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.