With YouTube Premium, users will be able to watch videos in 1080p Premium, a new quality category that increases the bit rate. “An improved bitrate provides more information per pixel, which translates to a higher quality viewing experience,” explains YouTube. The company says that only videos that have been uploaded with a resolution of 1080p can be upscaled, and that this option will not be available in live broadcasts, Shorts and videos uploaded with resolutions higher or lower than 1080p.
The bit rate or bitrate it is especially important in videos where there is a lot of detail and movement. YouTube has not revealed what bitrate the 1080p Premium videos will have. On YouTube, the bitrate range of a 1080p 60fps video is 4,500 to 9,000 Kbps, while a 1080p video drops to a range of 3,000 to 6,000 Kbps.
Regarding the rest of the improvements, YouTube Premium users can now better control the videos they want to watch next without interrupting what is playing thanks to the function of adding to the queue on mobile devices and tablets, while the function to continue watching allows you to continue playback right where you left off regardless of device (iOS, Android, and desktop). In addition, the service adds joint viewing using FaceTime on iOS through SharePlay, an option that already exists on Android with Google Meet.
Finally we have Smart Downloads, a function with which recommended videos are automatically added to the library so that they can be viewed offline. Downloads stop if you lose your Wi-Fi connection or if your device is low on storage space. Smart Downloads can be disabled.