youtube-dl picks lowest quality as best

[Esokrates]

Checklist

• I'm reporting a broken site support issue
• I've verified that I'm running youtube-dl version 2020.07.28
• I've checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
• I've checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
• I've searched the bugtracker for similar bug reports including closed ones
• I've read bugs section in FAQ

Verbose log

youtube-dl -v -F https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', '-F', 'https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2020.07.28
[debug] Python version 3.7.6 (CPython) - Linux-5.6.0-1021-oem-x86_64-with-debian-bullseye-sid
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.2.4, ffprobe 4.2.4, phantomjs 73832
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Requesting header
WARNING: Falling back on generic information extractor.
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading webpage
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Extracting information
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading m3u8 information
WARNING: Failed to download m3u8 information: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden
[download] Downloading playlist: Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT
[generic] playlist Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT: Collected 1 video ids (downloading 1 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 1
[info] Available formats for Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene:
format code  extension  resolution note
0            mp4        unknown    
1            mp4        unknown    
2            mp4        unknown    
3            mp4        unknown    (best)
[download] Finished downloading playlist: Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT

Description

Link: https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html

Running

youtube-dl -v https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', 'https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2020.07.28
[debug] Python version 3.7.6 (CPython) - Linux-5.6.0-1021-oem-x86_64-with-debian-bullseye-sid
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.2.4, ffprobe 4.2.4, phantomjs 73892
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Requesting header
WARNING: Falling back on generic information extractor.
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading webpage
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Extracting information
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading m3u8 information
WARNING: Failed to download m3u8 information: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden
[download] Downloading playlist: Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT
[generic] playlist Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT: Collected 1 video ids (downloading 1 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 1
[debug] Default format spec: bestvideo+bestaudio/best
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://weltn24lfthumb-a.akamaihd.net/2018/01/12258043_12258047_PG0008GK/12258043_12258047_PG0008GK_200.mp4'
[download] Destination: Die fünf Besten - Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT-Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.mp4
[download]   2.5% of 73.28MiB at 829.98KiB/s ETA 01:28

results in a 70MB file to be downloaded instead of the 700MB file of highest resolution.

Looking at the available file formats:

youtube-dl -v -F https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-v', '-F', 'https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/technik-und-wissen/die-fuenf-besten/sendung170319450/Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene.html']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2020.07.28
[debug] Python version 3.7.6 (CPython) - Linux-5.6.0-1021-oem-x86_64-with-debian-bullseye-sid
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 4.2.4, ffprobe 4.2.4, phantomjs 73921
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Requesting header
WARNING: Falling back on generic information extractor.
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading webpage
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Extracting information
[generic] Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene: Downloading m3u8 information
WARNING: Failed to download m3u8 information: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden
[download] Downloading playlist: Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT
[generic] playlist Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT: Collected 1 video ids (downloading 1 of them)
[download] Downloading video 1 of 1
[info] Available formats for Die-fuenf-Besten-Giganten-der-Schiene:
format code  extension  resolution note
0            mp4        unknown    
1            mp4        unknown    
2            mp4        unknown    
3            mp4        unknown    (best)
[download] Finished downloading playlist: Die fünf Besten: Giganten der Schiene - Video - WELT

it lists format 3 as (best), although downloading shows that format 0 is the high resolution one.

Is youtube-dl wrongly detecting something or is it just guessing that format 3 is the best one? Imho it should throw a warning if it is not certain about which stream to pick for the highest resolution.

[Esokrates]

@dstftw Could you have a look / triage this issue? Same problem with the following URL: https://www.welt.de/mediathek/dokumentation/natur-und-wildlife/sendung155729710/Die-Erde-Ein-Planet-entsteht-1.html