At the end of April 2024, the YouTube app on my LG Smart TV began to reduce the video to 480p quality. If you can believe it, YouTube still has not corrected the issue after a year. It is very upset that I have documented the story to share.
YouTube forces low quality for some videos
First, I could not find out why some videos fell to 480p, while others were played in Max resolution. After the test, I reduced the problem: this only happens when the playback speed of 60fps video increases.
Standard 30 or 24fps videos are not subject to this problem, and if you leave the speed of playback on 1x, the quality does not change. You cannot fix it again by increasing the quality; By doing this the speed is set back to 1x.
The frame rate, measured in FPS (frame per second), shows how many individual images in a video. More frames per second, smooth movement appears. Thus, 60fps is most beneficial for videos with fast moving action.
Lots of gaming channels upload to 60fps as a high frame rate resulted in smooth gameplay. And because gaming is one of my primary interests, which I (and I am sure that many others) look at youtube, subject to this problem.
Diagnosis of low quality problem
Between my experiments and reading the experiences of others on the forum post, I have tried to collect more and more information about this problem.
I confirmed that this device is not an issue. The problem occurs with the YouTube app for any TV platform, including streaming boxes and game console like native smart TV apps, Roku and Apple TV. I have experienced it on many TVs on my LG TV, Roku, PS5, and Exfinity Flex Box.
The problem does not occur immediately on the affected video. When a video is set to 60fps quality option (720p60 or above), changing the playback speed above 1x will change quality Lesson for 480p – but it takes about 20 seconds to change. This is a disgusting moment, especially with half the frame rate.
Enable the Settings menu on any YouTube video, enabled Statistics for Nard The box shows you technical data. One of the Reddit Post about this problem (Ever since the intermediaries were removed and Stored here) It is mentioned that you can see a state change when the drop is effective, which I have verified. On 1080p60 videos, Current/optimum race Price is 1920×1080@60As you increase speed, Optimal race is set to 854×480@30 And the quality becomes 480p after a moment.
Below is a small video showing the problem; Note how the quality falls up to 480p around the 21-second mark.
I usually watch videos at 1.5x speed on the highest quality available. Adjusting the playback speed into 1.25x usually has the same effect. In some cases, a 60fps video will not be affected by it, or fall from 1080p to 720p (or 2160p to 1080p). It is better than 480p, but it should still not have a problem.
Meanwhile, some videos (usually from small channels) do not even contain 480p options. In those cases, this behavior means that you are looking at 360p – a terrible fate.
YouTube premium support does not help
I commented on my conclusions on Reddit, with the official support forums of YouTube. As you will expect any issue with a huge company like YouTube/Google, it is difficult to get a response.
I have YouTube premium (and recently switched to premium light); Since the premium support actually comes back to you. I complained about this experience and asked for a credit or corresponding because I was paying for a sub-experience. The representative told me that “the video of the video is not part of the premium profit” and so I will not be able to take anything back. (Meanwhile, YouTube’s 1080p premium option is also subject to this issue.)
The representative also assured me several times that YouTube was in this case, saying “it would be raised and decided” and “something that our engineers are trying to fix as soon as possible”. I later complained for the second time and a refund was given for a month, which also canceled my premium membership. However, using YouTube on TV without premium is unbearable due to advertisements, so I quickly signed up again.
I reached again after this issue was still going on, I reached again. The premium representative told me that the team could not react directly to the engineers, but encouraged me to send the response. It is possible YouTube on TVS feedback page And through setting Page on any affected video by choosing Response> Video is poor qualityI have done hundreds of times in the last year, but it has not made any difference.
It is “intended behavior” to offer DVD quality in 2025
I had a closest link on youtube This YouTube support forum pageA “Gold Product Expert” checked in some time to say that he had increased the problem to the team. The final blow came in January 2025 when he said:
I am sorry that it is disappointing. The team only confirmed me that this is intended behavior. You can use Send feedback feature to report your dissatisfaction (SIC).
Apparently, the representative told me earlier that this is not true. The speed of the growing video works for years until this problem appears, so I cannot believe that it is deliberately. As a reminder, 480p is DVD quality– The same resolution in the form of PS2 (launched in 2000). It is unacceptable that any modern video service will force you to see at such a low resolution, especially on a large 4K display.
Then, this problem does not affect other platforms where you see YouTube. I can watch 2160p60 (4K, 60fps) videos on 2x on my iPhone, computer, or other non-TV devices and have zero problems. If intentionally on TV, why is Youtube not deliberately serving other platforms low quality? My download speed is more than 700Mbps. There is no reason that youtube cannot serve videos at high quality and high speed; Today’s equipment can handle it.
This is even more disappointing when YouTube is now providing playback speed up to 4x on some devices and Revealed a YouTube blog post The TV has become the platform where people watch YouTube the most. If they want to increase the base speed, then how is all those people to see 480p content on 4K TV? Over how time videos can be done, it benefits a lot of people.
Let’s also do not forget that other video platforms like Instagram and X allow you to increase the playback speed of the video without losing quality. If they can do this, why not YouTube?
YouTube app on TV has a lot of other issues
One of the biggest issues with smart TVs is how the buggy can be their apps; YouTube app is no exception to TV. During the first version of the issue, the affected videos start at a lower resolution than sometimes maximum available, especially when I increased the speed during that session. But manually re -changing the quality determines it for that video.
The YouTube app for my Cockast Flex Box got the playback speed option a few months ago, but the subtitle (and sometimes audio/video) had to go out of the sink. YouTube randomly resets my caption visual settings every time, and there have also been minor view issues such as video title overlapping. None of this should be part of the premium experience, but at least the previous issues were set within a short time.
A supreme disappointing issue
The worst YouTube problem is to be forced to see in 480p for more than a year. Yes, I could see YouTube on another device or slowly, but I don’t want. I don’t think it wants to watch videos on my greatest, fast screen and give them momentum so that I can enjoy the video in a short time.
It is big for a company that it is focusing too much to offer so much quality on a platform, focusing too much on it. A new YouTube app for TV platforms is coming soon, and while the new paint job is good, it really needs to fix this main issue. YouTube app has received a lot of features updates since it started, but no one has addressed it.
If you have also dealt with this problem, then I would like to hear from you in the comments given below. Hopefully, youtube will take notice and fix it. I almost forgot what it looks like watching videos above 480p.
