YouTube to launch full-fledged HD
Google has announced that YouTube will soon include 1080p format videos. That’s the higher-resolution high definition format, sometimes known as Full HD.
The site launched high definition videos late last year, but restricted them to the 720p format which is the minimum resolution required under most definitions to qualify as “high definition”. 1080p is the most detailed picture format that’s currently widely available on consumer screens.
In a neat touch, YouTube will be re-encoding any videos which were previously uploaded in 1080p format and scaled down to fit the previous limits. That re-encoding process is around half-way through complete at the moment. It turns out YouTube keeps the original version of every file uploaded to the site, whatever its size or format. That makes the thought of its hardware set-up even more mindboggling.
The site will continue to impose a 10-minute time limit on clips uploaded by most users (the limit is actually 10:59 in practice). However, with the new format in place, it looks likely to expand the current 2GB limit on uploaded files.
Of course, the increased resolution won’t make much difference to wackjobs who deliver commentaries into their webcam, but frankly who really wants to see those folks in greater detail? It will be a benefit for people who use high-resolution digital cameras to make their own clips.
The new format may also be particularly useful to movie studios and TV networks which want to upload high-resolution clips to promote their movies and shows. That could be particularly useful for shows where the HD visuals are a key selling point such as nature documentaries.
YouTube’s continued growth isn’t entirely HD-focused however. There are certainly far more high-resolution clips these days, due in part to demand from people who want to watch in full screen mode either on a computer screen or streamed directly to a TV. However, it appears the proportion of clips in high quality remains low. That’s because of a rapid expansion in the number of clips which are uploaded from cellphones with video cameras which are very much not in HD.
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