Encoding

We suggest the following format options for high quality uploads to YouTube. Please note that if you are already delivering a previously approved format, your workflow may not need to change. Please consult your partner operations contact to determine which format is best for you. For more info, please read the Delivery Requirements page.

These specs differ from the High Quality Specs for YouTube User-Generated Content. Please contact your partner operations contact with any questions about these differences.

4K HDR/SDR Parameters

Resolutions	3840x2160 (16:9 content or 16:9 with letterboxing per matting guidelines below)
Pixel Aspect Ratio	Pixel Aspect Ratio of 1:1 (square pixels)
Frame Rates	23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94, 60 Native frame rate only. Content containing duplicate or telecined frames will be rejected. Mixed content will be considered on a case-by-case basis – please contact your partner operations contact.
Matting	16:9 frame size delivered with letterboxing will be accepted. If content contains pillarboxing (black on left and right), windowboxing (black on all sides), or is 4:3 or 1.43:1 LTBX, the content should be cropped to active pixel area only.

4K HDR/SDR Format Options

4K SDR Profile

Video Profile

Attribute	Specification
Codec	Apple ProRes 422 HQ
Containers	QuickTime (.mov)
Bit Depth	10 bit
Color Space	ITU-R BT.709
Scan Type	Progressive
Notes	Officially licensed Apple ProRes encoder must be used. *Edit lists are not allowed as they cause the file not to transcode correctly and/or loss of A/V sync.

Audio Profile

Attribute	Specification
Codec	LPCM, 16 or 24 bit, at least 48kHz
Option 1 (5.1 + Stereo) – Preferred	Track 1: L R C LFE Ls Rs Track 2: Lt Rt
Option 2 (5.1 + Stereo)	Track 1: L Track 2: R Track 3: C Track 4: LFE Track 5: Ls Track 6: Rs Track 7: Lt Track 8: Rt *Also acceptable for Track 7 to be a composite stereo.
Option 3 (5.1 + Stereo)	Track 1: L R C LFE Ls Rs Track 2: Lt Track 3: Rt
Option 4 (Stereo Only)	Track 1: Lt Track 2: Rt
Option 5 (Stereo Only)	Track 1: Lt Rt

Note on audio channel assignments for Audio Profile - 4K SDR

Channel assignments must be set in the file metadata. Channel assignments in ProRes .mov files can easily be set after export/transcode using QuickTime 7 Pro. "Mono" is not an acceptable channel assignment. For content that is truly 2-channel mono, please assign channels as "Left" and "Right". Channels that are not assigned correctly may result in delays in publishing or in your asset being rejected. Assignments of "Left" (L) and "Right" (R) can be used instead of "Left Total" (LT) and "Right Total" (RT) in stereo tracks.

4K HDR Profile

Content Upload

Google Play Movies & TV requires that any 4K HDR content provided is delivered with a 4K SDR version accompanying (includes trailers). HDR and SDR versions should be the identical cut/edit, frame rate and duration with 100% frame accuracy, so that ancillary assets such as closed captions and audio will sync with both. Audio from SDR Master will be used with both SDR and HDR video. 4K content that is not mastered as HDR can be delivered as a single SDR deliverable.

It is Google’s Preference to receive content that is truly 4K, however content that has been up-res’d from a 2K DI will also be accepted.

4K HDR deliverables must be wrapped in a Matroska .mkv container and should contain HDR-specific metadata. (see below)

Video Profile

Attribute	Specification
Codec	Apple ProRes 4444
Containers	Matroska (.mkv)
Bit Depth	10 bit or 12 bit
Color Space	ITU-R BT.2020
Scan Type	Progressive
Notes	Officially licensed Apple ProRes encoder must be used. *Edit lists are not allowed as they cause the file to not transcode correctly and/or loss of A/V sync.

Audio Profile

Attribute

Specification

Codec

LPCM, 16 or 24 bit, at least 48kHz

5.1 + Stereo

Track 1: L R C LFE Ls Rs

Track 2: Lt Rt

Stereo Only

Track 1: Lt Rt

Additional Video Metadata - 4K HDR

In order for the video signal to be correctly interpreted as HDR, the data should be encoded with:

(transfer function index) -color_trc =16 (metadata smpte 2084, PQ)
(color primaries index) -color_primaries = 9 : sets metadata for BT.2020 color primaries
(matrix coefficients index) -colorspace = 9 : stes metadata for matrix coefficients to BT.2020

SMPTE ST 2086 Mastering Display Color Volume Metadata (Content-Specific)

Excerpt from High-Dynamic-Range-HDR-Ecosystem.pdf:

SMPTE ST2086 “Mastering Display Color Volume Metadata supporting High Luminance and
Wide Color Gamut Images” will be used to describe the capabilities of the display used to master
the content, which includes the CIE (x,y) chromaticity coordinates of the RGB Primaries and
White Point of the mastering display, in addition to the minimum and maximum luminance of the
mastering display. If traditional mastering practices are followed during content creation, the
range of colors and luminance values encoded in the mastered video signal will be limited to the
range of colors and luminance values that can be shown on the mastering display. ST2086 may
be included in the encoded stream for both SDR and HDR contents.

"max-cll" and "max-fall"

Also to be included in metadata are "max-cll" and "max-fall" which correspond to the maximum content light level and maximum frame average light level in cd/m^2 (nits) in the video.

Example: For a mastering monitor with color primaries of DCI-P3 D65:

These coordinates are representation with rational numbers in HDMI and other video specs (using a denominator of 50,000 for chroma and 10,000 for luma). The corresponding setting for a mastering display with DCI-P3 and min luminance of 0.01 and max luminance of 1000 nits is:

Example:

- master-display="G(13250,34500)B(7500,3000)R(34000,16000)WP(15635,16450)L(10000000,100)"
- max-cll="1000,300"

*Max CLL and Max FALL values should be integers only

Open Source MKV Wrapping Tools

HD Common Parameters (apply to all 3 format options below)

Resolutions	1920x1080 (16:9 content or 16:9 with letterboxing per matting guidelines below) 1440x1080 (4:3 content only) 1280x720 (16:9 content or 16:9 with letterboxing per matting guidelines below) 960x720 (4:3)
Pixel Aspect Ratio	Pixel Aspect Ratio of 1:1 (square pixels)
Frame Rates	23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30 Native frame rate only. Content containing duplicate or telecined frames will be rejected. Mixed content will be considered on a case-by-case basis -- please contact your partner operations contact.
Matting	16:9 frame size delivered with letterboxing will be accepted. If content contains pillarboxing (black on left and right), windowboxing (black on all sides), or is 4:3 LTBX, the content should be cropped to active pixel area only.

SD Common Parameters (apply to all 3 format options below)

Resolutions	4x3 - 720x480, 720x576, 768x576 (square pixels), 640x480 (square pixels) 16x9 - 720x480 (NTSC 16x9 with anamorphic flag set), 720x576 (PAL 16x9 with anamorphic flag set), 1024x576 (square pixels), 854x480 (square pixels) *720x404 will be accepted but may result in lower quality outputs Content should be delivered in its Original Aspect Ratio.
Pixel Aspect Ratio	Aspect Ratio flag and/or "pasp" atom (for .mov files) must be set to correct aspect ratio (4:3, 16:9 or 1:1 for square pixels)
Frame Rates	23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30 Native frame rate only. Content containing duplicate or telecined frames will be rejected. Mixed content will be considered on a case-by-case basis -- please contact your partner operations contact.
Matting	16:9 frame size delivered with letterboxing will be accepted. If content contains pillarboxing (black on left and right), windowboxing (black on all sides), or is 4:3 LTBX, then content should be cropped to active pixel area only.

HD/SD Format Options

Option 1 - ProRes 422 HQ

Video Profile

Attribute	Specification
Codec	Apple ProRes 422 HQ
Color Space	HD - ITU-R BT.709 SD - ITU-R BT.601
Bitrate	HD - Variable Bitrate, expected ~110 Mbps SD - Variable Bitrate, expected ~40-60 Mbps
Scan Type	23.976, 24, 25 - Progressive 29.97 - Interlaced or Progressive
Notes	Edit lists are not allowed as these cause the file not to transcode correctly and/or loss of A/V sync.

Audio Profile

Attribute	Specification
Codec	LPCM, 16 or 24 bit, at least 48kHz
Option 1 (5.1 + Stereo) -- preferred	Track 1: L R C LFE Ls Rs Track 2: Lt Rt
Option 2 (5.1 + Stereo)	Track 1: L Track 2: R Track 3: C Track 4: LFE Track 5: Ls Track 6: Rs Track 7: Lt Track 8: Rt *Also acceptable for Track 7 to be a composite stereo.
Option 3 (5.1 + Stereo)	Track 1: L R C LFE Ls Rs Track 2: Lt Track 3: Rt
Option 4 (Stereo Only)	Track 1: Lt Track 2: Rt
Option 5 (Stereo Only)	Track 1: Lt Rt

Note on audio channel assignments

Channel assignments must be set in the file metadata. Channel assignments in ProRes .mov files can easily be set after export/transcode using QuickTime 7 Pro. "Mono" is not an acceptable channel assignment. For content that is truly 2-channel mono, please assign channels as "Left" and "Right." Channels that are not assigned correctly may result in delays in publishing or in your asset being rejected. Assignments of "Left" (L) and "Right" (R) can be used instead of "Left Total" (LT) and "Right Total" (RT) in stereo tracks.

ProRes Content Eligibility

Due to the additional processing time required to process large ProRes files, only certain types of content can be accepted as ProRes at this time.

Supported

TV - Library/Back Catalog TV, Next Day TV
Movies - New Release movies delivered more than 2 weeks prior to avail start date and Library/Back Catalog movies

Not Currently Supported

Movies - New Release movies delivered less than 2 weeks prior to avail start date

Option 2 - H.264 Codec

Video Profile

Attribute	Specification
Containers	.mp4 .mov
Codec	H.264
Profile	High
Bitrate	SD (fewer than 720 lines) - 15 Mbps 720 lines - 50 Mbps 1080 lines - 60 Mbps
Scan type	Progressive Native frame rate content should be deinterlaced. Telecined content should be inverse telecined to original frame rate. Note: Content with blended frames or interlacing artifacts will be rejected.
GOP Structure	IBBP (M=3, GOP Length not to exceed ½ of frame rate)
Color Space	4:2:2 (preferred) If 4:2:2 color space is not available, please use 4:2:0
Notes	Edit lists are not allowed as these cause loss of A/V sync. moov atom must be present and at the front of the file.

Audio Profile

Attribute	Specification
Audio Codec	PCM (preferred) AAC-LC
Audio Bitrate	>192 Kbps for Stereo >384 Kbps for 5.1
Audio Sample Rate	48kHz
Audio Configuration	PCM Stereo Stream 1 (Lt/Rt) Stereo + 5.1 Stream 1 (Lt/Rt) Stream 2 (L/R/C/LFE/Ls/Rs) AAC-LC Stereo Stream 1 (Lt/Rt) Stereo + 5.1 Stream 1 (Lt/Rt) Stream 2 (C/L/R/Ls/Rs/LFE)

Option 3 - MPEG-2 Transport Stream

Video Profile

Attribute	Specification
Containers	MPEG-2 Transport Stream (.mpg, .mpeg, .ts)
Codec	MPEG-2
Profile	SD: Main@Main HD: 422@High
Bitrate	SD (fewer than 720 lines): 50Mbps HD (720 lines or higher): 80Mbps
Scan type	Progressive Native frame rate content should be deinterlaced. Telecined content should be inverse telecined to original frame rate. Note: Content with blended frames or interlacing artifacts will be rejected.
GOP Structure	IBBP (M=3, GOP Length not to exceed ½ of frame rate)
Color Space	4:2:2 (preferred) If 4:2:2 color space is not available, please use 4:2:0.

Audio Profile

Attribute	Specification
Audio Codec	s302m MP2 MPEG-1 Layer 2
Audio Bitrate	>192 Kbps for Stereo >384 Kbps for 5.1
Audio Sample Rate	48kHz
Audio Configuration	s302m Stereo: Stream 1 (Lt/Rt) 5.1 + Stereo: Stream 1 (L/R/C/LFE/Ls/Rs/Lt/Rt) MP2 and MPEG-1 Layer 2 (Stereo Only) Stereo: Stream 1 (Lt/Rt)