How To Fix Discord Stream Bitrate Issue

Experiencing issues with your Discord stream’s bitrate can be frustrating, especially when it affects the quality of your content.

Bitrate issues often manifest as pixelation, stuttering, or buffering during streams. The issue occurs for a variety of reasons, often related to the settings and conditions under which you are streaming.

This blog will walk you through a step-by-step process to troubleshoot and resolve bitrate problems on Discord.

What Causes Discord Stream Bitrate Issue?

Discord stream bitrate issues can arise from a variety of factors, including:

1. Internet Connection: A slow or unstable internet connection with inadequate upload speed is the most common cause of bitrate issues in streaming.
2. Network Congestion: High traffic on your local network, such as other users streaming video or downloading files, can reduce the bandwidth available for your Discord stream.
3. Incorrect Bitrate Settings: Setting the bitrate too high for your internet connection’s capabilities can lead to buffering and poor stream quality.
4. Server Location: If the Discord server region is not optimally chosen, it can result in higher latency and unstable bitrate due to the increased distance the data has to travel.
5. Hardware Limitations: Insufficient CPU or GPU power can cause your computer to struggle with encoding the stream, leading to fluctuating bitrates and poor performance.

How To Fix Discord Stream Bitrate Issue?

To fix the Discord stream Bitrate Issue, you can verify the Internet connection, close background apps, and reduce stream quality settings. Additionally, update the GPU Drivers and clear cache files to fix the issue.

1. Check Your Internet Connection

Make sure that your internet connection is stable and strong. If it is not stable then that could be the reason why Discord Stream is having pixelated issues.

• Use an online speed test tool to check your upload speed, as a low upload speed can lead to bitrate issues.
• If you’re on Wi-Fi, try switching to a wired Ethernet connection to improve stability and speed.
• Restart the router by pressing the power button at the back of the router to “Power Off“, wait 2 minutes and “Power On” again.

2. Adjust Discord’s Bitrate Settings

Lower bitrates use less data, which can be beneficial if there are many users in a voice channel, helping to reduce the overall bandwidth usage and potential strain on Discord’s servers.

Lower Bitrate:

• Open “Discord” and connect to a voice channel.
• Click on the voice channel’s name to open its settings.
• Navigate to the “Bitrate” slider under the “Overview” tab.
• If your current bitrate is set high, try lowering it incrementally. For example, start by reducing it from 96kbps to 64kbps and test the stream quality.
• Remember that Discord’s maximum bitrate depends on your server level and whether you have Discord Nitro.

Lower Framerate:

• Before streaming in a server, click on the stream preview to access ‘‘Stream Quality Settings’‘
• Select a resolution and frame rate that match your Discord Nitro level and your internet upload speed.

3. Reduce Stream Quality

Lowering the stream quality can reduce the demand for your bitrate, leading to a smoother stream.

• When you start streaming on Discord, click the “Screen” button at the bottom of the voice channel window.
• Choose the application or screen you wish to share.
• Before clicking “Go Live,” select a lower resolution and frame rate from the “Stream Quality” settings.

4. Close Unnecessary Applications

Running multiple programs can consume your system’s resources and bandwidth. Close any unnecessary applications, especially those that use the internet, to free up resources for Discord.

• Press “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” to open the Task Manager.
• Look for high CPU/GPU usage processes that are not essential for your stream and end them to free up resources.

Also, ensure that other devices on your network aren’t using excessive bandwidth, such as streaming video or downloading large files.

5. Update Your Network And Graphic Card Drivers

New drivers often include optimizations for the latest games, which can increase frame rates and overall performance. Updates can resolve known issues and glitches that might affect your graphics card, leading to a more stable system.

Outdated network drivers can cause various connection issues. Visit your network adapter manufacturer’s website to download and install the latest drivers.

Update Network Driver:

• Press “Windows Key + R” to open the Run dialogue box.
• Type “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter to open Device Manager.
• Expand the “Network adapters” section to see a list of network devices on your computer.
• If there’s no installer, or you prefer to update manually:
  • Go back to “Device Manager” and right-click on your network adapter.
  • Choose “Update driver”.
  • Select “Browse my computer for driver software”.
  • Download the Driver from the Official manufacturer’s website.
  • Click “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
  • Select the downloaded driver from the list if it appears.
  • Follow the prompts to complete the manual installation.
• After installing the new driver, restart your computer to ensure the changes take effect.

Update Graphic Card Driver:

• Visit the website and download the latest drivers for your graphics card for GPU manufacturers (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel).
• Right-click on the downloaded installer File.
• Select “Run as Administrator” and follow the on-screen instructions to update your drivers.

6. Optimize Discord’s Advanced Video Codec Settings

Disabling Advanced Video Codec Settings is an extra feature that increases bandwidth and GPU/RAM usage to get a seamless experience. If you have an issue with Streaming, then disabling the setting fixes the issue.

• In Discord, go to “User Settings” (gear icon near your username).
• Scroll down to “Voice & Video” and find the “Advanced” section.
• Disable any experimental video codecs that may be causing issues.

7. Clear Discord Cache

Clearing cache memory will remove the temp files and improve the overall performance of the application.

• Make sure Discord is completely closed and not running in the background.
• Open the ‘‘Run’‘ dialog (Windows Key + R), “type %appdata%/discord/Cache“, and press Enter.
• Select all files in the Cache folder and delete them.
• Right-click on “Recycle Bin” to empty trash.

8. Uninstall And Reinstall Discord

If all else fails, try uninstalling and then reinstalling Discord. Reinstalling can resolve issues caused by corrupted files or settings.

To install and reinstall Discord on a Windows PC, follow these simple steps:

1. Download Discord:

• Go to the Discord website.
• Click on the “Download for Windows” button to download the Discord setup file.

2. Uninstall Discord

• Press “Windows Key + R” to open the Run dialogue box.
• Type “appwiz.cpl” and press Enter to open the Programs and Features window.
• Find Discord in the list, select it, and click “Uninstall”.
• Follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation process.

3. Clear Remaining Discord Files and Install

• Press “Windows Key + R, type %appdata%“, and press Enter.
• Locate the Discord folder and delete it.
• Repeat the process by typing “%localappdata%” in the Run dialogue and deleting the Discord folder there too.
• “Shut down and restart” your computer to clear any temporary files and finalize the uninstallation process.
• Right-click on the Downloaded “Discord file” and Select “Run as Administrator“
• Follow the installation steps outlined above to download and install the latest version of Discord.