YouTube testing 1080p setting with higher bitrate

[Hanno Labuschagne]

YouTube testing 1080p setting with higher bitrate

Popular video sharing platform YouTube has started testing a higher-quality Full HD (1080p) streaming setting.

Several users who subscribe to the service's Premium plan have started seeing a "1080p Premium" option alongside the typical quality settings.

 

[Vorastra]

And so the monetisation starts.
It's not forget how YouTube used COVID as a convenient excuse to lower bitrates and worsen quality across the board, then never brought them back up.

Now YT brings 1080p back up but wants to charge for it.

Almost like it was a long term strategy and COVID gave them the convenient excuse.

 

[Nerhzelok]

And so the monetisation starts.
It's not forget how YouTube used COVID as a convenient excuse to lower bitrates and worsen quality across the board, then never brought them back up.

Now YT brings 1080p back up but wants to charge for it.

Almost like it was a long term strategy and COVID gave them the convenient excuse.

YoutTube's been charging for premium service/features since 2014, nothing new.

It's a business, after all. And they do pay their content creators, so I don't see the problem.

 

[RedViking]

YoutTube's been charging for premium service/features since 2014, nothing new.

That is not what he is refering to. Read again.

 

[Vorastra]

YoutTube's been charging for premium service/features since 2014, nothing new.

They've never locked bitrates before behind a paywall.

Premium has been useless for most of those years.

 

[RedViking]

And so the monetisation starts.
It's not forget how YouTube used COVID as a convenient excuse to lower bitrates and worsen quality across the board, then never brought them back up.

Now YT brings 1080p back up but wants to charge for it.

Almost like it was a long term strategy and COVID gave them the convenient excuse.

I guess in the end it is their product and they do whatever they think makes the most sense. Your average user won't know the difference anyways.

 

[Nerhzelok]

That is not what he is refering to. Read again.

Sure, 1080p's bitrate took a backpeddle during COVID, never brought it back up, now they're charging for a higher bitrate.

I still don't really see any issue, 2k, 4k and 8k exist, there's more and more content being added, they still need to make money. And they're "testing" it, whether or not it sticks is based on the feedback and if it makes business sense to do so. I believe my point still stands. A business needs to adapt to continue thriving.

 

[Vorastra]

I guess in the end it is their product

And the consumers should complain if they're not happy about it.
Then again, everyone told YT not to get rid of the downvotes, but they still yeeted it.

 

[Nerhzelok]

They've never locked bitrates before behind a paywall.

Premium has been useless for most of those years.

That's debatable, do you have data on that? I have YouTube premium, family package as well.

Consider all the viewers out there who use ad blockers. YouTube and content creators won't get revenue from this stream as a result. So again, they adapt to make money to keep existing.

 

[RedViking]

And the consumers should complain if they're not happy about it.
Then again, everyone told YT not to get rid of the downvotes, but they still yeeted it.

I use Premium. So nothing to complain about.

But I guess when you get something for "free" and it is taken away, the screaming will start.

 

[Vorastra]

I use Premium. So nothing to complain about.

But I guess when you get something for "free" and it is taken away, the screaming will start.

It's not free when they were making money off people watching ads.

Also that's why you don't care. The need to justify the payment.

You'll care when they add a Super Premium in a few years though.

Or not, since you'll probably just buy that too.

 

[Vorastra]

That's debatable, do you have data on that? I have YouTube premium, family package as well.

YouTube Red, which is what Premium was called for years, literally used to be a joke online because of how useless it was. Especially the "free" music service they bundled which was dogsht.

do you have data on that?

Yes, I'm running multiple group studies in 50 countries, as I type this.

 

[RedViking]

It's not free when they were making money off people watching ads.

Also that's why you don't care. The need to justify the payment.

It's not that I don't care. That's a bit emotional. Most use ad blockers anyways. You will also notice I said "free". We know nothing is really free.


I do feel for you guys paying in adverts. I'm sure YouTube will make some other changes as well as time goes by removing some other entitled features. I'm sure at some point their will even double or triple the premium sub.

 

[Vorastra]

It's not that I don't care. That's a bit emotional.

What's emotional is describing people with concerns as screaming like a baby when it's taken away.

Most use ad blockers anyways. You will also notice I said "free". We know nothing is really free.


I do feel for you guys paying in adverts. I'm sure YouTube will make some other changes as well as time goes by removing some other entitled features. I'm sure at some point their will even double or triple the premium sub.

My point is that people have things that were previously free slowly taken from them and then put behind a paywall, and they seem to be happy about it and not only happy about it but the need to justify it to everyone else as to why it's good.

Usually free services have paid plans that purely add benefits. Not slowly take things away, and then slowly re-add them as paid perks. Which will start happening more and more.

I say this with the idea that eventually YouTube will become a fully paywalled service. It's been happening for years, and will slowly continue.

I don't have an issue with paying. I already pay for streaming services. My issue is taking sht away and then pretending it's something new to be paid for and then people pretend like it's amazing and new.

 

[RedViking]

What's emotional is describing people with concerns as screaming like a baby when it's taken away.


My point is that people have things that were previously free slowly taken from them and then put behind a paywall, and they seem to be happy about it and not only happy about it but the need to justify it to everyone else as to why it's good.

Usually free services have paid plans that purely add benefits. Not slowly take things away, and then slowly re-add them as paid perks. Which will start happening more and more.

I say this with the idea that eventually YouTube will become a fully paywalled service. It's been happening for years, and will slowly continue.

I don't have an issue with paying. I already pay for streaming services. My issue is taking sht away and then pretending it's something new to be paid for and then people pretend like it's amazing and new.

Okay. I'm note sure why people pretend like that. That's a bit dramatic. Not many people I know that is like that.

 

[Grieta Thanburg]

@Vorastra Do you want me to spot you a premium sub? I can add you to the family

 

[Dolby]

Premium has been useless for most of those years.

What ?

Just the lack of adverts has been a huge, huge thing on Premium. That's my only reason for subscribing really

 

[Nerhzelok]

What's emotional is describing people with concerns as screaming like a baby when it's taken away.


My point is that people have things that were previously free slowly taken from them and then put behind a paywall, and they seem to be happy about it and not only happy about it but the need to justify it to everyone else as to why it's good.

Usually free services have paid plans that purely add benefits. Not slowly take things away, and then slowly re-add them as paid perks. Which will start happening more and more.

I say this with the idea that eventually YouTube will become a fully paywalled service. It's been happening for years, and will slowly continue.

I don't have an issue with paying. I already pay for streaming services. My issue is taking sht away and then pretending it's something new to be paid for and then people pretend like it's amazing and new.

I don't think anyone is happy about it, rather understanding that this is how business works..
I also don't believe that people are pretending its something new and amazing, that sounds like hyperbole.

Also remember, they don't really owe you anything. They provided a free service ("free"), you agreed to the terms of use, you began using it, and they reserve the right to change the service over time, as it makes sense for the business to do so.

Edit: Lastly, I really doubt they'll paywall the entire service. This is what YouTube is. As long as they can receive revenue via ads, they'll continue a "freemium" model. So if you and others really want YouTube to continue offering its free services, enable ads or pay for the premium package. It's not just about you getting higher quality features, its the fact you're supporting content creators as well.

Though arguably, it would be better to go to individual content creators Patreon profiles and supporting more directly there (if they have one).

 

[RedViking]

It also takes time for companies to implement something and get it to work.

YouTube Red was just the start and then they improved it over time. Today we have Premium.

 

[Vorastra]

What ?

Just the lack of adverts has been a huge, huge thing on Premium. That's my only reason for subscribing really

Which has been exasperated by YT adding more and more ads.

Do you see the point.