Don’t put up with substandard quality in videos, music and photos. Robert Irvine reveals how and where to download the optimum versions of digital files
Download all BBC shows in HD
Nearly all television shows are now filmed in high definition (HD) – even Bargain Hunt – which means they are available online at a resolution of at least 1,280 x 720 pixels or 720p. So unless you have a very tight data cap, there’s no reason to put up with standard definition (SD) when you download your favourite programmes. For example, when you click the Download button below a show on the iPlayer website, you’ll be given the option to download it in SD or HD. By default, programmes you download using the iPlayer mobile app are in standard quality (800kbps), but you can easily change this to high quality (1,500kbps). On Android, go to Settings and select the option Higher Quality Downloads. On iOS, you can change the setting on the More tab.
If you use Get iPlayer (bit.ly/iplayer398), which we recommended in Issue 396, to keep BBC programmes for longer than the allotted 30 days, there’s a tweak you can apply to always download at the highest quality. Launch the Get iPlayer’s Web PRV Manager from the Start menu and click the Recording heading on the main Search tab. In the Recording Modes field, type best, then click Save As Default. If you’re happy using Get iPlayer’s command-line interface, type the following and press Enter: get_iplayer --prefs-add--tvmode=best. This will automatically download all shows in HD.
Download YouTube videos at top quality
When watching YouTube videos, you can instantly improve the quality by clicking the Settings cog and choosing a higher resolution from the Quality menu. If you want to preserve that improvement when downloading videos, install the brilliant free 4K Video Downloader (bit.ly/4kvideo395). Copy and paste the link of the clip you want to download and a box will open automatically, letting you specify the video quality. Select the top option – this is usually High Definition 1080p or 720p, but may go up to 2K or even 4K – and click Download.
4K Video Downloader also lets you rip songs from YouTube videos as high-quality MP3s, by choosing Extract Audio from the drop-down menu and then selecting 320k. Videos are usually saved in MP4 format, but you can change this to MKV if you prefer. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the program works with Vimeo, SoundCloud, Facebook and Dailymotion, too.
Save Spotify music at the highest quality
If you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you can download 3,333 songs per month to listen to offline on up to three different devices. By default, the Spotify mobile app is set to download at Normal quality (96kbps) to prevent it gobbling up your data allowance and hogging space on your phone or tablet.
But if you’re downloading over Wi-Fi and have room to spare on your device, you can increase the audio quality to listen to tracks as they were intended to be heard.
In the Android app, tap the menu button, then the Settings cog and swipe down to Music Quality. Tap the menu next to Download and choose either High Quality (160Kbps) or Extreme Quality (320Kbps). On iOS, tap Settings from within Your Library, choose Streaming Quality and then, under Download Quality, select High or Extreme. In the Windows Phone app, you can find these options in Settings, Music Quality. Note that the Spotify Desktop app automatically uses the highest possible quality for songs you download to listen to offline.
Download higher quality iTunes videos
Any song you buy from iTunes will have a bit rate of 256Kbps, with no option to increase the quality of the AAC file unless you use a third-party tool. You can, however, get the maximum bit rate of tracks you rip from CD by going to Preferences, General, Import Settings, choosing Custom from the Setting menu and selecting 320kbps.
Apple is slightly more flexible about downloading higher quality videos from the iTunes store. Click the Store tab in the Preferences box, then click the menu next to ‘When downloading High Definition videos, prefer’ and choose 1080p.
Find better photos on Google Images
When you search for something in Google Images, the results tend to be a jumble of different shots, sizes and sources, which it isn’t ideal when you’re looking for a high-quality picture in a hurry. To only see the best photos, first click ‘Search tools’, then Size. From the drop-down menu, either choose Large to view only the high-resolution images or click ‘Larger than’ and select 2MP, 4MP or greater (depending on how large you want the photo to be).
It’s also worth clicking the ‘More tools’ menu and choosing ‘Show sizes’ to see the exact specifications of each result, and Photo from the Type menu to filter out animations and artwork (unless that’s what you’re looking for). Once you’ve found a high-quality picture, click it, then right-click and choose ‘Save image as’.
Download original images from Flickr
One benefit to Flickr giving its users one terabyte of free online storage is that the site is packed with high-resolution photos for other users to download (provided you don’t reuse them for commercial gain, of course). To grab a superior image from Flickr, click it then click the ‘Download this photo’ arrow in the bottom-right corner and choose ‘View all sizes’. This will give you a choice of sizes including the maximumquality original, which you can then click to download.
Note that many Flickr photographers disable the downloading of their original images, understandably, but you’ll still get a few sizes to choose from.
Save original images from Google Photos
Google Photos lets you upload photos from your phone at their original size, but if you right-click them on its website to save them to your PC, they’ll be downloaded at significantly reduced quality. To avoid this, you should click the three-dot button in the top-right corner and choose ‘Download original’. It’s worth remembering that Google Photos only retains the full resolution of your uploaded pictures if they are smaller than 16MB or if you upgrade to one of its paid-for plans.
GET THE BEST QUALITY MUSIC DOWNLOADS
If you prefer to buy and download music rather than stream it, there are still plenty of options – including Amazon, Google Play Music and, of course, iTunes – but the maximum bit rate for tracks is generally 320Kbps. This quality will be more than adequate for most people, but audiophiles will tell you that it’s simply not good enough, because the compression removes elements from the original recording. If you prefer your digital music to be analogue quality, or at least not far off, there are several download stores you can try. One of the best is Linn Records (linnrecords.com), which sells classical, jazz and opera albums in its own Studio Master format, described as “the highest quality music file available anywhere”. There’s also HDtracks (www.hdtracks.co.uk), which has music by many popular artists in lossless audio formats such as FLAC and ALAC, and offers a free hi-res sampler; and the music industrybacked Tidal (www.tidal.com), which offers streaming and offline downloads in FLAC format for a subscription of £19.99 per month.