You may soon have to pay to watch 1080p videos on YouTube. But be patient, because it may not be as bad as it first sounds. The YouTube platform would not have planned to hide the playback of content in Full HD behind a paywallbut would have started experimenting with introducing a variant called 1080p Premium.
Certainly nothing that currently hits the market with the nickname Premium in its name has been thought to be free. Therefore, it is logical that it could be a feature tied to the payment of a subscription. But what YouTube would propose would be that users have the option of accessing an enhanced 1080p, without removing the standard version.
Details regarding the implementation of the so-called 1080p Premium are scant. XDA-Developers collects which users have turned to Reddit to show the appearance of this new option in YouTube mobile apps. For now, the company has not referred to the matter, but everything suggests that it would be an experiment and not necessarily a feature that is about to be released permanently.
Let’s not forget that the main global video platform has already carried out tests of this type in the recent past. Without going any further, in 2022 it began testing the option of charging for the reproduction of content in 4K (2160p). A decision that quickly earned the discomfort of users, despite the fact that there were also voices in favor of the initiative. In fact, here I share an interesting video of LTT in which Linus explains why YouTube should charge for 4K.
But now we are talking about an experiment on content in Full HD and not 4K. So, Why might it not be such a bad thing that YouTube starts charging to play 1080p Premium videos? We analyze it below.
YouTube could introduce a paid 1080p
As we mentioned before, the first indications of the existence of 1080p Premium have appeared on YouTube mobile apps. And it makes sense that it is. After all, it is the quality in which the vast majority of people consume their content on a daily basis from their smartphones. It’s not set in stone, certainly, but it’s a reality that no matter how big your phone’s screen is, 1080p is often enough.
Furthermore, a large number of youtubers Today they continue to offer their videos in Full HD as the highest quality. Whether due to a creative or budgetary decision —both recording and editing— currently a lot of material is available up to 1080p and not in higher resolutions.
But it’s also true that YouTube’s 1080p is far from perfect. The video compression It is a subject that generates headaches for content creators, since more than once the final result that is delivered to the public is not the same as the original video file. Something that is usually evident if, if available, we change from 1080p to 1440p.
One of the screenshots showing the new 1080p Premium on YouTube mobile apps indicates “Improved Bit Rate”. What does this mean? What Google might be experimenting with offering a suitable bit rate to that of a higher resolution video, without the need to upgrade to a higher resolution.
This could help a lot improve the content playback experience from a smartphone, without having to go to 1440p or 2160p – if they are available, again – to make the image clearer or sharper. Not only because of the consumption of resources it represents, but because sometimes it is not worth it. Let’s keep in mind that many mobile phones -new and not so much- do not even offer screens with a resolution greater than 1080p.
There will be no shortage of discussions about whether YouTube is purposely ruining the quality of standard 1080p to offer 1080p Premium and profit. Nobody likes to be charged for something that was previously free, and it is the most logical thing to do. But neither can we guarantee that this is really the case. And if the platform begins to offer a paid Full HD option, but without removing the one that exists so far at no additional cost, it will be up to each person to choose which one they prefer, if they are willing to pay the money in question.
But we return to the above. For now everything indicates that it is an experiment and not much more than that. We will be attentive to the news.
