Adaptive joint bitrate allocation

A method of encoding digital content, comprising:

• receiving a segment of a source audio component at an audio encoder, said audio source component having one or more channels;
• setting a target audio bitrate at said audio encoder;
• decreasing said target audio bitrate at said audio source component and increasing target video bitrates at one or more linked video encoders when one or more video encoders requests an increase in their target video bitrates based on the complexity level of source video components;
• and
• encoding said segment at said target audio bitrate into an audio stream.

A method of encoding digital content, comprising:

• receiving a segment of a source video component at a video encoder;
• estimating a target video bitrate with said video encoder for a video stream, based on the complexity level of said source video component;
• decreasing a target audio bitrate for an audio stream to as low as a minimum preset value for said audio stream's channel configuration based on said audio stream's complexity level and increasing said target video bitrate by a corresponding amount, upon a determination that said target video bitrate is higher than a portion of an overall transport stream bitrate available for said video stream;
• encoding said segment at said target video bitrate;
• and
• encoding said audio stream at said target audio bitrate.