High-definition and even 4K video is a part of our daily lives by now, and YouTube fully supports a range of resolutions for every screen resolution and every internet connection. 1080p still remains the sweet spot for a lot of people, but what if you could get better 1080p? That’s exactly what YouTube is offering Premium users, and some are already seeing that option pop up.
Desktop YouTube users are seeing a new option pop up to stream videos at 1080p resolution at “Premium” quality. This option was previously being tested with a small subset of users earlier this year, with iOS users seeing it starting in April. Now, if you open a YouTube video, and you go to the resolution dropdown menu, you should see a new option that says “1080p Premium.” What makes it premium, exactly, is spelled out right below it — it has a higher bitrate. This means, in layman’s terms, that the video will be compressed less, and you should see way less artifacts throughout the stream. It also means that the video will, evidently, consume more bandwidth, but if you can currently stream 4K video without issues, streaming this new “1080p Premium” quality tier should be no problem for you.
There is, however, one tiny drawback to be aware of. As we hinted to in the lede, this option is only available for Premium users. If you’re not currently subscribed to YouTube Premium, trying to choose this tier will prompt YouTube to ask you to subscribe to Premium. To be fair to YouTube, Premium does offer much more than just this new smooth-looking streaming tier. You get no ads in addition to full access to ad-free, fully-featured YouTube Music, as well as things such as offline viewing and background playback. Then again, YouTube also did just increase the subscription’s price, and it’s now a bit more expensive to get into the fun — not a lot, but still expensive.
If you want to give YouTube’s new higher-bitrate 1080p tier a shot, definitely make sure to subscribe to Premium. Just take into account the higher price.
Source: The Verge
Via: Engadget
