YouTube banner size 2048 x 1152 px and 2560 x 1440 pixels - Which is Best?
There are two popular YouTube banner sizes: 2048 x 1152 pixels and 2560 x 1440 pixels. Both are officially recommended by YouTube. I have compared the both sizes.
YouTube banner size: 2048 x 1152 pixels
Please consider the below mentioned pros and cons of creating a YouTube banner image in 2048 width and 1152 height.
In YouTube Studio, under the ‘Branding’ tab, YouTube recommends, “For the best results on all devices, use an image that’s at least 2048 x 1152 pixel”.
Please note that, according to Statcounter, 1920 x 1080 pixels is the most used display screen in USA. Therefore, a YouTube banner in 2048 x 1152 pixel size will display best on most devices in the world.
If a user opens your YouTube channel, on a 1920 x 1080 px PC monitor, the banner image will display best. If a user opens the channel on a larger screen (say 1440p), then browser will slightly stretch your banner image to render it in the container - it will unnoticeably blur the image. However, on smaller desktop screens (say 1600 x 900 px) or mobile screens, the 2048 x 1152 pixel image will be scaled down with no effect on image quality.
Therefore, you can create a YouTube banner image in 2048 x 1152 without any worry.
YouTube banner size: 2560 x 1440 pixels
There are following benefits of designing a YT channel banner in 2560x1440 pixel resolution.
On its help page, YouTube recommends 2560 x 1440 px as the minimum dimension for uploading the banner image.
When you upload a banner image in lower size, for example 1280 x 720 px, YouTube cautions, “For the best results, use an image that's at least 2560 x 1440 pixels”.
In YouTube Studio, it is recommended to use “at least 2048 x 1152 pixel” image for the banner. In other words, the “at least” means that preferably you should upload a banner higher than the 2048x1152 pixel size.
A larger image has no bad effect on your channel, because a YouTube banner is programmed to load later than the video content on your channel. You can yourself experiment it by opening homepage of another YouTube channel.
In my own opinion, 2560 x 1440 pixel is the best and optimal YouTube banner size. The banner image will maintain its highest quality on most user screens.
In fact the banner image of a YouTube channel is a widescreen image, thus both 2048 x 1152 pixel image, and 2560 x 1440 pixel image, have the same 16:9 aspect ratio.
Upload banner image for your Youtube channel in aspect ratio of 16:9 with any appropriate resolution. The maximum image file size must not be more than 6 MB.
Although you can upload YouTube banner in PNG format, but I prefer to create a YT banner image in JPG format at 80% compression - it keeps the file size in check while maintaining the high quality of the banner image.
Can I use a low resolution image size for YouTube banner?
When you search the same query in search engine, it gives you the answer that “YouTube won’t allow you to use an image that’s smaller than 2048 x 1152 pixels as a banner”.
In fact, this is wrong information. YouTube allows you to upload a banner image in smaller sizes.
Although YouTube recommends two sizes for the banner image, which are 2048 x 1152 pixels and 2560 x 1440 pixels.
However, I have tested by uploading YouTube banner image in lower sizes. I uploaded one banner image in 1280 x 720 pixels and another image in 1024 x 576 pixels.
So, what was the outcome?
When I uploaded a low-quality image, YouTube recommended uploading a banner image in at least 2560 x 1440 pixels. Secondly, the low-resolution image fits well in the container – it does not crop out. The only effect was that the display quality of the image was not good – it was a little blurred.
Therefore, you can upload a YouTube banner in lower sizes but keep in mind that it should have the same 16:9 aspect ratio. For better display, I recommend not uploading a low-quality image for YouTube banner.
More Resources
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Free YouTube banner designs.
Best Favicon Size: Recommended by Google, Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy.
Wrong Logo Size Hurts Website Speed and thus SEO.
