YouTube is rolling out its Premium-exclusive higher-quality 1080p streaming option on the desktop web. Aptly called 1080p Premium, the new option offers enhanced bitrate for better video quality. It should be available to all Premium subscribers within the next few days.
YouTube debuted the enhanced 1080p streaming quality in April, following some test runs early in the year. At launch, the new option was only available on the iOS mobile app. The company promised to bring it to the web version “soon,” but it took almost four months to make that happen.
Some Premium users reported receiving it about a week back, but it wasn’t available widely. However, YouTube spokesperson Paul Pennington recently confirmed to The Verge that the enhanced 1080p video quality is now rolling out to Premium subscribers on the web globally. It recently rolled out on Android TV and Google TV devices as well. YouTube is still working on bringing the feature to the Android app.
YouTube Premium gets enhanced 1080p quality on the web
The new option sits alongside the existing 1080p quality, which is available to free users as well. According to the original announcement from April, it makes videos “look extra crisp and clear,” especially if there’s “lots of detail and motion.” The company touts the new feature to “bring an even deeper visual quality.”
The 1080p Premium option is available for a few of us here at Android Headlines, and it does offer some quality enhancements over that standard 1080p option. No major differences, but something notable. Keep in mind that it’s only available for videos that cap out at 1080p resolution. Videos that are available in higher quality (1440p, 4K) don’t show the enhanced 1080p streaming option.
That’s likely because if you want better video quality, you can simply switch to the higher resolution. All of these higher-quality options are available to everyone. YouTube did try making 4K videos a Premium-exclusive perk earlier this year but quickly walked back the idea after public outrage. However, it has still come up with a streaming quality that’s only available to Premium users. Thankfully, it works slightly differently, so no one’s complaining.
Nonetheless, if you don’t have a Premium subscription, the enhanced 1080p quality should be the last reason to get it. The standard 1080p option already offers quite crisp and detailed videos, while you always have the option to stream videos at a higher quality when available. That said, YouTube Premium does offer many other perks that might be worth it for you. Note that the service recently got a little expensive.
2023-08-07 15:07:11