The guys over at the YouTube blog are reporting that our beloved video site will finally be going "real" hi-def (1080p)



Standard - 360p



HQ - 480p



HD - 720p



HD - 1080p


The switch will happen sometime next week (most likely slowly and datacenter by datacenter). Beyond just a better picture, videos will now be perfectly sized for TVs (meaning you will get a great pic of comming it to a TV).

I have heard some rumors that this is being done in preparation for some type of online video rental service they will bring to market in 2010 but we'll just have to wait and see.

Unless the original video uploaded was in true 1080p before it was uploaded, this will just up-convert the files to 1080p and it won't make a difference. (This is also to assume, youtube doesn't compress video data [which I am sure they do].)

Now, with that said, any new videos that are uploaded from a 1080p source should be now viewed in 1080p (Again, assuming youtube doesn't compress video data.)

None the less, very cool!
Thanks for sharing.

coolmodee... Until now, the highest quality video was on vimeo at 720p.

They have said any video already upload which was in 1080p or better will be recompressed into 1080p.

And "recompressed" means it will lose quality (at least in my opinion).

It's like a MP3 vs. FLAC file. You will only notice a difference why playing it on some 7.2 JBL speaker system, but the FLAC files are still way better.


I wonder if the new Blackberrys using HSPA+ network will get full 1080p videos from youtube?

coolmodee.... most devices would not be able to decompress the 1080p stream properly. I have heard rumors that even the Archos 5 Internet Tablet may have some issues so I doubt the BB would be able to.

Video of the Archos 5 tablet playing a 720 Youtube HD Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlapGtV8xk

I will be interested in seeign if it's 1GHZ processor will be enough to decode 1080p

To bad ... HD youtube video's on BB/iPhones would be cool.

We are getting to the point were devices will have to make a performance leap to keep up with emerging technologies.

The flip side of the coin is that an 1080p HD video would not be not noticeably better looking on a small screen compared to a 640x480 or 720p. Do small devices even need 1080p abilities?

No, small devices don't need 1080p
A PSP is a perfect example, it looks 1080p when it's ownly 480p (i think).

the only time I think 1080p would be useful is if the device can display the image onto a TV... I have an older Archos 605 WIFI and am waiting for GEN2/3 of their Android based device before I upgrade.

Nice, I can't wait to have HD streaming....no need to torrent anymore! lol

I really like the new small form factor media PCs... I even heard Boxee may be coming out with its own hardware. I love Boxee : http://www.boxee.tv/homepage/

YouTube Will Soon Block Access From Set-Top Devices

It won't affect your PS3, Wii, TiVo, or other licensed YouTube partners, but Google's streaming video service will start blocking API access to TV-connected devices as of Dec. 2. The COO of set-top box maker Popcorn Hour writes that the firm tried to negotiate with YouTube to retain the service, but YouTube/Google seems to be standing firm—just as the site starts to transition to 1080p video. TV-oriented apps will certainly find work-arounds—Boxee, for example, uses a Mozilla-based browser to stream otherwise blocked Hulu videos—but it's not a promising vision of the media center landscape.

http://digital.limberis.com/2009/11...pcorn-hour.html