YouTube still forces purchased movies to stream in 480p on the web

Ben Schoon | Dec 12 2023 - 6:45 am PT

Back in 2020, amid the worst of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Google announced that it would cap streaming quality on YouTube to 480p for purchased movies when watching through the web. Today, that restriction remains in place, despite further emphasis on the experience going forward.

In October 2020, Google confirmed a “temporary” measure that would force purchased movies and TV shows to stream at a maximum of 480p on YouTube through the web. The change, YouTube said, was due to a “technical issue” and no further specifics were ever mentioned.

As of December 2023, this limit is still in place. YouTube on the web will still only stream movies in 480p.

Several movies we tested are unable to stream beyond 480p. Anecdotally, the quality looks better than 480p, but “Stats for Nerds” confirms that the stream is indeed merely 854×480.

Top comment by Liam Rosales

Liked by 6 people

My theory is that some people might download movies in it's full resolution through those YT downloaders, so YouTube has to limit the video quality on PC and Mac to 480p

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The real kicker, though, is that YouTube will stream those exact same films at full 2160p resolution through a smart TV app or a mobile app. It’s only on the web that YouTube so drastically limits playback resolution.

While watching movies via YouTube’s website was a bit of a niche use case years ago, that’s quickly changed in the time since. In 2021, Google discontinued the Play Movies & TV app across smart TV platforms, and now it’s doing the same for the web.

As of January 17, 2024, Google Play Movies & TV will end playback on the web, pushing users over to YouTube.com. Technically speaking, this is probably an upgrade to the experience. The web app for Play Movies & TV is very limited, not even offering a selection for playback resolution, and it’s seemingly limited to 480p as well (and it looks much worse).

But, as Google prepares to force more users into this experience, the company really needs to lift this restriction. Having web access to a library of purchased movies rocks, but the severe quality limits imposed by Google, seemingly needlessly, really take away from that experience.