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YouTube has once again hit the experimental phase where it is trying out something new. Gone are the days when social media and video platforms’ best performance was experienced by all users. Now, a big chunk of features gets blocked by a paywall where users have to shell out a monthly or a yearly fee to get the best features from their favourite platforms. It was the much-talked-about Twitter Blue subscription back in 2022 and 2023 started with Meta announcing its very own paid verification service that brings a higher set of features. Now, YouTube has decided to reserve a higher bitrate 1080p resolution for its paying users only.

YouTube tests higher bitrate for premium users

One YouTube user recently posted a screenshot on Reddit which shows the ‘1080p Premium’ option sitting right over the ‘standard’ 1080p option for video resolution. The option is currently available for a small group of YouTube Premium subscribers according to the company’s spokesperson Paul Pennington. As reported by The Verge, the 1080p Premium is an enhanced bitrate version of 1080p that provides more information per pixel which results in a higher-quality viewing experience. According to Pennington, there are no changes in the existing quality offerings for the 1080p resolution on YouTube. In the past, there have been reports that YouTube may be locking 1080p 60fps videos behind the Premium paywall which was a concern for many.

It was not long ago when YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki resigned from her position thus a change in the company’s strategy in the near future is inevitable. YouTube Premium currently costs Rs 129 per month through a subscription plan and Rs 139 per month as an individual plan. The years plan for the Premium YouTube experience is currently Rs 1,290. The benefits of YouTube Premium include ad-free videos, background playback, and offline video downloading, along with YouTube Music Premium. As of now, YouTube Premium and Premium reportedly have over 80 million paid subscribers. YouTube currently has over 2 billion users with 42.9% of global Internet users accessing it monthly.

Google is offering a new deal to their new YouTube Premium subscribers – three months of free access to the games included in Stadia Pro. This was first spotted by 9to5Google, and the free trial would give users an opportunity to see if cloud gaming is their thing.

YouTube has limited the free months only to new Premium Subscribers. The promotion will only be available in countries such as the US, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. You can claim the three-month trial until January 31st, 2022, and you have until February 14th, 2022 at 9 AM PT to redeem it.

If you cancel the subscription, you will be charged Pro’s $9.99 per month price once the three months end and you will lose access to games that you did not purchase.

Stadia Pro includes the benefits of a game library and higher resolution video quality for the games you stream. The games include modern entries like Hitman, smaller indie titles like Floor Kids, and classic options like Killer Queen Black. You will have to purchase the newer releases.

You can redeem your three months starting today. Stadia also offers games like Destiny 2 and Super Bomberman R Online to try for free with just a Google account: no need to provide a credit card just to find out if Stadia works for you.