According to the latest report, YouTube is testing out a “high-bitrate” option for 1080p video which will be paid feature as YouTube Premium will be required
This is smart as a lot of people simply use 4K for the better bitrate. Having a high bitrate at 1080p would address that desire without the increased cost from 4K.
But also one of the reason why 1080p YouTube videos looks crap now as YouTube must have lowered the bitrate, separating 1080p videos into lower and higher frame rate. So, YouTube basically will threaten to downgrade video quality if you don’t pay up.
YouTube’s longtime CEO Susan Wojcicki recently resigned after 9 yrs, so after the new CEO comes this first change.