Exclusive: YouTube 1080P Premium feature spotted on free account

YouTube 1080P Premium Enhanced Bitrate quality setting which was previously exclusive to paying subscribers is now available for free accounts also. It was spotted on select content and seems to have been rolled out to select users only.

We first noticed the feature on a football match on Sony Liv’s YouTube channel. Among the quality settings, we saw the 1080P Premium HD option.

The same wasn’t available on several other devices/several other user accounts.

YouTube 1080P Premium on the web (Video: Croatia 0 – 0 Spain | Final | Highlights | UEFA Nations League | 19th June 2023).

This makes us believe that perhaps YouTube is gradually rolling it to all users. If this is in fact a phased release, all of us are likely to get it eventually. Or maybe this is a controlled testing of some kind. 

In any case, here’s what this feature offers:

YouTube 1080P Premium: What’s the benefit?

hey there! some vids are only eligible for an enhanced bitrate if they were only uploaded in 1080p! more info about that here: https://t.co/kVTBc8wifo

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) June 19, 2023

1080P Premium HD was initially an iOS-only feature that too for premium subscribers. However as it was expected, the quality setting has made its way to the web also.

YouTube calls 1080P Premium “an enhanced bitrate version of 1080p,” which condenses more detail per pixel giving a crispier output. 

Note, this option appears when the videos are uploaded in 1080p quality and are heavy on detail and motion.

In its official blog post, YouTube says the 1080P Premium option won’t appear on Live Streams, Shorts, and videos uploaded at resolutions higher or lower than 1080p. 

YouTube also says that YouTube Premium users will have the content set to 1080P Premium by default. When we checked, the content we played also was automatically set to this Enhanced Bitrate option.