Why are the high-resolution formats are video-only?

[egeakman]

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Question

Why are the high-resolution formats are video-only? Isn't there an option to download a 1080p video with audio? I've tried a few videos but none of them had a "high-res with audio" option.

The video I used for the output below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7MlKzAWxA

Here are the formats listed available:

format code  extension  resolution note
249          webm       audio only tiny   58k , webm_dash container, opus @ 58k (48000Hz), 214.76KiB
250          webm       audio only tiny   77k , webm_dash container, opus @ 77k (48000Hz), 284.81KiB
140          m4a        audio only tiny  129k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@129k (44100Hz), 478.67KiB
251          webm       audio only tiny  150k , webm_dash container, opus @150k (48000Hz), 554.47KiB
278          webm       256x144    144p  111k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 111k, 30fps, video only, 410.99KiB
160          mp4        256x144    144p  120k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d400c@ 120k, 30fps, video only, 441.71KiB
242          webm       426x240    240p  240k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 240k, 30fps, video only, 884.67KiB
133          mp4        426x240    240p  279k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d4015@ 279k, 30fps, video only, 1.00MiB
243          webm       640x360    360p  436k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 436k, 30fps, video only, 1.57MiB
134          mp4        640x360    360p  632k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401e@ 632k, 30fps, video only, 2.27MiB
244          webm       854x480    480p  816k , webm_dash container, vp9@ 816k, 30fps, video only, 2.93MiB
135          mp4        854x480    480p 1185k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@1185k, 30fps, video only, 4.26MiB
247          webm       1280x720   720p 1589k , webm_dash container, vp9@1589k, 30fps, video only, 5.71MiB
136          mp4        1280x720   720p 2393k , mp4_dash container, avc1.4d401f@2393k, 30fps, video only, 8.60MiB
248          webm       1920x1080  1080p 2530k , webm_dash container, vp9@2530k, 30fps, video only, 9.09MiB
137          mp4        1920x1080  1080p 4554k , mp4_dash container, avc1.640028@4554k, 30fps, video only, 16.36MiB
271          webm       2560x1440  1440p 7236k , webm_dash container, vp9@7236k, 30fps, video only, 25.99MiB
313          webm       3840x2160  2160p 12579k , webm_dash container, vp9@12579k, 30fps, video only, 45.19MiB
18           mp4        640x360    360p  736k , avc1.42001E, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz), 2.66MiB
22           mp4        1280x720   720p 2522k , avc1.64001F, 30fps, mp4a.40.2 (44100Hz) (best)

Thanks for the answers in advance.

[MrTransparentBox]

What command are you using to download the video?
Also, have you set any configurations in the %APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config.txt

Usually, you have to specify a format (see FORMAT SELECTION) and then youtube-dl will download both audio and video separately then automatically merge them.
You can specify a format in the command itself or a configuration file (see CONFIGURATION)

[dirkf]

What Transparent said.

By default yt-dl will give you what it "thinks" is the best resolution of those available, as below:

$ youtube-dl -v --ignore-config --get-format 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7MlKzAWxA'
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', '--ignore-config', '--get-format', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7MlKzAWxA']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.06.06
[debug] Python version 3.5.2 (CPython) - Linux-4.4.0-210-generic-i686-with-Ubuntu-16.04-xenial
[debug] exe versions: avconv 4.3, avprobe 4.3, ffmpeg 4.3, ffprobe 4.3
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Default format spec: bestvideo+bestaudio/best
313 - 3840x2160 (2160p)+251 - audio only (tiny)
$

yt-dl doesn't transcode video; it just selects and possibly repackages what the site offers.

In case you wanted an old-style AVC+AAC in MP4 rather than the VP9+Opus in WEBM that the above promises, say "-f [ext!^=web]" to exclude containers whose type starts with "web". Then you'll get format 22, which has a lower resolution, but still adequate unless you're an eagle.

Should you want a higher video resolution AVC you'd have to re-encode, say from format 313 using ffmpeg.

[egeakman]

What command are you using to download the video?
Also, have you set any configurations in the %APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config.txt

Usually, you have to specify a format (see FORMAT SELECTION) and then youtube-dl will download both audio and video separately then automatically merge them.
You can specify a format in the command itself or a configuration file (see CONFIGURATION)

Thanks for the answer. I didn't download the video, I only listed the formats. When I didn't see any "high-resolution with audio" option, I decided to write here. Thanks to you I found out the merging thing. I missed that section in the readme file somehow.

What Transparent said.

By default yt-dl will give you what it "thinks" is the best resolution of those available, as below:

$ youtube-dl -v --ignore-config --get-format 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7MlKzAWxA'
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', '--ignore-config', '--get-format', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7MlKzAWxA']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.06.06
[debug] Python version 3.5.2 (CPython) - Linux-4.4.0-210-generic-i686-with-Ubuntu-16.04-xenial
[debug] exe versions: avconv 4.3, avprobe 4.3, ffmpeg 4.3, ffprobe 4.3
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[debug] Default format spec: bestvideo+bestaudio/best
313 - 3840x2160 (2160p)+251 - audio only (tiny)
$

yt-dl doesn't transcode video; it just selects and possibly repackages what the site offers.

In case you wanted an old-style AVC+AAC in MP4 rather than the VP9+Opus in WEBM that the above promises, say "-f [ext!^=web]" to exclude containers whose type starts with "web". Then you'll get format 22, which has a lower resolution, but still adequate unless you're an eagle.

Should you want a higher video resolution AVC you'd have to re-encode, say from format 313 using ffmpeg.

Thank you all for your answers, I now understand. I am now closing the issue.

[rautamiekka]

I remember reading the reasoning to have separate vid and audio files is primarily space savings, and also to be able to play diff qualities of vid and audio.