A user on Reddit spotted on YouTube that the app offered him or her a higher bitrate without increasing the resolution. The “1080p Premium” option is supposedly reserved for users who pay for YouTube Premium.
The option would increase the quality of the stream without increasing the number of pixels in the video. The compression then decreases. YouTube gave no further explanation to the user on the option. The ‘regular’ 1080p option continued to exist alongside this option. It appears to be a very limited test.
YouTube conducts more frequent testing in this area. Late in 2022, the video platform confirmed that it had conducted a test where 4K resolutions were part of the paid Premium package . To date, that has not led to the resolution being put behind a paywall. YouTube said it was trying to figure out the preferences of subscribers and non-subscribers.
During the discussion of the quarterly figures at the end of 2022, Google stated that there is “a lot of momentum” behind YouTube, among others. In addition, YouTube recently has a new CEO; Susan Wojciki left after 9 years.
