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Hold onto your remotes, YouTube TV viewers! Your TV streaming experience is about to get a little better thanks to a new setting called 1080p Enhanced. After a few Reddit users posted about this feature showing up, YouTube has now responded and confirmed they are “rolling out a 1080p Enhanced option for YouTube TV and Primetime Channels subscribers.” But before you run to check your quality settings, it looks like the rollout will be slightly delayed.
So, what’s different about 1080p Enhanced? While the resolution remains at 1080p, the video will look sharper thanks to the amount of video data being transferred. Think of bitrate as the data highway for your video stream – the higher the bitrate, the smoother and richer the picture. An increase in bitrate translates to less compression, sharper details, and an overall better viewing experience.
We’re rolling out a 1080p Enhanced option for YouTube TV and Primetime Channels subscribers. The option will be available on updated 4K-compatible streaming devices and delivers our highest video quality. Viewers can navigate to video quality settings at any time to update their preferred setting. To ensure access to 1080p Enhanced and the best possible viewing experience, we recommend you upgrade to a 4K-compatible streaming device.
TeamYouTube_Sam on Reddit
When it shows up, you will be able to turn on the 1080p Enhanced option through the video quality settings on 4K streaming devices. Based on some comments on Reddit, it looks like it’s going to be available for all the same channels that have 1080p60 as an option but it’s unclear if 1080p Enhanced will be enabled by default on supported streams. And yes, you can get a better picture with the 4K Plus add-on, but this new 1080p Enhanced video quality setting should give you the best viewing experience on standard YouTube TV.
As for the delay, YouTube says they have identified a bug that is preventing users from “manually selecting this option in their settings” but they are currently working on a solution. They haven’t provided a timeline, unfortunately, so if you’re like me and are excited to see what this new setting looks like, you’re going to have to hold tight for a bit.
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