Quote from Shotglass :

matrixi found something a lot better and a lot more hd:
http://mrdoob.com/lab/youtube/superHD/

Arse! I didn't see the post on the next page, so I've now been rickrolled. I don't think I've ever fallen for it before, mostly because there have always been other posts warning me. So congrats Shot, you got me!

Quote from Shotglass :

matrixi found something a lot better and a lot more hd:
http://mrdoob.com/lab/youtube/superHD/

That is so awesome. Great bump.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Arse! I didn't see the post on the next page, so I've now been rickrolled. I don't think I've ever fallen for it before, mostly because there have always been other posts warning me. So congrats Shot, you got me!

even though youll never believe me i didnt post it for the rickroll and entirely for the awesominity of the highres youtube video

wow, what the OP said works really well, there is a huge difference in quality between this one of mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TznmKWAF7g

and the one with the added bit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TznmKWAF7g&fmt=18

Also, I don't know since when, but it's possible to download the hires version from:

http://www.keepvid.com/

480x360 H.264 .mp4, 125 kb/s AAC, not too bad imho.

Now in 1280*720 (720p).
It is done simply by adding "&fmt=22" (without quotes) to the end of the video URL.

Not all videos are yet available in this format though but here are some sample ones to compare especially in full screen mode:

Normal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgan4rt7ZHw
720p: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgan4rt7ZHw&fmt=22

Normal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
720p: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&fmt=22


According to MediaInfo they are using some quite strange encoding settings though:

Main profile instead of High.
About 2 Mbps bitrate which is quite low for such a resolution.
No CABAC, low SubME, no RDO, no Trellis.
And it looks like they are using a quite old version of x264.

But hey, that's better than the FLV1 crap we were used to have for years

I am seeing widescreens!

And lots of them. But a lot of the videos haven't been converted to 720p yet. Still, the widescreens look better.

I noticed the widescreens earlier on, thought I was seeing things at first.

Those 720p videos look brilliant for Youtube, some what better than the fmt=18 versions.

Quote from Lotesdelere :

Now in 1280*720 (720p).
It is done simply by adding "&fmt=22" (without quotes) to the end of the video URL.

Not all videos are yet available in this format though but here are some sample ones to compare especially in full screen mode:

Normal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgan4rt7ZHw
720p: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgan4rt7ZHw&fmt=22

Normal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
720p: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&fmt=22


According to MediaInfo they are using some quite strange encoding settings though:

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 4mn 28s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 060 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 2 000 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 11.8 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 30.000 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.075
Stream size : 66.0 MiB (90%)
Title : (C) 2007 Google Inc. v06.24.2007.
Writing library : x264 core 54
Encoding settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=5 / brdo=0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=1 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=2 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=0 / keyint=60 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=abr / bitrate=2000 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=38 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30
Encoded date : UTC 2008-06-19 11:35:09
Tagged date : UTC 2008-06-19 11:35:09

Main profile instead of High.
About 2 Mbps bitrate which is quite low for such a resolution.
No CABAC, low SubME, no RDO, no Trellis.
And it looks like they are using a quite old version of x264.

But hey, that's better than the FLV1 crap we were used to have for years

So, if i will encode video with these settings, it will NOT lose quality after uploading to YT?

My crappy laptop at the office unfortunately turns those videos into a slide show -- Actually show is too big of a word, it's bassically just one still.

I was also getting choppy playback until I updated to flash player 10. Now perfectly smooth.

Quote from AK-Chester :

Happens in IE, Firefox & Opera. I also tried older versions of flash player, which didn't change a thing.

No problem, though. All other video sites I know of still work fine for me (no matter what flash player version I'm using) so I can easily do without YouTube.

Using Opera here with Flash 10, have got no problems.

BTW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdSnZvseggw&fmt=22
I love widescreen.

@ Lotesdelere: thank you so much for this one &fmt=22
My Internet Explorer already opened videos in widescreen (I don't know how) but that didn't happen on Opera. Even thought after adding &fmt=22 to a single video, now every other video displays in widescreen. Awesome!

The widescreen is pretty cool, I guess.

the quality is still pretty crap tho.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

the quality is still pretty crap tho.

Only for the videos that have not been coverted to suit the higher resolution.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

the quality is still pretty crap tho.

Have a look at the 720p videos posted earlier. The quality is great even in full screen mode on a 1680*1050 Monitor.

Besides, the "Where the hell is Matt?" video is pretty touching if you've built close to the water... (probably another german saying lost in translation :tilt.

The quality is not that great full screen. The bit rate is WAY too low.

I love how the Internet has conditioned people to believe that video that isn't even PAL quality is "HD".

I really don't know what you guys are expecting.

Really shameless of youtube to not provide videos in the same quality you get on your 1080p 50" plasma screen and your Blu-ray player...

Quote from Linsen :

I really don't know what you guys are expecting.

Really shameless of youtube to not provide videos in the same quality you get on your 1080p 50" plasma screen and your Blu-ray player...

Oh well... 30 min buffering before playing the first 10 seconds
PS: a 22" LG monitor already has 1080p quality

For sure we can't say youtube has HD quality, it just is getting better than before... if you see the video I posted earlier (Fast and Furious trailer) you'll notice a "high quality" button under the video.. just click on it and you'll notice a major quality gain

Quote from Velociround :

a major quality gain

I noticed only major loading time gain

Quote from J.B. :

I love how the Internet has conditioned people to believe that video that isn't even PAL quality is "HD".

What do you mean by "PAL quality"? The PAL specification has to do with fields per second for interlaced video, (or frames per second for progressive video). It says nothing about compression. 720p is high definition PAL, with a 1:1 pixel ratio no matter what compression is used, isn't it?

Quote from Velociround :

Oh well... 30 min buffering before playing the first 10 seconds

The "Where the hell is Matt" vid (and what a great vid that is ) started playing instantly and was fully loaded in 30 sec for me. The joys of a 20MB connection

The quality was superb for Youtube. I'm impressed.