YouTube is trying to make 4K video playback a member-only function of the paid plan 'YouTube Premium'

YouTube has a paid subscription plan ' YouTube Premium ', which allows you to play YouTube without ads and play YouTube Music offline or in the background. And newly, YouTube may also be making 4K resolution video playback an exclusive benefit for YouTube Premium members.

YouTube is asking some users to purchase a Premium subscription to watch in 4K | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/03/youtube-is-asking-some-users-to-purchase-a-premium-subscription-to-watch-in-4k/

From around the first weekend of October 2022, there have been reports on Twitter and Reddit that ``YouTube has asked to upgrade to YouTube Premium to play 4K videos''. Twitter user Alvin said, ``For non-YouTube Premium members, YouTube tested up to 12 types of ads, and then told some users, ``You need to upgrade to YouTube Premium to play videos in 4K. 'I'm notifying you,' he tweeted.

So, after testing up to 12 ads on YouTube for non-Premium users, now some users reported that they also have to get a Premium account just to watch videos in 4K. pic.twitter.com/jJodoAxeDp

—Alvin (@sondesix) October 1, 2022

Even on Reddit, there are multiple reports that `` video playback at 2160p (4K) resolution has become a YouTube Premium limited function ''.

2160p resolution is now premium feature on YouTube : mildyinfuriating
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildyinfuriating/comments/xj6mny/2160p_resolution_is_now_premium_feature_on_youtube/

Can you no longer watch video in 4k without YouTube premium now?
https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/x5m0ly/can_you_no_longer_watch_video_in_4k_without/

It's unclear if this spec change is part of a test, or if YouTube is considering limiting resolutions to 1440p for free users. Overseas media TechCrunch has contacted Google about this matter, but the company has refused to comment.

YouTube has been known to experiment with various tactics to convert free users into paying users, one of the most notorious being the ``up to 11 unskippable ads before long videos start playing''. is displayed.

YouTube is testing ``5 consecutive ads that can not be skipped'', some of which are 11 consecutive cases - GIGAZINE

According to Google, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium have more than 50 million members in total, but the breakdown of each has not been disclosed. The price of these paid plans varies depending on the region, but in Japan, YouTube Music is 980 yen per month and YouTube Premium is 1180 yen per month. In addition, Google reported that YouTube brought in revenue of $ 6.87 billion (about 990 billion yen) in the second quarter of 2022. However, this revenue was far below analyst expectations, so ``It's not unexpected that Google will take new measures to increase YouTube's paid membership,'' TechCrunch points out.