YouTube goes HD

YouTube has finally started allowing the display of HD video and I have to say it’s the nicest looking web video I’ve seen yet. I did some experimenting and I had to upload a 16×9 (1280×720) video for it to give the ‘Show in HD’ option. Uploading a 1280×544 video as I normally upload to vimeo or Exposure Room would not kick in the HD option and did not display the video at the correct aspect ratio.

The other nice thing about YouTube is that they encode the video using the .h264 codec which also allows them to deliver the video to mobile devices such as iPhones & iPods. If you visit this site using an iPhone or iPod you’ll still be able to watch the video below.

Try clicking the full screen button on the HD encoded & embedded video below, or look at the video on YouTube. Very impressive quality!

YouTube goes HD
YouTube goes HD