AfterDawn: News

YouTube adds some 720p resolution videos

YouTube has begun testing out HD-quality videos on their site, finally giving users the ability to watch 720p resolution videos and not the degraded quality of current YouTube uploads.

The new videos are over 80MB large and are assumed to be H.264 encoded mp4 files, the same format as those available from the iTunes HD store.



According to Wired, all that it takes to have standard videos upgraded to the 720p resolution (if they were taped at a high enough quality) is a small "hack."

To do so, take the URL of the video and add &fmt=22 to the end.

A good example to try this on is this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&fmt=22

As you can see, I have added the &fmt=22 to the end of the URL. The quality is very good and it is good to see YouTube taking a step forward. Obviously the video sizes will be larger and make take longer time to stream if you have slower Internet connections, but the quality is much improved.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2008 17:32

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• 18 comments

• ZippyDSM

  Still not good enough... but anyway anyone know how to use/install a palylist with embeded video?

  24.11.2008 18:31 #1

• Leningrad

  I agree, i think that youtube is quite behind compared to many different streaming sites...but its a step forward i must admit.

  24.11.2008 18:42 #2

• martin280

  I will be happy when HD takes over everything, it's working its magic but we're not quite there yet.
  

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  24.11.2008 18:53 #3

• Icanbe

  Checked out the link, looks pretty good I have to say.

  24.11.2008 19:22 #4

• rainofire

  Darn, it still isn't enough to view KZ2 beta videos in all it's glory... Oh well, back to gametrailers.

  24.11.2008 19:58 #5

• Shamb1es

  In my homeland 1280x720 means 1280 full pixels by 720 full pixels. Not 1280 half pixels by 720 half pixels.
  
  That ain't 720. Try making a news flash as to how youtube is trying to catch up with SD resolutions and you'd be more accurate.

  25.11.2008 01:27 #6

• P51ride

  Hello to all on the forum,
  
  I use Firefox with the DownloadHelper extension. I also have the K-Lite video codec package from this site installed. If I add &fmt=18 at the end of the YouTube video URL, hit enter and click on the drop down of DownLoadHelper one of the download options is video.mp4. I will copy & paste the name and download a video file in MP4 format. I would be interested in results from other members of this forum if they would try this method.
  
  Best Regards

  25.11.2008 03:58 #7

• Oner

  Originally posted by rainofire: Darn, it still isn't enough to view KZ2 beta videos in all it's glory... Oh well, back to gametrailers.Don't even bother with them. Go here and download (not stream) any one of the 1280x720 HD files for unedited, unfiltered & untampered with actual gameplay videos. This video is one of my favorites for KZ2 even though it is still only an HD cam grab and not a direct feed HD grab.
  

  
  
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  25.11.2008 08:26 #8

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by Shamb1es: In my homeland 1280x720 means 1280 full pixels by 720 full pixels. Not 1280 half pixels by 720 half pixels.
  
  That ain't 720. Try making a news flash as to how youtube is trying to catch up with SD resolutions and you'd be more accurate.Did you make it fullscreen?

  25.11.2008 11:21 #9

• sammorris

  Fullscreened it's about the same quality as a reasonable 850x480 Avi. No way is it 720p.

  26.11.2008 07:17 #10

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by rainofire: Darn, it still isn't enough to view KZ2 beta videos in all it's glory... Oh well, back to gametrailers.Don't even bother with them. Go here and download (not stream) any one of the 1280x720 HD files for unedited, unfiltered & untampered with actual gameplay videos. This video is one of my favorites for KZ2 even though it is still only an HD cam grab and not a direct feed HD grab.ya but where can I upload my full SD qauilty game videos? :P
  
  Ggrrr if I could only run a play list off embed video I would ave it made >< (least getting back to working on my site...)

  26.11.2008 08:55 #11

• lynchGOP

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Still not good enough... but anyway anyone know how to use/install a palylist with embeded video?Shut your pie hole with that "Not good enough" nonsense and spare us your ignorant comments..............pretty please!!!
  
  Only when the day arrives that you can honestly and OBJECTIVELY say that everyone has 1080p HD cameras/camcorders in their households THEN it's time for "Not good enough". Until then, more constructive and less ignorant comments!!

  26.11.2008 14:25 #12

• Leningrad

  Quote:Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Still not good enough... but anyway anyone know how to use/install a palylist with embeded video?Shut your pie hole with that "Not good enough" nonsense and spare us your ignorant comments..............pretty please!!!
  
  Only when the day arrives that you can honestly and OBJECTIVELY say that everyone has 1080p HD cameras/camcorders in their households THEN it's time for "Not good enough". Until then, more constructive and less ignorant comments!!ok, just dont be that RUDE.

  26.11.2008 16:19 #13

• Shamb1es

  You can make a 2x2 pixel video full screen, still doesn't mean it's a 1280x800 video on my laptop. These video's barely span half of my horizontal resolution. Better, but still weak. Bring back Stage6 :(

  26.11.2008 21:58 #14

• sammorris

  Agreed. Stage6 ruled. No fanboyism here, just the truth.

  27.11.2008 08:27 #15

• cursh

  Well I'am glad to hear this good news!
  
  Specially from 1 of my favorite sites AFTERDAWN!

  29.11.2008 22:32 #16

• champman

  HD videos now look alot better than the standard compressed format.
  
  I've found a good example of how good HD looks with this video (the sound is amazing as well!): http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hhr9gX6PtQ

  7.12.2008 22:11 #17

• sammorris

  It's a nice effort, but the picture quality (due to the lower resolution) is still far worse than a 720p video, as the display resolution is still only the size of the box, 640x360 - notably a quarter of the resolution of even the lower resolution of HD video. How can they get away with calling that HD?

  8.12.2008 12:30 #18