Jump to content

HD Movie Purchases Google Movies/YouTube reduced to 480p on the web

From Consumer_Action_Taskforce

Work in progress.

There is a 2020 article https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/20/your-movie-purchases-from-google-can-only-be-played-in-480p-on-the-web-even-if-you-bought-the-hd-version/ stating:

YouTube said that they had to disable HD playback on the web due to a technical issue they recently uncovered — without diving any deeper into what exactly that was. The cap will be removed once the problem is fixed, though there’s no timeline for that, so it could take days or even weeks before things get back to normal. While there’s no mention of TV shows in YouTube’s response, the quality limit may apply to them as well as movies.

The cap has never been removed. I purchased movies and TV shows in HD before October 20, 2020 in 4k/HD resolution (surcharge), namely

  • The Martian (Purchased on Jul 14, 2018)
  • Total Recall (Purchased on Mar 27, 2019)
  • Rick and Morty Season 4 (Purchased on Oct 6, 2020)

(unable to upload screenshot, but: Chrome for Windows limits quality for these HD purchases to 480p since late October 2020 while originally these purchases were available in HD in Webbrowsers)

I contacted Google about this issue after it was clear that Google does not intent to remove the cap. The response was

HD playback may be unavailable for streaming on a web browser, except for Safari for HD streaming only. Our teams are aware of this and are looking into it. We've updated this detail in our Help Center as well.

You can still stream in HD using one of the supported devices listed below, just like @rjlefty96 mentioned!

  • iPhone and iPad
  • Most HD capable Android devices, such as the YouTube Signature Devices
  • Select 2013 and newer smart TV models
  • Android TV/Google TV
  • Chromecast
  • Apple TV
  • Xbox One
  • PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3
  • Roku
(... 10 emails later without a resolution ...)

In order to provide you with the best service possible, I'm forwarding your case over to the team of specialists at Google Play to help you further with your refund.

(... email from specialist team ...)

Since you may still watch your movies in higher HD on a mobile device by using the Google TV app, we are unfortunately unable to compensate for this.

If this decision isn't what you were hoping for, you can leave a feedback for Google. Your suggestions help us improve our products, and we're always grateful to receive ideas, feedback and requests.

...

I genuinely wish there were alternative options available. Nevertheless, your case was managed in accordance with our existing policy, which dictates why we are unable to process your refund or enable higher definition playback of your purchased content on a web browser.

Basically confirming that the cap will not be removed but that this is in accordance with existing policy. Happy to upload full emails. I'm confused why this never caught wider traction / triggered a class action.

Retrieved from "https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=HD_Movie_Purchases_Google_Movies/YouTube_reduced_to_480p_on_the_web&oldid=6780"