YouTube to default in SD quality worldwide for a month

YouTube has announced that it will default to Standard Definition (SD) quality for its videos to ease internet traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report by Bloomberg, YouTube said that it will play videos in SD quality by default. However, users will still be able to watch content in higher definition, but they’ll have to manually switch to that quality.

Streaming videos consume more internet bandwidth compared to other online services, and since more people are staying at home to contain the spread of the virus, the demand can cause some strain in the networks.

Bloomberg says that YouTube doesn’t believe the world will run out of internet bandwidth any time soon, but is implementing the adjustment as a preemptive measure given concerns at the government level.

“We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” Google said in a statement.