Whats a good file size to runtime ratio for streaming videos

[tomld]

First off, is it even possible to determine a ratio of filesize to runtime for streaming video that would apply as a blanket for most web streaming videos? I should add this would be restricted to WMV files.

If possible, what would a good ratio be? By ratio I mean file size compared to length of video. Such as 5mb per minute of video. The quality level I am trying to achieve with this ratio is your basic web quality for streaming videos. Not great quality but still very watchable.

If anyone has an idea for what the proper ratio should be, please let me know.

Thanks
Tom

[thecoalman]

It really depends on your target audience, for dial-up there really is no good choice. It's either bad quality with a fast download or vice versa. The best thing is to provide two versions one for dial -up and one for broadband, even three if you want to provide one for lower end broadband.

For dial up I usually reduce the framerate to 15 or even 10, less frames requires less bandwidth. resolution of 320x240 with a target bitrate of about 112kbps withe audio and video splitting the bitrate equally. I'm doing a lot of video with music so I need some quality sound, you can give more to the video if that's not an issue with you. This produces some pretty low quality video but is still reasonable for dial-up users.

For broadband I'm using full frame @ 500-700kbps.

[edDV]

Windows Media Encoder 9 has provision for multiple end user streaming speeds.

Some ideas:
Dialup (under 56k video plus audio)
WiFi Laptop (~ 256-500 Kb/s 320x480)
Low broadband (~500 Kb/s)
High broadband (~1100 Kb/s)

[thecoalman]

For dial up I usually reduce the framerate to 15 or even 10, less frames requires less bandwidth. resolution of 320x240 with a target bitrate of about 112kbps .

FYI, that won't stream for 56k as I mentioned there's no good choice for 56k. You need to reduce the resolution to postage stamp size or have really low quality video to get it to stream.