YouTube will soon put even more distance between itself and its old reputation for being a repository of crummy-looking, user-generated content. Support for watching 1080p HD videos in full resolution is due to be introduced on Monday.
1080p is, in case you didn’t know, the picture type associated with Blu-ray. It makes very minute details visible (hair and makeup teams were none too happy about its creation), and on YouTube, should simply allow for larger images, too.
Unfortunately, creating and displaying 1080p clips requires enough stuff that not everyone will be able to take part. Content creators who don’t have fairly new cameras will be left out. Then, viewers who don’t have fast Internet connections, fast computers, and large monitors should probably just stick to what was already available for the sake of not having clips stutter.
Still, YouTube’s trying to make the switch easy on people. A post on the YouTube Blog stated, “[T]hose of you who have already uploaded in 1080p, don’t worry. We’re in the process of re-encoding your videos so we can show them the way you intended.”
And the introduction of support for 1080p is important. In the long run, it’ll provide an attractive option to professional content creators and advertisers, along with the obvious eye candy benefits for YouTube users.
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