How to avoid uploaded video being re-encode by Facebook I just uploaded a video to Facebook yesterday, and then I tried to download the video as HD, and I realized that Facebook actually re-encode the video even though the original video file doesn't rendered with high bitrate or super HD option.

Original video


  File size: 50 Mb
  Length: ~3 mins
  Bitrate: 2 Mbps
  Resolution: 1280x720
  Frame rate: 25 fps
  Reference frame: 8
  Level: 4
  Audio bitrate: 128 Kbps



Uploaded video


  File size: 20 Mb
  Length: ~3 mins
  Bitrate: 750 Kbps
  Resolution: 1280x720
  Frame rate: 25 fps
  Reference frame: 5
  Level: 3.1
  Audio bitrate: 48 Kbps


As you can see there's a big loss of quality in the uploaded video. How can I avoid Facebook leave my video untouched? Or it will re-encode the video no matter how small the file size is?
You can't avoid the re-encode. They do this to be sure that every video they serve is in a standardized format, resolution and bitrate. It would be inefficient and risky to vet all diverse set of incoming files to check if they meet all their parameters, some of which are not easily available to set or tweak at the user's end.