YouTube stops experiment where watching in 4k is a paid option

YouTube has stopped an experiment where watching videos in 4k view requires a Premium subscription. The 4k display with videos will therefore remain free for the time being. The video platform does not give a reason for stopping the test.

YouTube will let you know via Twitter on Monday that it has pulled the plug on the experiment. “We have completely stopped this experiment. Viewers should now be able to access the 4k resolution without a Premium subscription,” the platform writes. YouTube has not said whether the idea of ​​linking 4k videos to a Premium subscription has been definitively shelved. The platform asks users via his Japanese Twitter page to provide feedback on the experiment.

In September, several YouTube users shared screenshots of the paid option. In the screenshots in question, the option to switch to 4k reads ‘Premium – tap to upgrade’. This concerns the YouTube Premium subscription, which costs 12 euros per month in the Benelux and, among other things, removes the advertisements from videos. Earlier this month, YouTube confirmed that it was conducting an experiment where the platform was trying to figure out the preferences of subscribers and non-subscribers.