What is 720p / 1080p / 2K tiers? Definition, key points and related tools
Video output tiers. How much the lower tier saves depends on the vendor: on official lists checked 2026-09-12, 720p costs 50% of 1080p on Wan 3.0, 75% on the Kling 3.0 API and the same price on Veo 3.1 Standard. Draft at the low tier, finalize at the high tier; vertical delivery is 1080×1920.
What a tier buys
A tier sets the pixel size of the output. In 9:16, 720p is 720×1280 and 1080p is 1080×1920, 2.25× the pixels. Vendors also sell tiers under other names (768P, 1024p, 2K), so read the width and height of the delivered file rather than the label.
A tier can change more than pixels. Veo 3.1 renders 1080p and 4K at an 8-second duration, while 720p also allows 4 and 6 seconds (Gemini API); OpenAI routes 1080p vertical output through sora-2-pro (OpenAI); MiniMax's H3 offers 768P and 2K, and the faster H3-Max offers 480P and 768P (MiniMax). For a drama the tier multiplies every second of a season, retakes included: ten 90-second episodes are 900 finished seconds before a single regeneration.
How far apart the tiers are priced
| Model | Lower tier | Higher tier | Lower as share of higher | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wan 3.0 (Alibaba Cloud, Singapore) | 720P $0.10/s (480P $0.05) | 1080P $0.20/s | 50% | Alibaba Cloud |
| Veo 3.1 Standard | 720p $0.40/s | 1080p $0.40/s (4K $0.60) | 100% | |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | 720p $0.10/s | 1080p $0.12/s (4K $0.30) | 83% | |
| Sora 2 Pro | 720p $0.30/s | 1080p $0.70/s | 43% | OpenAI |
| MiniMax H3 | 768P $0.08/s | 2K $0.13/s | 62% | MiniMax |
| Luma Ray3.2 | 720p 100 credits/5 s | 1080p 400 credits/5 s | 25% | Luma |
| Vidu Q3-pro (API) | 720P 20 credits/s | 1080P 24 credits/s | 83% | Vidu |
| SceneMixer (Wan 3.0 tiers) | 720P 19 credits/s (480P 10) | 1080P 38 credits/s | 50% | SceneMixer |
The lower tier costs anywhere from a quarter of the higher one to the same price, so "draft cheap" saves a lot on some models and nothing on others. Per-second prices for every tool this site covers are on the pricing comparison; how credits convert to money is under credit-based billing.
Draft low, finalize high: what it does and does not do
Drafting at a low tier is for approving the storyboard: blocking, cuts, who speaks, timing. On generation APIs without a mastering step, a request at a higher resolution is a new generation, so the final is a new take. Expressions, hands and camera moves can differ from the approved draft, and the final needs its own review.
Two routes keep the approved take. One is a mastering step that the vendor says preserves the draft: Luma states that Ray3's Draft Mode keeps identity, motion and composition when a draft is mastered to high fidelity (Luma, vendor claim). The other is a separate upscale of the approved file; Runway's paid plans include 4K upscaling (Runway). Upscaling adds pixels. It does not repair a drifting face or a wrong hand, which come from references and the prompt (see character consistency).
Common mistakes and their causes
- Mixing tiers inside one episode. Detail and grain jump at the cut because each tier renders texture differently. Finish an episode at one tier.
- Paying for 4K on a phone feed. TikTok's in-feed ad specification asks for 9:16 at 540×960 or more (TikTok), and full HD in 9:16 is 1080×1920. Unless the episode is mastered above full HD, a 4K render buys pixels that are discarded at export.
- Choosing the tier before the duration. On Veo 3.1 the 1080p and 4K tiers fix the clip at 8 seconds, which can break a segment plan built around 6-second beats.
- Reading tier names as sizes. Labels such as "768P", "1024p" and "2K" are vendor naming, not a standard; compare width × height.
- Treating a different model as a different tier. Drafting on a Fast or Lite variant and finishing on Standard changes the model as well as the price, so the final is a new take.
Key figures and sources
| Figure | Value | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wan 3.0 price per second (Singapore) | 480P $0.05; 720P $0.10; 1080P $0.20 | www.alibabacloud.com | 2026-09-12 |
| Veo 3.1 price per second | Standard 720p/1080p $0.40, 4K $0.60; Fast $0.10 / $0.12 / $0.30; Lite 720p $0.05, 1080p $0.08 | ai.google.dev | 2026-09-12 |
| Sora 2 price per second | sora-2 720p $0.10; sora-2-pro 720p $0.30, 1024p $0.50, 1080p $0.70 | developers.openai.com | 2026-09-12 |
| Luma Ray3.2 credits per 5 s | Draft 20; 540p 50; 720p 100; 1080p 400 | lumalabs.ai | 2026-09-12 |
| TikTok in-feed video ads | 9:16 vertical at 540×960 px or more | ads.tiktok.com | 2026-09-12 |
FAQ
Which resolution should a vertical drama be delivered in?
Full HD in 9:16 is 1080×1920, double the width and height of TikTok's published 540×960 minimum for in-feed ads. Generate finals at 1080p where the step up is small (Veo 3.1 Fast and Vidu Q3-pro add 20%), or render approved takes at 720p and upscale them where 1080p costs a multiple (Wan 3.0 2×, Sora 2 Pro about 2.3×, Luma Ray3.2 4×).
Does a higher tier make faces and motion better?
It adds detail, and some vendors tie the higher tier to a stronger model variant (sora-2-pro, for example), which changes more than pixels. Identity and motion consistency come from reference images and the storyboard; a higher tier or an upscale will not fix a face that drifts between segments.
How much does drafting at a low tier save?
On Wan 3.0's Singapore list a 15-second draft costs $0.75 at 480P and $3.00 at 1080P. Three 480P drafts plus one 1080P final come to $5.25, against $12.00 for four 1080P attempts. On Veo 3.1 Standard, 720p and 1080p cost the same, so drafting at 720p saves nothing there.
Sources
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/wan3-0-video
- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing
- https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/veo
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing
- https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/video-generation
- https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-paygo
- https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/video-generation
- https://lumalabs.ai/pricing
- https://lumalabs.ai/news/ray3
- https://platform.vidu.com/docs/pricing
- https://runway.com/pricing
- https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/video-ads-specifications
- https://scenemixer.com/pricing/