diff --git a/lbry/conf.py b/lbry/conf.py
index fa9b6fed4..0f168a3ee 100644
--- a/lbry/conf.py
+++ b/lbry/conf.py
@@ -467,12 +467,16 @@ class TranscodeConfig(BaseConfig):
     ffmpeg_folder = String('The path to ffmpeg and ffprobe', '')
     video_encoder = String('FFmpeg codec and parameters for the video encoding. '
                            'Example: libaom-av1 -crf 25 -b:v 0 -strict experimental',
-                           'libx264 -crf 18 -vf "format=yuv420p"')
+                           'libx264 -crf 21 -preset faster -pix_fmt yuv420p')
+    video_bitrate_maximum = Integer('Maximum bits per second allowed for video streams (0 to disable).', 8400000)
+    video_scaler = String('FFmpeg scaling parameters for reducing bitrate. '
+                          'Example: -vf "scale=-2:720,fps=24" -maxrate 5M -bufsize 3M',
+                          '-vf "scale=if(gte(iw\,ih)\,min(2560\,iw)\,-2):if(lt(iw\,ih)\,min(2560\,ih)\,-2)" -maxrate 8400K -bufsize 5000K')
     audio_encoder = String('FFmpeg codec and parameters for the audio encoding. '
                            'Example: libopus -b:a 128k',
-                           'aac -b:a 192k')
+                           'aac -b:a 160k')
     volume_filter = String('FFmpeg filter for audio normalization.', '-af loudnorm')
-    volume_analysis_time = Integer('Maximum seconds into the file that we examine audio volume (0 to disable).', '240')
+    volume_analysis_time = Integer('Maximum seconds into the file that we examine audio volume (0 to disable).', 240)
 
 
 class CLIConfig(TranscodeConfig):
diff --git a/lbry/file_analysis.py b/lbry/file_analysis.py
index c2106a896..6e2964a66 100644
--- a/lbry/file_analysis.py
+++ b/lbry/file_analysis.py
@@ -97,24 +97,21 @@ class VideoFileAnalyzer:
 
         return ""
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def _verify_bitrate(scan_data: json):
-        if "bit_rate" not in scan_data["format"]:
+    def _verify_bitrate(self, scan_data: json, file_path):
+        bit_rate_max = float(self._conf.video_bitrate_maximum)
+        if bit_rate_max <= 0:
             return ""
 
-        bit_rate = float(scan_data["format"]["bit_rate"])
-        log.debug("   Detected bitrate is %s Mbps", str(bit_rate / 1000000.0))
-        pixels = -1.0
-        for stream in scan_data["streams"]:
-            if stream["codec_type"] == "video":
-                pieces = stream["r_frame_rate"].split('/', 1)
-                frame_rate = float(pieces[0]) if len(pieces) == 1 \
-                    else float(pieces[0]) / float(pieces[1])
-                pixels = max(pixels, float(stream["height"]) * float(stream["width"]) * frame_rate)
+        if "bit_rate" in scan_data["format"]:
+            bit_rate = float(scan_data["format"]["bit_rate"])
+        else:
+            bit_rate = os.stat(file_path).st_size / float(scan_data["format"]["duration"])
+        log.debug("   Detected bitrate is %s Mbps. Allowed is %s Mbps",
+                  str(bit_rate / 1000000.0), str(bit_rate_max / 1000000.0))
 
-        if pixels > 0.0 and pixels / bit_rate < 3.0:
-            return "Bits per second is excessive for this data; this may impact web streaming performance. " \
-                   f"Actual: {str(bit_rate / 1000000.0)} Mbps"
+        if bit_rate > bit_rate_max:
+            return "The bit rate is above the configured maximum. Actual: " \
+                   f"{bit_rate / 1000000.0} Mbps; Allowed: {bit_rate_max / 1000000.0} Mbps"
 
         return ""
 
@@ -178,6 +175,9 @@ class VideoFileAnalyzer:
         # https://developers.google.com/media/vp9/settings/vod/
         return int(-0.011 * height + 40)
 
+    def _get_video_scaler(self):
+        return self._conf.video_scaler
+
     async def _get_video_encoder(self, scan_data):
         # use what the user said if it's there:
         # if it's not there, use h264 if we can because it's way faster than the others
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ class VideoFileAnalyzer:
         log.debug("Analyzing %s:", file_path)
         log.debug("   Detected faststart is %s", "false" if fast_start_msg else "true")
         container_msg = self._verify_container(scan_data)
-        bitrate_msg = self._verify_bitrate(scan_data)
+        bitrate_msg = self._verify_bitrate(scan_data, file_path)
         video_msg = self._verify_video_encoding(scan_data)
         audio_msg = self._verify_audio_encoding(scan_data)
         volume_msg = await self._verify_audio_volume(self._conf.volume_analysis_time, file_path)
@@ -323,6 +323,8 @@ class VideoFileAnalyzer:
             if video_msg or bitrate_msg:
                 video_encoder = await self._get_video_encoder(scan_data)
                 transcode_command.append(video_encoder)
+                # could do the scaling only if bitrate_msg, but if we're going to the effort to re-encode anyway...
+                transcode_command.append(self._get_video_scaler())
             else:
                 transcode_command.append("copy")
 
diff --git a/lbry/schema/mime_types.py b/lbry/schema/mime_types.py
index 00505e762..cfb2d9f82 100644
--- a/lbry/schema/mime_types.py
+++ b/lbry/schema/mime_types.py
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ types_map = {
 
 
 def guess_media_type(path):
-    # should we be using "file --mime-type -b $filename" on linux?
     _, ext = os.path.splitext(path)
     extension = ext.strip().lower()
     if extension[1:]:
diff --git a/lbry/testcase.py b/lbry/testcase.py
index 4878f36fb..5520f5f95 100644
--- a/lbry/testcase.py
+++ b/lbry/testcase.py
@@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ class IntegrationTestCase(AsyncioTestCase):
         self.account: Optional[Account] = None
 
     async def asyncSetUp(self):
+        if sys.version_info < (3, 8):
+            # hide warning about TaskWakeupMethWrapper, see bugs.python.org/issue38608
+            asyncio.get_running_loop().set_debug(False)
         self.conductor = Conductor(seed=self.SEED)
         await self.conductor.start_blockchain()
         self.addCleanup(self.conductor.stop_blockchain)