Uploading videos to LinkedIn is a great way to showcase your skills, promote your business, and connect with your professional network. However, one common challenge is that video quality can degrade when uploading files to LinkedIn. This often happens because of compression that LinkedIn applies to videos in order to optimize them for delivery through their platform. The good news is that with the right encoding settings and video formats, you can upload videos to LinkedIn without sacrificing quality.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the key factors that impact LinkedIn video quality and the best practices for encoding and exporting videos that look crisp when uploaded. We’ll also provide recommended video specs and settings for common software tools. Follow these tips and you’ll be able to share stunning videos that make a professional impression on LinkedIn.
Why Does Video Quality Degrade on LinkedIn?
Before we dive into the solutions, let’s quickly look at why LinkedIn reduces video quality and introduces compression artifacts like pixelation.
LinkedIn optimizes videos to ensure quick loading and smooth playback across diverse devices, connection speeds, and screen sizes. To enable this experience for the widest range of viewers, LinkedIn applies compression to reduce video file sizes. This compression discards some visual data and introduces digital artifacts.
The level of compression depends on the video specs you upload. If you upload a high bitrate 4K video, LinkedIn will apply aggressive compression to downsample it for optimized delivery. This can significantly reduce visual quality. On the other hand, if you upload an HD video with web-friendly specs, LinkedIn may apply minimal to no compression.
Beyond just compression, other factors like incorrect encoding settings, poor quality source files, low frame rates, and insufficient bitrates can also degrade video quality when uploading to LinkedIn.
So the key is to be strategic with your video sources, resolution, bitrates, and encoding to maintain quality even after LinkedIn’s processing. Let’s look at some best practices.
Best Practices for Optimizing LinkedIn Video Quality
Follow these tips when encoding and exporting videos for LinkedIn:
Choose the Right Resolution
Higher resolution like 4K may seem better, but on LinkedIn it’ll just lead to heavy compression and quality loss. HD 1080p is ideal for preserving quality while meeting the platform’s delivery needs.
Use a High Bitrate
Bitrate determines how much visual data is packed into each second of video. Insufficient bitrate leads to artifacting and blurriness. For HD 1080p, use a bitrate between 8-12 Mbps for the best quality.
Pick an Optimal Codec
H.264 is the most compatible and well-supported codec across browsers and devices. Avoid outdated codecs like MPEG-2.
Export at Constant Frame Rate
Constant frame rate avoids stuttering and dropped frames. Export at 60fps for smooth playback.
Limit Effects and Transitions
Fancy effects usually apply heavy video compression, so use them sparingly and avoid complex transitions.
Choose High Quality Source Files
Start with the highest quality captures and renders before encoding for web delivery to minimize generational loss of quality.
Verify Codec Settings
Double check your encoder settings match LinkedIn’s recommendations to prevent incorrect configurations from ruining quality.
Export at Max Render Quality
In editing software, export videos at maximum render quality without downscaling or subsampling to preserve video fidelity.
Proof Watch Before Uploading
Preview and spot check videos before uploading to catch any quality issues with your encoding while you can still adjust settings and re-export.
By following encoding best practices and optimizing video specs for web delivery, you can upload to LinkedIn without sacrificing visual quality.
Recommended Video Specs
To recap, here are the recommended specs for maintaining video quality on LinkedIn:
| Video Parameter | Recommended Spec |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 1080p HD |
| Frame Rate | 60fps |
| Codec | H.264 |
| Bitrate | 8-12 Mbps |
| File Format | MP4 |
Adhering to these specs will ensure your videos look great after uploading to LinkedIn, without excess compression artifacts or loss of quality.
Video Encoding Settings in Adobe Premiere
To ensure optimal quality, properly configure your encoder. Here are the recommended export settings when using Adobe Premiere Pro:
| Parameter | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|
| Format | H.264 |
| Preset | YouTube 1080p HD |
| Profile | High |
| Level | 4.2 |
| Bitrate Encoding | VBR 2 pass |
| Target Bitrate | 12 Mbps |
| Max Bitrate | 18 Mbps |
Using these export presets will generate videos optimized for LinkedIn in terms of resolution, bitrate, codec profile, and more. Double check the video before uploading to spot any errors.
Video Encoder Settings in Adobe Media Encoder
When using Adobe Media Encoder, apply these presets:
| Parameter | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|
| Format | H.264 |
| Preset | YouTube 1080p HD |
| Profile | High |
| Level | 4.2 |
| Bitrate Encoding | 2 pass VBR |
| Target Bitrate | 12 Mbps |
| Max Bitrate | 18 Mbps |
With matching encoder presets, you can efficiently export high quality videos from Premiere sequences for uploading to LinkedIn.
Video Converter Recommendations
If you need to convert existing videos to web-friendly formats, use these recommended settings in Handbrake or other video converter tools:
| Parameter | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|
| Format | MP4 |
| Codex | H.264 |
| Framerate | 60 |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Bitrate | 10-12 Mbps |
| Constant Quality | 18-20 |
Maintaining video fidelity when converting existing files comes down to choosing the right target resolution, codec, framerate, bitrate, and constant quality settings.
Uploading to LinkedIn Without Compromising Quality
Uploading videos to LinkedIn is a highly effective way to engage your professional network and demonstrate your multimedia skills. But subpar quality can undermine the impact of your work. By mastering encoding settings and exporting web-ready source files, you can share stunning videos on LinkedIn that showcase your message in the best light.
Some key best practices include:
– Export at 1080p HD resolution
– Use a high bitrate between 8-12 Mbps
– Choose the H.264 codec
– Set a constant frame rate at 60fps
– Verify encoder settings match LinkedIn’s recommendations
– Export videos at maximum render quality
– Proof watch videos before uploading
Following these tips will ensure your videos retain crisp quality after LinkedIn’s compression and delivery processing. With a library of optimized video content, you can amplify your personal and company brand on LinkedIn.
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