YouTube 4K VP9 HDR vs 8K AV1 HDR encode quality
Comparison of YouTube’s HDR encoding quality: 4K VP9 HDR vs 8K AV1 HDR vs original 4K export
YouTube has encoded the video Fire performance at Homerton College, HDR into the following formats:
- 4K VP9 HDR (337): 22.6 Mbps (vp9.2, webm, 30 fps)
- 8K AV1 HDR (702): 39.7 Mbps (av01, mp4, 30 fps)
We will compare it with the original 4K 30 fps HEVC export from DaVinci Resolve which is 233 Mbps.
The 8K YouTube encode was created by having DaVinci Resolve render the timeline at 4K and encode at 8K, before uploading to YouTube.
HDR screenshots best viewed on a HDR capable computer (Windows 11 + HDR ON + Chrome, Macbook Pro with XDR display + Chrome)
We will compare an identical frame at the 2:04 timestamp from all three videos.
100% crops (Face)
The 8K AV1 HDR encode shows less compression artifacts compared to the 4K VP9 HDR encode, though it still resolves significantly less detail than the original 4K HEVC export.
100% crops (Left upper arm)
Surprisingly, we can see some macroblocking artefacts on the 8K AV1 HDR video which does not exist on the 4K VP9 HDR video.
100% crops (Left flame)
The 4K VP9 HDR encode shows more compression artefacts.
Full size screenshots
1. 4K VP9 HDR (22.6 Mbps)
2. 8K AV1 HDR (39.7 Mbps)
3. 4K HEVC export from DaVinci Resolve (233 Mbps)