YouTube brings high-quality 1080p option to the web

Months after YouTube launched an enhanced bitrate 1080p option for Premium subscribers on mobile, the platform is now bringing the video quality to the web. The company rolled out the higher-quality 1080p on iOS devices in April after an initial experiment in February.

Bringing the experience to the web allows more Premium members to watch “extra crisp and clear” videos, YouTube wrote in its April blog post. Enhanced bitrate is particularly great for videos with a lot of detail and motion, such as sports-related and gaming videos.

Image Credits: YouTube

It’s also important to note that non-enhanced 1080p is still available to non-Premium users. Standard 1080p has been available since November 2009. YouTube recently increased the price of its Premium plan, so if individual viewers want higher video quality, they have to pay $13.99/month, up from $11.99.

The enhanced 1080p for Premium subscribers is also available on other devices, such as TV and connected devices like Chromecasts and video game consoles, a company told TechCrunch. It’s rolling out to Android devices starting today.

Streaming service YouTube TV revealed in a Reddit post in April that it’s testing a higher bitrate for live 1080p content.

Updated 8/7/23 at 12:50 p.m. ET with comment from YouTube.