YouTube removes 1440p resolution from HDR videos in mobile app

By admin On Nov 6, 2017

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YouTube’s mobile app no longer gives users the option to choose a 1440p resolution to show videos in high dynamic range. The maximum resolution supported is now 1080p.

Previously, the resolution for HDR videos went up to 1440p, or in the case of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, up to 4k. However, if, for example, a Samsung Galaxy S8 is now set to the screen resolution of 2960 x 1440 pixels, 1080p is the maximum resolution that can be chosen in YouTube when playing an HDR video.

It is not clear why resolutions higher than the full HD resolution are no longer supported. The change was noticed by Android Police. The website GSMArena thinks it may be due to the poor display of HDR videos in the YouTube mobile app; for example, with the Google Pixel 2, even at 720p resolution, there would be frame drops and an overall unusable experience.

Google introduced support for HDR videos in the YouTube mobile app in September. Several smartphones support this, such as Google Pixel, LG V30, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 and the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.