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[GH-ISSUE #1163] 4k video downloads as 1080p mp4 #30329

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opened 2026-07-14 16:33:25 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 5 comments
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:25 -05:00
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Originally created by @Bentley2000 on GitHub (Mar 15, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/imputnet/cobalt/issues/1163

bug description

On March 15, I went to cobalt.tools and did my usual process for downloading a 4k webm video but the video downloads as 1080p mp4.
I tried it in Firefox and Chrome on PC and on a Mac in Safari and Firefox. Thanks for any info on this.

reproduction steps

Go to Settings tab
-Click on video
-video quality set to 4k
-youtube codec and container set to vp9 (webm)
Go to Save tab
-Paste url and click download arrows
Video downloads as 1920x1080 mp4

screenshots

Image

Image

links

These are a couple of the links I used, but I tried many others as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNxv88wUgnM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z1bbdBjdPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h89PrRNHV-E

platform information

Windows 11 24H2: Chrome 134.0.6998.88/89; Firefox 136.0.1. Mac OS Sequoia 15.3.2: Safari 18.3.1; Firefox 136.0.1. Windows 11 Enterprise: Firefox 136.0.

additional context

No response

Originally created by @Bentley2000 on GitHub (Mar 15, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/imputnet/cobalt/issues/1163 ### bug description On March 15, I went to cobalt.tools and did my usual process for downloading a 4k webm video but the video downloads as 1080p mp4. I tried it in Firefox and Chrome on PC and on a Mac in Safari and Firefox. Thanks for any info on this. ### reproduction steps Go to Settings tab -Click on video -video quality set to 4k -youtube codec and container set to vp9 (webm) Go to Save tab -Paste url and click download arrows Video downloads as 1920x1080 mp4 ### screenshots ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/74d8459d-3ed4-4958-b5ea-fc326eb70604) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/09eb2026-dc67-4041-a028-99f5b8927df1) ### links ```shell These are a couple of the links I used, but I tried many others as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNxv88wUgnM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z1bbdBjdPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h89PrRNHV-E ``` ### platform information Windows 11 24H2: Chrome 134.0.6998.88/89; Firefox 136.0.1. Mac OS Sequoia 15.3.2: Safari 18.3.1; Firefox 136.0.1. Windows 11 Enterprise: Firefox 136.0. ### additional context _No response_
GiteaMirror added the bug label 2026-07-14 16:33:25 -05:00
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:27 -05:00
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@wukko commented on GitHub (Mar 16, 2025):

Image

we don't control what formats youtube returns, but enabling HLS & VP9 might help in your case

<!-- gh-comment-id:2727528062 --> @wukko commented on GitHub (Mar 16, 2025): <img width="609" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/934cb85d-5c10-47a8-a4ab-7e94711945b9" /> we don't control what formats youtube returns, but enabling HLS & VP9 might help in your case
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:28 -05:00
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@osscleaner commented on GitHub (Mar 17, 2025):

Thanks for answering, sorry that I should have checked bug history.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2730126378 --> @osscleaner commented on GitHub (Mar 17, 2025): Thanks for answering, sorry that I should have checked bug history.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:28 -05:00
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@Bentley2000 commented on GitHub (Mar 18, 2025):

Thank you for addressing my issue. Turning on the HLS format did work.

I'm still curious about what is happening since I was able to download youtube 4k webm videos before 3/15 without turning on HLS. When I tried those same youtube links after 3/15, they don't download as 4k. I see your highligted note about h264 being used instead, but it seems unlikely that all of the links I have tried are not supporting webm any longer. Do you know if something changed on youtube's end?

A typical user will probably set up like I used to (selecting 4k and vp9 webm) and they will think the download does not work since it downloads a 1080 video. They may not try turning on the HLS format and so they will think cobalt.tools doesn't work for 4k videos.

Are you able to successfully download any of my sample links or any youtube video as 4k vp9 (webm) without turning on the youtube HLS format? If so, I would be interested in knowing how I can do it.

Thanks for any further info. I'm just trying to understand what has changed from before 3/15 when all of the youtube 4k webm videos I did would download without turning on the HLS format.

<!-- gh-comment-id:2733161861 --> @Bentley2000 commented on GitHub (Mar 18, 2025): Thank you for addressing my issue. Turning on the HLS format did work. I'm still curious about what is happening since I was able to download youtube 4k webm videos before 3/15 without turning on HLS. When I tried those same youtube links after 3/15, they don't download as 4k. I see your highligted note about h264 being used instead, but it seems unlikely that all of the links I have tried are not supporting webm any longer. Do you know if something changed on youtube's end? A typical user will probably set up like I used to (selecting 4k and vp9 webm) and they will think the download does not work since it downloads a 1080 video. They may not try turning on the HLS format and so they will think cobalt.tools doesn't work for 4k videos. Are you able to successfully download any of my sample links or any youtube video as 4k vp9 (webm) without turning on the youtube HLS format? If so, I would be interested in knowing how I can do it. Thanks for any further info. I'm just trying to understand what has changed from before 3/15 when all of the youtube 4k webm videos I did would download without turning on the HLS format.
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:29 -05:00
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@wukko commented on GitHub (Mar 18, 2025):

Do you know if something changed on youtube's end?

yes, youtube cut off the android client that we were using for getting videos from innertube. we had to switch to the ios client which doesn't have nearly as many adaptive formats, unfortunately. hls playlists from the ios client have more formats to choose from, so this is why enabling hls helps!

<!-- gh-comment-id:2733223455 --> @wukko commented on GitHub (Mar 18, 2025): > Do you know if something changed on youtube's end? yes, youtube cut off the android client that we were using for getting videos from innertube. we had to switch to the ios client which doesn't have nearly as many adaptive formats, unfortunately. hls playlists from the ios client have more formats to choose from, so this is why enabling hls helps!
GiteaMirror commented 2026-07-14 16:33:29 -05:00
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@Bentley2000 commented on GitHub (Mar 19, 2025):

Thank you very much for the additional information!

<!-- gh-comment-id:2738054096 --> @Bentley2000 commented on GitHub (Mar 19, 2025): Thank you very much for the additional information!
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Reference: github-starred/cobalt#30329
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