GoPro HERO11 Bitrate Charts

Each GoPro model has a slightly different combination of resolutions, framerates, and bitrates available. And newer models have also switched to HEVC (H.265) encoding for their videos, which allows for better video image quality at a given bitrate compared with the older (and more compatible) H.264 codec.

Here are video bitrate charts for the GoPro HERO11 Black for each combination of resolution, framerate, aspect ratio, and depth.

The video bitrate refers to the amount of data used to represent a scene of a particular duration (in this case, it’s a second of footage). The lower the bitrate, the higher the compression that has been applied, which in turn can often degrade the video quality. Conversely, the higher the bitrate, the less compression that has been applied, and therefore it can lead to higher image quality.

But there’s another importation consideration when it comes to bitrate. And that is that you’ll need a memory card that can keep up with it. A slow card might be fine with lower-bitrate video modes. But when you move to the high-bitrate modes, you’ll need a card that can keep up in real-time with the amount of data that the camera is trying to write to the card. I have more on this aspect below the bitrate chart.

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The bitrate that the files are encoded with varies based on the combination of resolution, framerate (fps), and aspect ratio selected, as well as whether you’ve selected the Standard, High, or 10-bit option in the specific bitrate setting.²

These are all for H.265 encoded video and are in Mbps.¹

Highest quality video setting

Extended battery setting

Looping

All of the looping video is encoded at 45 Mbps regardless of the settings.

Related: the newer models’ chart: HERO13 Black and HERO12 Black bitrates.

Related: What Size SD Card to get for the GoPro HERO11 Black?

The video bitrate is important for video image quality. And it’s also important with respect to the storage capacity of your recording media, in this case, the microSD card.

So I created this simple calculator to give a general idea of how much video footage from the HERO11 Black can fit on an SD card of a particular storage capacity. Choose the size of the memory card in the selector.

Calculator notes:

• This is approximate and is obviously affected by any other data you have on the memory card (including the extra LRV files that the camera generates automatically).
• I’m using the maximum bitrate here, but not every video mode uses the maximum bitrate. Some use lower bitrates, and if you’re shooting with one of those, the corresponding file sizes are smaller, which in turn means you can fit more video on the SD card. I have posted a bitrate chart separately.

SD card recommendations for the GoPro HERO11 Black

I have a more in-depth post on the best SD cards for the GoPro HERO11 Black, but here are some quick recommendations.

• SanDisk Extreme V30 UHS-I
• Lexar Professional 1066x Silver V30 UHS-I
• Kingston Canvas Go Plus V30 UHS-I
• Samsung EVO Select V30 UHS-I

Things worth knowing

• The HERO11 Black models (including the Mini) have a maximum video bitrate of 120 Mbps. That’s the highest maximum video bitrate of any GoPro model to date.
• The HERO11 Black models have ditched H.264 video. All video is now encoded with H.265 (HEVC).
• In the high-bitrate modes, you’ll need an SD card that’s fast enough for the HERO11 Black.
• There’s a lot of overlap here with the video bitrates of the smaller HERO11 Black Mini, but there are some differences in the available features.

Notes & References:

1. Source data. [↩︎]
2. The 10-bit option is only available in some shooting modes. [↩︎]