Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tenbyte.io/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
The Renditions Ladder defines the quality levels your stream is transcoded into. Every rung is encoded simultaneously in real time — viewers are automatically served the best rendition for their device and connection speed, switching seamlessly between them as conditions change.
Rendition Templates
Tenbyte provides three built-in templates as a starting point. Click Template in the Renditions Ladder section to apply one.
| Template | Rungs | Best for |
|---|
| Balanced | 3 rungs · default | Most live streams. Covers 1080p, 720p, and 480p with sensible bitrate targets. |
| Bandwidth | 2 rungs · low-cost | Streams where delivery cost or bandwidth needs to be kept low. |
| Quality | 3 rungs · premium | High-production broadcasts where maximum output quality is the priority. |
Default Balanced Renditions
| # | Rendition | Codec | Height | Target / Max Bitrate | FPS |
|---|
| 1 | 1080p | H.264 / AAC | 1080p | 3,000 / 3,500 kbps | 30 |
| 2 | 720p | H.264 / AAC | 720p | 1,500 / 2,000 kbps | 30 |
| 3 | 480p | H.264 / AAC | 480p | 700 / 900 kbps | 30 |
Adding a Custom Rung
Click + Add Rung to add a custom rendition on top of the template. Custom rungs are fully configurable.
Video Settings
| Field | Description |
|---|
| Name | A label for this rendition (e.g. 1080p High). |
| Profile | H.264 encoding profile — Main is recommended for most use cases. |
| Resolution | Width × Height in pixels (e.g. 1280 × 720). |
| Codec | Video codec — currently H.264. |
| FPS | Frames per second (e.g. 30). |
| GOP | Group of pictures size. Keyframe interval is calculated automatically from GOP ÷ FPS — for example GOP 60 at 30 FPS produces a keyframe every 2 seconds. |
| Target bitrate | The target encoding bitrate in kbps. |
| Max bitrate | The maximum allowed bitrate in kbps. |
| CRF | Constant Rate Factor (0–51). Lower values produce higher quality at the cost of larger file size. |
Audio Settings
| Field | Description |
|---|
| Codec | Audio codec — AAC is recommended for HLS and DASH. |
| Bitrate | Audio bitrate in kbps (e.g. 128). |
| Sample rate | Audio sample rate in Hz (e.g. 48000). |
| Channels | Stereo by default. |
Transmuxing
If your source is already encoded at the right bitrate and resolution, you can use Transmuxing instead of full re-encoding. Transmuxing passes the video and audio through without re-encoding — it only repackages the stream into the chosen output format (HLS or DASH).
This gives you the lowest latency and lowest CPU usage of any processing option.
Use transmuxing when:
- Your encoder is already producing the exact output quality you need.
- You want to minimise processing latency.
- You do not need multiple renditions — just a single passthrough quality level.
GPU Transcoding
For high-resolution or high-bitrate streams, enable GPU Transcoding to offload encoding from the CPU to a dedicated GPU. This significantly increases the number of concurrent streams that can be processed and reduces encoding latency.
Enable GPU Transcoding when:
- You are streaming at 1080p or above with high bitrate targets.
- You are running many live channels simultaneously.
- Encoding latency is a concern for your use case.
