Quality is the one getiplayer topic that confuses new users, mostly because the tool talks about “modes” instead of the resolutions and bitrates you may be used to. Once that clicks, everything falls into place. This guide explains what getiplayer modes are, the TV and radio mode names you will meet, how to ask for a specific quality with the --modes option, and how quality ties into the file formats you end up with. By the end you will know how to balance picture quality, file size, and download speed for your own connection and devices.
What a mode actually is
When the BBC puts a programme online, it usually offers that programme as several streams at different quality levels: a sharper, heavier version for fast connections and big screens, and lighter versions that ask less of your bandwidth and storage. get_iplayer calls each of those stream choices a mode, and every mode has a short name.
When you download, get_iplayer picks a suitable mode for you by default, generally the best available one that fits the programme. That is why most people never think about modes at all. You only reach for the --modes option when you want to overrule the default, usually to save space, save time, or match a programme to a smaller screen.
TV modes: hvfhd and hvfsd
For television, the two mode names you will see most are hvfhd and hvfsd. The pattern in the names is the giveaway.
- hvfhd is the high definition option. Choose it when you watch on a TV or a large monitor and your connection can handle the bigger download.
- hvfsd is the standard definition option. It looks perfectly respectable on a laptop, tablet, or phone, and the file is meaningfully smaller.
Other mode names exist around these, and availability varies from programme to programme, because the BBC does not publish every show in every quality. If you request a mode a programme does not have, get_iplayer falls back to a suitable available one rather than failing, so experimenting is safe.
To ask for a specific TV quality, name it in your command:
get_iplayer --get --type=tv --modes hvfsd "Programme Name"
That line records the programme in standard definition. Swap in hvfhd when only the best will do.
Radio modes: AAC tiers
Radio modes describe quality tiers of AAC audio. The names to know are hafhigh for the higher tier and hafstd for the standard tier. The difference is bitrate: the high tier spends more data per second of sound, and the standard tier spends less.
For speech, the standard tier is genuinely hard to fault. Talk shows, comedy, drama, and documentaries come through clearly, and the files stay small enough to archive by the hundred. For music programmes, concerts especially, the higher tier earns its extra size. If you record a mix, leave the default in place and get_iplayer will pick the best available tier for each show.
File size versus quality, honestly
Quality choices are really storage and time choices. A high definition TV episode can be several times the size of its standard definition version, and on a slow connection it takes several times as long to arrive. Neither is better in the abstract; it depends on the screen and the journey.
A practical way to decide:
- Watching on a television or keeping a film you love:
hvfhd. - Watching on a phone or tablet, or loading up for travel:
hvfsd. - Recording lots of speech radio:
hafstd. - Recording music you will listen to properly:
hafhigh.
If disk space is your limit, standard tiers across the board will roughly halve what your library weighs, with a quality drop many viewers barely notice on small screens.
The formats you end up with
Modes decide the stream; formats decide the file. get_iplayer’s finished files are simple and universal. Television downloads are saved as MP4 video, whatever mode you picked, so an hvfhd recording and an hvfsd recording are both MP4 files that differ in resolution and size. Radio downloads are saved as M4A files containing AAC audio.
One format option does exist, for radio. If a device of yours refuses M4A, add --aactomp3 and your radio recording will be converted to MP3 instead. There is a small quality cost in converting, so treat MP3 as a compatibility choice rather than a default. Modern phones, computers, and players all accept M4A, so most people never need it.
Saving your quality choices
If you find yourself typing the same --modes value daily, save it. Settings in the get_iplayer options file apply to every run, including PVR runs, so your series recordings can all arrive in standard definition while one-off film downloads stay manual choices in high definition. Some users keep two presets instead, one for everyday recording and one for best quality, and load whichever fits with --preset. The options file guide linked below shows both patterns.
Why the defaults deserve your trust
It is worth saying plainly: for most downloads, you can ignore modes entirely. get_iplayer’s default behaviour, choosing the best available suitable mode for each programme, reflects years of the tool’s community learning what works. The defaults exist so that a beginner’s first download looks and sounds right without any study, and they succeed at that.
Manual modes are for exceptions. A connection that struggles with HD, a phone with a nearly full drive, a radio archive growing faster than your disk: those are the moments --modes earns its place. Treat quality settings the way you would treat the settings on a camera. Leave them automatic for everyday shots, and take manual control when a particular shot demands it. That mindset keeps getiplayer simple on ordinary days and flexible on the days that matter.
When the quality you want is not there
Occasionally a programme simply is not offered in the mode you asked for. Older programmes, some regional content, and certain live recordings may come in fewer tiers. get_iplayer handles this gracefully by choosing the closest suitable available mode, and the download proceeds. You will see the mode it actually used in the file name and in the command output, which is why the <mode> naming token exists if you like your library labelled by quality.
If quality problems are your reason for reading this far, meaning downloads that fail or files that never appear, that is a different fault, and the troubleshooting guide below is the right page for it.
And if you are ever unsure which tier a past download used, check the file name and the command output from the run. get_iplayer reports the mode it recorded with, which makes it easy to repeat a result you liked or avoid one you did not.
Conclusion
getiplayer quality boils down to a handful of names. Television offers hvfhd for high definition and hvfsd for standard definition; radio offers AAC tiers led by hafhigh and hafstd. The tool picks a good default every time, and --modes lets you overrule it when size, speed, or screen demands. Finished files stay simple: MP4 for TV, M4A for radio, MP3 available through --aactomp3 when a device insists. Pick your tiers by the screen you watch on, save the choice if you repeat it, and quality stops being a question.
Read next: