![4k video codec 4k video codec](https://thedesk.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Video-Codec.jpg)
![4k video codec 4k video codec](http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/hevc_2018/figures/chart_subj_vs_ssim.png)
So, legacy devices that only support H.264 can play the video, but only up to 1080p resolution.įigure 2. There, you see that the 2K/4K versions are encoded with VP9 (WebM) while 1080p and smaller are H.264. Then I used Uniconverter to examine the files that YouTube created for each video, as shown in Figure 2. In YouTube, I searched for 4K videos and checked which codec YouTube used for the first ten on a Windows computer running Chrome. Here’s where the picture gets a bit murkier. Which Codec Does YouTube Use for 2K and Larger Videos? YouTube encodes popular videos to VP9 format but has a 1080p version available for devices that don’t support VP9. So, even though the file played in Chrome is VP9 there is an H.264 version available.
#4k video codec download
Below that is a screen from the Wondershare Uniconverter, which is the tool I use to download videos from YouTube and other sites.Īs you can see, the tool allows you to choose which version you want to download, and in this instance, shows only H.264 files. In the background is YouTube’s Stats for Nerds showing VP9 encoding for this Seth Meyers video. You see this in Figure 1 below, which has two components. Which Codec Does YouTube Use for 1080p Videos?Īs mentioned before, YouTube encodes all videos to H.264 and adds VP9 or AV1 versions depending upon the view count. So, in all cases, there will be an H.264 version that you can watch but not beyond 1080p.” However, YouTube only creates H.264 versions of those videos at 1080p and lower. YouTube appears to encode all videos larger than 1080p with VP9. My response was that “YouTube encodes all videos to H.264, and adds VP9 and AV1 for videos with high view counts. “What if my device does not support AV1, and I click on a video with millions of view counts (suppose it is encoded with AV1)? Then my request will be redirected to the same video encoded with VP9? And if my device does not support VP9 either, the request is redirected to the same video with H264?” The conclusion was H.264 for videos with a few thousand views or less, VP9 for videos with around 3,500 views and higher, transitioning to AV1 for videos with view counts in the mid-millions. In a recent post, I explored which codecs YouTube used for videos ranging from a few hundred views to a few million. This post identifies the H.264 versions also created by YouTube for devices incompatible with VP9/AVp and larger videos.
![4k video codec 4k video codec](https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/codec.png)
YouTube encodes some videos using the AV1 and VP9 codecs.