TikTok non-Spark ad minimum 540x960: is a Sume 480p 9:16 clip enough?

TikTok's Auction In-Feed page asks non-Spark ads for a 9:16 video of at least 540x960 pixels. Whether a 480p Sume clip clears that depends on what 480p means in pixels for 9:16, so do not assume: inspect one frame, read its width and height, and move to 720p if it is below 540 wide.

What TikTok's page says

For Non-Spark ads the page gives these minimums: vertical 9:16 at 540x960 or more, horizontal 16:9 at 960x540 or more, square 1:1 at 640x640 or more. Formats are mp4, mov, mpeg, 3gp and avi, duration up to 10 minutes, size 500 MB or less, bitrate 516 kbps or more.

Spark Ads, which pull an organic post, have no duration limit and use mp4 or mov. This post is about the non-Spark case.

Why 480p is the risky label

Sume's catalog advertises resolutions as labels such as 480p, 720p and 1080p, and its docs do not publish a pixel table for each ratio. A label like 480p is commonly the short side of the frame, which would make a 9:16 clip 480x854. That is below TikTok's 540 wide minimum. This is an inference from the usual convention, not a Sume statement, which is exactly why you measure.

Whichever way it falls, the check costs one inspect call.

Measure it

POST /v1/video-inspect returns stills as durable artifacts with frames[{t,url,width,height}]. Read width and height from a frame of the finished clip. If the width is below 540, resubmit at 720p, since the models that support 9:16 list 720p among their resolutions.

Do not upscale a small clip to pass the check. A Timeline output can be set to any even width and height between 256 and 2160, but scaling a 480-wide clip to 1080 wide adds pixels, not detail. A real 720p render is the honest fix.

A pre-upload gate

Put the numbers in one place: width at least 540 and height at least 960 for vertical, bitrate at least 516 kbps, size at most 500 MB. Your pipeline checks the first from the inspect frame and the rest from the file itself.

Run it on every render, not just the first, because a model change or a resolution default change can shift the pixels without a code change.