigabits ÷ the time allowed, in seconds.
- Updates per month = storage per screen × share changed × 4.345 weeks × screens.
- Streaming per month = bitrate × 3,600 seconds × hours per day ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000 × 30 days × screens.

## Which bitrate

YouTube's upload recommendations for H.264 in MP4, standard frame rate, are 8 Mbit/s for 1080p and 35 to 45 Mbit/s for 4K. Apple's HLS authoring specification, revised 26 June 2025, lists 1080p H.264 at 6 and 7.8 Mbit/s and 4K HEVC at 11.6 and 16.8 Mbit/s as starting points. There is no independent typical bitrate for a signage loop, so pick the preset that matches your files, or read the bitrate in your file's properties. A lower bitrate saves space and traffic, at some cost in quality.

Screenbird includes 10 GB of storage per screen and more can be added; see how [content management](https://screenbird.app/en/features/content-management) works there.

**How much storage does a digital signage screen need?**

A playlist of 30 minutes of 1080p video at 8 Mbit/s takes 1.8 GB. Enter your own video length, bitrate and images above for your case.

**Does digital signage use a lot of internet?**

Players that download their files once use traffic only for the first download and for each change. Players that stream the same video all day use the full bitrate of the video continuously, which is far more.

Sources: [YouTube Help: recommended upload encoding settings](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171), [Apple: HLS authoring specification for Apple devices](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/http-live-streaming/hls-authoring-specification-for-apple-devices)