Is YouTube downgrading 1080p? Viewers fume over reduced video quality

It seems YouTube users have begun noticing a major problem with the quality of videos lately. In the past few months, and even more so recently, viewers and creators are both noticing a considerable drop in the bitrate of 1080p videos. The most recent post highlighting terrible quality in 1080p comes from a viewer who tried watching the latest ThatMumboJumbo video playing Minecraft. 

This thread has garnered close to two thousand upvotes and over a hundred comments. Upon testing the video quality myself, I notice it was actually way worse than I thought. But this does seem to be an extreme case because I wasn’t able to find any other video that had such bad quality on 1080p.

That said, it’s hard to ignore many other similar complaints from users who’ve been experiencing the same thing. For instance, here’s another post on the YouTube subreddit highlighting poor video quality even with 1080p selected.

Similarly, there are dozens of recent posts about the problem on X as well. I’ve shared a screenshot below for reference:

Beyond casual viewers, small-channel creators are seeing the same thing. They upload pristine 1080p files only to find YouTube’s compressor churning them into something that looks like early YouTube days. Some suggest a sly nudge: degrade standard 1080p so Premium’s “enhanced bitrate” feels worth the extra cost. YouTube did roll out a special 1080p option for subscribers back in 2023, promising higher bitrates and smoother color. That experiment always included the caveat that the regular HD setting wouldn’t change. But none of that has quelled the rumors.

One user even shared a comparison between the original video and the one uploaded to YouTube. The different is very noticeable.

In fact, ever since the platform added the 1080p Premium option, users have been speculating whether YouTube will just get rid of the regular 1080p quality and make it a Premium-only feature. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case and will likely not happen anytime in the near future.

Moving on, the technical side of this issue might involve video codecs. YouTube primarily uses two: avc1 for 1080p and lower qualities, and vp09 for resolutions higher than 1080p. There is a common belief that smaller channels often get the avc1 codec, which tends to degrade quality more. Larger channels, however, often get the vp09 codec even for 1080p videos. Well, at least that’s what people speculate, there’s no concrete evidence to back up the claims.

It’s likely that YouTube is sneakily trying to drop the bitrate for regular 1080p videos to save on storage costs. Every second of 1080p at 8 to 10 megabits per second consumes bandwidth and storage. Newer codecs like AV1 can squeeze files tighter, but only on videos flagged for it. The rest still run on the older H.264 system, which can choke under heavy load. YouTube’s official support pages still recommend bitrates between 8 and 10 Mbps for 1080p, but users swear they’re seeing half that in practice.

YouTube hasn’t issued a fresh statement to address these latest grievances. Their last word stressed that standard 1080p remains untouched and that subscribers get an extra-rich version. Meanwhile, forums are buzzing with workarounds. People share browser extensions like Enhanced H264ify to force AV1 playback. Others upscale their own uploads to 1440p or 4K just to trick the system into applying higher-quality codecs at 1080p. It’s a digital game of cat and mouse.

At the end of the day, until YouTube mentions anything officially, everything here is just based on anecdotal evidence. But it’s clear that many users are claiming to notice that the regular 1080p video quality has been downgraded considerably over the past few months. As usual, we’ll keep track of the situation and will post an update if there’s something to share.

In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on the quality of 1080p videos on YouTube lately. Have you noticed a drop in video quality? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured image AI-generated with Grok