fps stands for frames per second — the standard unit for video frame rate. A "60 fps" video shows 60 distinct frames every second; "24 fps" shows 24. The number determines how smooth motion appears and, in equal measure, how much data the file contains: doubling fps roughly doubles the raw data rate and (after compression) roughly doubles the bitrate at the same visual quality.
The number-to-feel mapping every product team should remember. 24 fps is the cinema standard — used because it's the lowest rate that still looks like motion to humans, and because the slight motion blur in each frame gives film its distinctive "cinematic" look. 30 fps is the historical North American TV standard. 60 fps is the sports, gaming and screencast standard — every fast movement stays sharp and trackable. 120 fps is high-end gaming and premium broadcast slow motion. 240 fps and beyond is mostly research, super slow-motion replays and specialised VR.
A small surprise that catches non-technical teams. North American TV historically uses 29.97 and 59.94 fps, not exactly 30 and 60, because of a 1953 colour-broadcast compatibility trick that's still with us today. Most pipelines transparently handle the fractional rates, but they show up in metadata and occasionally cause sync drift on long content. The pragmatic rule: pick the fps that matches your content's aesthetics and where it will be watched, accept the bitrate cost honestly, and don't try to upscale 24 fps content to 60 fps without good reason — viewers associate the result with the "soap opera effect" and tend to dislike it.
