diff --git a/src/ol/map.js b/src/ol/map.js
index c15999df45..45a6294b63 100644
--- a/src/ol/map.js
+++ b/src/ol/map.js
@@ -484,9 +484,13 @@ ol.Map.prototype.getOverlayContainer = function() {
  * @param {ol.Tile} tile Tile.
  * @param {string} tileSourceKey Tile source key.
  * @param {ol.Coordinate} tileCenter Tile center.
+ * @param {number} tileResolution Tile resolution.
  * @return {number} Tile priority.
  */
-ol.Map.prototype.getTilePriority = function(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter) {
+ol.Map.prototype.getTilePriority =
+    function(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution) {
+  // Filter out tiles at higher zoom levels than the current zoom level, or that
+  // are outside the visible extent.
   var frameState = this.frameState_;
   if (goog.isNull(frameState) || !(tileSourceKey in frameState.wantedTiles)) {
     return ol.TileQueue.DROP;
@@ -495,11 +499,14 @@ ol.Map.prototype.getTilePriority = function(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter) {
   if (!frameState.wantedTiles[tileSourceKey][coordKey]) {
     return ol.TileQueue.DROP;
   }
+  // Prioritize tiles closest to the focus or center.  The + 1 helps to
+  // prioritize tiles at higher zoom levels over tiles at lower zoom levels,
+  // even if the tile's center is close to the focus.
   var focus = goog.isNull(this.focus_) ?
       frameState.view2DState.center : this.focus_;
   var deltaX = tileCenter.x - focus.x;
   var deltaY = tileCenter.y - focus.y;
-  return deltaX * deltaX + deltaY * deltaY;
+  return tileResolution * (deltaX * deltaX + deltaY * deltaY + 1);
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvastilelayerrenderer.js b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvastilelayerrenderer.js
index d6cdf09329..c2fbb13e9b 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvastilelayerrenderer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvastilelayerrenderer.js
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
 
   var tileLayer = this.getTileLayer();
   var tileSource = tileLayer.getTileSource();
-  var tileSourceKey = goog.getUid(tileSource).toString();
   var tileGrid = tileSource.getTileGrid();
   if (goog.isNull(tileGrid)) {
     tileGrid = ol.tilegrid.getForProjection(projection);
@@ -156,19 +155,14 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
       tilesToDrawByZ, getTileIfLoaded);
 
   var allTilesLoaded = true;
-  var tile, tileCenter, tileCoord, tileState, x, y;
+  var tile, tileCoord, tileState, x, y;
   for (x = tileRange.minX; x <= tileRange.maxX; ++x) {
     for (y = tileRange.minY; y <= tileRange.maxY; ++y) {
 
       tileCoord = new ol.TileCoord(z, x, y);
       tile = tileSource.getTile(tileCoord, tileGrid, projection);
       tileState = tile.getState();
-      if (tileState == ol.TileState.IDLE) {
-        this.updateWantedTiles(frameState.wantedTiles, tileSource, tileCoord);
-        tileCenter = tileGrid.getTileCoordCenter(tileCoord);
-        frameState.tileQueue.enqueue(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter);
-      } else if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED ||
-                 tileState == ol.TileState.EMPTY) {
+      if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED || tileState == ol.TileState.EMPTY) {
         tilesToDrawByZ[z][tileCoord.toString()] = tile;
         continue;
       } else if (tileState == ol.TileState.ERROR) {
@@ -246,7 +240,8 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
   }
 
   this.updateUsedTiles(frameState.usedTiles, tileSource, z, tileRange);
-  tileSource.useLowResolutionTiles(z, extent, tileGrid);
+  this.manageTilePyramid(
+      frameState, tileSource, tileGrid, projection, extent, z);
   this.scheduleExpireCache(frameState, tileSource);
 
   var transform = this.transform_;
diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/dom/domtilelayerrenderer.js b/src/ol/renderer/dom/domtilelayerrenderer.js
index 6c828573b3..ba3d1e3be5 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/dom/domtilelayerrenderer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/dom/domtilelayerrenderer.js
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ ol.renderer.dom.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
 
   var tileLayer = this.getTileLayer();
   var tileSource = tileLayer.getTileSource();
-  var tileSourceKey = goog.getUid(tileSource).toString();
   var tileGrid = tileSource.getTileGrid();
   if (goog.isNull(tileGrid)) {
     tileGrid = ol.tilegrid.getForProjection(projection);
@@ -113,18 +112,14 @@ ol.renderer.dom.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
       tilesToDrawByZ, getTileIfLoaded);
 
   var allTilesLoaded = true;
-  var tile, tileCenter, tileCoord, tileState, x, y;
+  var tile, tileCoord, tileState, x, y;
   for (x = tileRange.minX; x <= tileRange.maxX; ++x) {
     for (y = tileRange.minY; y <= tileRange.maxY; ++y) {
 
       tileCoord = new ol.TileCoord(z, x, y);
       tile = tileSource.getTile(tileCoord, tileGrid, projection);
       tileState = tile.getState();
-      if (tileState == ol.TileState.IDLE) {
-        this.updateWantedTiles(frameState.wantedTiles, tileSource, tileCoord);
-        tileCenter = tileGrid.getTileCoordCenter(tileCoord);
-        frameState.tileQueue.enqueue(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter);
-      } else if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED) {
+      if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED) {
         tilesToDrawByZ[z][tileCoord.toString()] = tile;
         continue;
       } else if (tileState == ol.TileState.ERROR ||
@@ -224,7 +219,8 @@ ol.renderer.dom.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
   }
 
   this.updateUsedTiles(frameState.usedTiles, tileSource, z, tileRange);
-  tileSource.useLowResolutionTiles(z, extent, tileGrid);
+  this.manageTilePyramid(
+      frameState, tileSource, tileGrid, projection, extent, z);
   this.scheduleExpireCache(frameState, tileSource);
 
 };
diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/layerrenderer.js b/src/ol/renderer/layerrenderer.js
index ed89f1071f..7e08147cf8 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/layerrenderer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/layerrenderer.js
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ goog.require('ol.layer.LayerState');
 goog.require('ol.source.TileSource');
 
 
+/**
+ * @define {boolean} Preemptively load low resolution tiles.
+ */
+ol.PREEMPTIVELY_LOAD_LOW_RESOLUTION_TILES = true;
+
+
 
 /**
  * @constructor
@@ -246,23 +252,6 @@ ol.renderer.Layer.prototype.updateUsedTiles =
 };
 
 
-/**
- * @protected
- * @param {Object.<string, Object.<string, boolean>>} wantedTiles Wanted tiles.
- * @param {ol.source.TileSource} tileSource Tile source.
- * @param {ol.TileCoord} tileCoord Tile coordinate.
- */
-ol.renderer.Layer.prototype.updateWantedTiles =
-    function(wantedTiles, tileSource, tileCoord) {
-  var tileSourceKey = goog.getUid(tileSource).toString();
-  var coordKey = tileCoord.toString();
-  if (!(tileSourceKey in wantedTiles)) {
-    wantedTiles[tileSourceKey] = {};
-  }
-  wantedTiles[tileSourceKey][coordKey] = true;
-};
-
-
 /**
  * @param {function(ol.Tile): boolean} isLoadedFunction Function to
  *     determine if the tile is loaded.
@@ -293,3 +282,50 @@ ol.renderer.Layer.prototype.snapCenterToPixel =
       resolution * (Math.round(center.x / resolution) + (size.width % 2) / 2),
       resolution * (Math.round(center.y / resolution) + (size.height % 2) / 2));
 };
+
+
+/**
+ * Manage tile pyramid.
+ * This function performs a number of functions related to the tiles at the
+ * current zoom and lower zoom levels:
+ * - registers idle tiles in frameState.wantedTiles so that they are not
+ *   discarded by the tile queue
+ * - enqueues missing tiles
+ * @param {ol.FrameState} frameState Frame state.
+ * @param {ol.source.TileSource} tileSource Tile source.
+ * @param {ol.tilegrid.TileGrid} tileGrid Tile grid.
+ * @param {ol.Projection} projection Projection.
+ * @param {ol.Extent} extent Extent.
+ * @param {number} currentZ Current Z.
+ * @protected
+ */
+ol.renderer.Layer.prototype.manageTilePyramid =
+    function(frameState, tileSource, tileGrid, projection, extent, currentZ) {
+  var tileSourceKey = goog.getUid(tileSource).toString();
+  if (!(tileSourceKey in frameState.wantedTiles)) {
+    frameState.wantedTiles[tileSourceKey] = {};
+  }
+  var wantedTiles = frameState.wantedTiles[tileSourceKey];
+  var tileQueue = frameState.tileQueue;
+  var tile, tileCenter, tileCoord, tileRange, tileResolution, x, y, z;
+  // FIXME this should loop up to tileGrid's minZ when implemented
+  for (z = currentZ; z >= 0; --z) {
+    tileRange = tileGrid.getTileRangeForExtentAndZ(extent, z);
+    tileResolution = tileGrid.getResolution(z);
+    for (x = tileRange.minX; x <= tileRange.maxX; ++x) {
+      for (y = tileRange.minY; y <= tileRange.maxY; ++y) {
+        if (ol.PREEMPTIVELY_LOAD_LOW_RESOLUTION_TILES || z == currentZ) {
+          tileCoord = new ol.TileCoord(z, x, y);
+          tile = tileSource.getTile(tileCoord, tileGrid, projection);
+          if (tile.getState() == ol.TileState.IDLE) {
+            tileCenter = tileGrid.getTileCoordCenter(tileCoord);
+            wantedTiles[tileCoord.toString()] = true;
+            tileQueue.enqueue(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution);
+          }
+        } else {
+          tileSource.useTile(z + '/' + x + '/' + y);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+};
diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/webgl/webgltilelayerrenderer.js b/src/ol/renderer/webgl/webgltilelayerrenderer.js
index 7b7a848d1a..c9b0f69bfb 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/webgl/webgltilelayerrenderer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/webgl/webgltilelayerrenderer.js
@@ -177,7 +177,6 @@ ol.renderer.webgl.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
 
   var tileLayer = this.getTileLayer();
   var tileSource = tileLayer.getTileSource();
-  var tileSourceKey = goog.getUid(tileSource).toString();
   var tileGrid = tileSource.getTileGrid();
   if (goog.isNull(tileGrid)) {
     tileGrid = ol.tilegrid.getForProjection(projection);
@@ -272,11 +271,7 @@ ol.renderer.webgl.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
         tileCoord = new ol.TileCoord(z, x, y);
         tile = tileSource.getTile(tileCoord, tileGrid, projection);
         tileState = tile.getState();
-        if (tileState == ol.TileState.IDLE) {
-          this.updateWantedTiles(frameState.wantedTiles, tileSource, tileCoord);
-          tileCenter = tileGrid.getTileCoordCenter(tileCoord);
-          frameState.tileQueue.enqueue(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter);
-        } else if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED) {
+        if (tileState == ol.TileState.LOADED) {
           if (mapRenderer.isTileTextureLoaded(tile)) {
             tilesToDrawByZ[z][tileCoord.toString()] = tile;
             continue;
@@ -344,7 +339,8 @@ ol.renderer.webgl.TileLayer.prototype.renderFrame =
   }
 
   this.updateUsedTiles(frameState.usedTiles, tileSource, z, tileRange);
-  tileSource.useLowResolutionTiles(z, extent, tileGrid);
+  this.manageTilePyramid(
+      frameState, tileSource, tileGrid, projection, extent, z);
   this.scheduleExpireCache(frameState, tileSource);
 
   var texCoordMatrix = this.texCoordMatrix;
diff --git a/src/ol/source/tilesource.js b/src/ol/source/tilesource.js
index 01d8fe7d3c..d9dc144248 100644
--- a/src/ol/source/tilesource.js
+++ b/src/ol/source/tilesource.js
@@ -138,26 +138,6 @@ ol.source.TileSource.prototype.getTileGrid = function() {
 };
 
 
-/**
- * @param {number} z Z.
- * @param {ol.Extent} extent Extent.
- * @param {ol.tilegrid.TileGrid} tileGrid Tile grid.
- */
-ol.source.TileSource.prototype.useLowResolutionTiles =
-    function(z, extent, tileGrid) {
-  var tileRange, x, y, zKey;
-  // FIXME this should loop up to tileGrid's minZ when implemented
-  for (; z >= 0; --z) {
-    tileRange = tileGrid.getTileRangeForExtentAndZ(extent, z);
-    for (x = tileRange.minX; x <= tileRange.maxX; ++x) {
-      for (y = tileRange.minY; y <= tileRange.maxY; ++y) {
-        this.useTile(z + '/' + x + '/' + y);
-      }
-    }
-  }
-};
-
-
 /**
  * Marks a tile coord as being used, without triggering a load.
  * @param {string} tileCoordKey Tile coordinate key.
diff --git a/src/ol/tilequeue.js b/src/ol/tilequeue.js
index 3232686929..43aaf920d3 100644
--- a/src/ol/tilequeue.js
+++ b/src/ol/tilequeue.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ goog.require('ol.TileState');
 
 
 /**
- * @typedef {function(ol.Tile, string, ol.Coordinate): number}
+ * @typedef {function(ol.Tile, string, ol.Coordinate, number): number}
  */
 ol.TilePriorityFunction;
 
@@ -106,16 +106,20 @@ ol.TileQueue.prototype.dequeue_ = function() {
  * @param {ol.Tile} tile Tile.
  * @param {string} tileSourceKey Tile source key.
  * @param {ol.Coordinate} tileCenter Tile center.
+ * @param {number} tileResolution Tile resolution.
  */
-ol.TileQueue.prototype.enqueue = function(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter) {
+ol.TileQueue.prototype.enqueue = function(
+    tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution) {
   if (tile.getState() != ol.TileState.IDLE) {
     return;
   }
   var tileKey = tile.getKey();
   if (!(tileKey in this.queuedTileKeys_)) {
-    var priority = this.tilePriorityFunction_(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter);
+    var priority = this.tilePriorityFunction_(
+        tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution);
     if (priority != ol.TileQueue.DROP) {
-      this.heap_.push([priority, tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter]);
+      this.heap_.push(
+          [priority, tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution]);
       this.queuedTileKeys_[tileKey] = true;
       this.siftDown_(0, this.heap_.length - 1);
     }
@@ -245,13 +249,16 @@ ol.TileQueue.prototype.siftDown_ = function(startIndex, index) {
  */
 ol.TileQueue.prototype.reprioritize = function() {
   var heap = this.heap_;
-  var i, n = 0, node, priority, tile, tileCenter, tileKey, tileSourceKey;
+  var i, n = 0, node, priority;
+  var tile, tileCenter, tileKey, tileResolution, tileSourceKey;
   for (i = 0; i < heap.length; ++i) {
     node = heap[i];
     tile = /** @type {ol.Tile} */ (node[1]);
     tileSourceKey = /** @type {string} */ (node[2]);
     tileCenter = /** @type {ol.Coordinate} */ (node[3]);
-    priority = this.tilePriorityFunction_(tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter);
+    tileResolution = /** @type {number} */ (node[4]);
+    priority = this.tilePriorityFunction_(
+        tile, tileSourceKey, tileCenter, tileResolution);
     if (priority == ol.TileQueue.DROP) {
       tileKey = tile.getKey();
       delete this.queuedTileKeys_[tileKey];