How to Send HD Quality Photos and Videos on WhatsApp
Want to boost the quality of the photos and images you send on WhatsApp? Send HD quality content on WhatsApp using this guide.
WhatsApp is a great way to share photos and videos with other people. Adding a photo or video to a chat is quick and easy, and the recipient can see your content almost instantly. You can send photos or videos to just one person, or send them to multiple people at once in a WhatsApp chat group.
In the past, however, any image or video that you sent on WhatsApp has been sent in a compressed format to keep the file size down. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it reduces the amount of data you’ll use when sending your files. Sometimes, however, you might want to send photos or videos of a higher quality.
Well, thanks to an update to the app, it’s now possible to do just that. If you want to send your photos or videos in all their glory, then here’s how to send HD quality photos and videos on WhatsApp.
What Does HD Quality Mean?
HD stands for High Definition, but by itself, the term doesn’t mean a huge deal.
There are different levels of ‘HD’ with video content in 1080p (1080 pixels high) and 720p (720 pixels high) both being classed as HD. What does it mean for your WhatsApp photos and videos?
Well, for videos, it turns out that HD quality on WhatsApp means 720p. Any 720p videos you send using HD quality remain uncompressed. Anything larger than that, however, will be compressed down to 720p.
For images, there is a limit of 5120 pixels for the width and height. If your image is taller than 5210 pixels, it gets compressed down to that height, with the width adjusted accordingly. An image wider than 5120 pixels will be compressed to 5120 pixels wide. Any image that’s less than 5120 pixels both in width and height will remain uncompressed.
How to Send HD Quality Photos on WhatsApp
Sending an HD quality photo on WhatsApp is now simple to do and only takes a couple of additional taps to the usual method.
To send an HD quality photo on WhatsApp:
- Open the WhatsApp conversation where you want to send the photo.
- Tap the Media icon.
- Take a photo, select a photo from the carousel, or tap the Media icon to select from your camera roll.
- At the top of the screen, tap the HD icon. This won’t appear if the image quality is low.
- Select HD Quality. You’ll see the resolution of the image that you’re sending; any image taller or wider than 5120 pixels will be compressed down to 5120 pixels in width or height.
- Tap Done.
- At the bottom of the screen, tap the Send button.
- Your image will be sent. In the WhatsApp chat, you’ll see an HD icon on your image, indicating that it’s high quality.
How to Send HD Quality Videos on WhatsApp
Sending HD videos on WhatsApp is done in a very similar way.
To send HD videos on WhatsApp:
- Open the WhatsApp chat where you want to send the video.
- Tap the Media button.
- Record a video, select one from the carousel, or tap the Media icon to select one from your camera roll.
- Tap the HD icon at the top of the screen.
- Choose HD Quality. You’ll see the resolution of the image that will be sent; anything about 720p will be compressed down to that size.
- Tap Done.
- In the bottom-right of the screen, tap the Send icon.
- Your video will begin to upload to your chat. You’ll see an HD icon on the video indicating that it’s in HD format.
How to Send Larger Images or Videos on WhatsApp
As you can see, there are some limitations to the size of HD images and videos you can send. Photos larger than 5120 pixels in either direction will get compressed down to that size, and videos larger than 720p will also get compressed.
There is a way to send larger photos or videos on WhatsApp, however, provided that they’re less than 2 GB in size. You can do so by sending them as documents, which you can send uncompressed.
To send an image or video as a document on WhatsApp:
- Save the photo or video that you want to send to your phone.
- Open the WhatsApp chat that you want to add the document to.
- Tap the + (plus) icon.
- Select Document.
- Select the photo or video that you want to send from your files.
- Tap the Send button.
- The file now sends uncompressed.
- You won’t see a preview of the image or video in the chat, but you can open the image or video by tapping the file.
Why Can’t I See the HD Icon in WhatsApp?
There are two main reasons why you won’t see the HD icon when sending a video or image. The first is that you don’t have the feature yet. You may need to update WhatsApp through your app store of choice in order for the feature to appear.
The second is that your photo or video is low-quality and will already be sent uncompressed. In this situation, there’s no need for the HD button to appear because you wouldn’t be able to send your photo or video in higher quality than it already is.
Should I Send HD Quality Photos and Videos on WhatsApp?
Being able to send photos and videos in high quality is useful, but there is a downside. Larger files use more data to send—if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi, it can put a dent in your data allowances if you keep sending HD photos and videos.
In most cases, sending your photos in HD quality isn’t really necessary. After all, your latest selfie will look almost as good on a phone in its compressed form as it will in HD. If you’re sending a photo for someone to print, or view on a larger screen, however, then it’s a useful tool to have.
Sending Photos and Videos on WhatsApp
Learning how to send HD quality photos and videos on WhatsApp ensures that you can share your media in all its glory when the need arises. Use the feature carefully, however, as it can quickly eat through your data.
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