How many videos can 2TB hold?
As an avid gamer and content creator, having enough storage capacity is crucial for capturing and editing hours of gameplay footage and other digital media. So when considering a new hard drive, one of the most important questions is: just how many videos can the advertised space actually hold?
After popping the hood on some of today‘s most popular 2TB hard drives, it quickly becomes clear that the answer largely depends on the video resolution and compression formats used. On such a drive, you can store anywhere from about 70 hours of disk-hogging 4K video, all the way up to 500 hours of good ol‘ standard definition footage.
Let‘s take a deeper look across resolutions so you know exactly what to expect when pushing your 2TB hard drive to the max with videos:
Standard Definition (SD) – Up to 500 Hours
Older standard definition footage caps out at resolutions like 720p and 576p. Thanks to small file sizes, a 2TB drive can swallow over 500 hours worth of SD material. That‘s equivalent to around 250 two-hour videos! This makes 2TB perfect for storing archives of gameplay recordings, funny game clips to share, and more standard definition content.
High Definition (HD) 1080p – Around 160 Hours
Stepping up to high definition 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) sees file sizes grow larger, but a 2TB drive still adequality handles full HD footage. Expect capacity for approximately 160 hours of high definition 1080p video – or about 80 two-hour videos. Plenty of space for capturing sharp, smooth HD recordings of your gameplay to show off later.
Ultra HD (4K) Video – Around 70 Hours
Given massive leaps in gaming visuals over the years, 4K resolution (up to 3840 × 2160) is increasingly popular. But those extra pixels devour storage due to huge file sizes. In 4K flavor, a 2TB drive nets you roughly 70 hours worth of footage. Or in other words, about 35 two-hour 4K videos. Much less than HD or SD due to 4K‘s density, but still very solid capacity overall!
Now for some extra ways to squeeze a bit more mileage from your 2TB external drive when it comes to video storage…
Use Efficient Codecs Such as H.265
By encoding your videos using advanced compression formats like H.265 (AKA HEVC), you can shrink file sizes by 50% or more over older standards! This will let you cram way more videos onto your 2TB drive. Just ensure your playback devices also support H.265 decoding.
Go for Lower Bitrates When Possible
Higher video bitrates preserve more detail – but eat up more storage. If outright quality isn‘t crucial, opting for lower bitrate presets when encoding saves space for more videos on 2TB. Use your judgement to balance quality vs. capacity needs!
Store Less Demanding Content Types
Prioritize keeping your massive raw gameplay recordings and complex 4K projects on faster internal drives. For 2TB externals, use those to house compressed final output files, lower-bitrate clips for sharing on social media, archived legacy footage, and less demanding content. This strategy prevents bottlenecks while maximizing capacity.
So in summary – when handled strategically, 2TB gives excellent room for storing a wide span of gaming, live production, vlog, and other videos you create. Just be realistic about capacity as you jump into higher resolutions and quality targets. Time to fill those terabytes!
