Youtube goes HD Widescreen

[Dead Crow 370]

You may have already noticed, but Youtube is now bigger than usual:

Over the years we've heard a lot of feedback from you about what you'd like to change about YouTube, and the size of our video player is always top of mind. That's why today we're excited to announce a bigger YouTube player.

 

We're expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don't worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.

http://www.youtube.com/blog

 

And just to show you the power of the new Youtube, here's a scene from The Dark Knight in HD.

[Guest ScottyB]

That Dark Knight video is awesome, and I'm not talking about the content either!

[Guest Popsi]

Can someone explain to me how HD works. My laptop has a little sticker on it saying Full HD 1080, but what does that actually mean? I don't have a HD DVD player on it, so what's the point of the HD? Would it being able to play HD make any difference to me watching that video? Would it appear sharper for me than someone whose laptop doesn't support HD? I'm so confused!

[Guest Saz]

Ok...

 

HD stands for High Definition and does to TV what an 8 megapixel camera does to a normal camera.

 

Basically the cathode ray Tube is made up of tiny dots and updated (also known as refreshed) line by line (hence the flicker) PAL has more lines of Dots than NSTC and is therefore considered better quality.

 

Since the rise of LCD screens, the pixels don't have to be updated line by line but each pixel is controlled by itself meaning faster refresh. Though with computers they are still updated in the line by line part. All the TV or monitor has to do is update the pixel if the next frame is different, unlike the cathode ray which updated everything regardless of change.

 

If you imagine that each frame of footage is a high quality photograph and then play each frame, you will get what is known as HD. The human eye picks up the quality even at that speed and things like slow down will show great detail.

 

Your 1080 is the screen size.

 

Hope that helps.

[Guest Al Stevens]

That HD scene of TDK has made me look forward to getting it on Blu Ray more :D

[Guest Popsi]

Ok...

 

HD stands for High Definition and does to TV what an 8 megapixel camera does to a normal camera.

 

Basically the cathode ray Tube is made up of tiny dots and updated (also known as refreshed) line by line (hence the flicker) PAL has more lines of Dots than NSTC and is therefore considered better quality.

 

Since the rise of LCD screens, the pixels don't have to be updated line by line but each pixel is controlled by itself meaning faster refresh. Though with computers they are still updated in the line by line part. All the TV or monitor has to do is update the pixel if the next frame is different, unlike the cathode ray which updated everything regardless of change.

 

If you imagine that each frame of footage is a high quality photograph and then play each frame, you will get what is known as HD. The human eye picks up the quality even at that speed and things like slow down will show great detail.

 

Your 1080 is the screen size.

 

Hope that helps.

 

That does help, but I'm still not sure how that transfers to what I actually see on screen. When I look at TWO for example, it doesn't appear to be any different from when I look at it on a regular laptop. So do I see everything on my PC on HD? And if I don't, then what's the point of having a HD laptop if it doesn't have a HD DVD player? I spose what practical difference does it have for me?

[Guest Saz]

You could have a file that has high definition but because each frame is like a high quality photograph, the size will be fairly big.

 

Hence why bluray and HD DVD were formats designed to hold those sizes. However your computer can change to higher quality automatically, just by changing the screen size.

[Guest Popsi]

I must admit, I still don't really understand what I actually gain from my laptop being/having HD! I so don't get technology, so this is baffling me a bit. Give me a psychological theory over technological theory anyday!

[Guest Saz]

Ok, let's put it this way.

 

It's better than what everyone else has so you can smugly rub it in their faces :lol

[Guest Popsi]

Hahaha, well then it's worth it!! :D

[Guest Ruderz]

That video is all shades of awsomeness!!

[Guest Al Stevens]

The best way to understand HD is comparison.

 

Watch a HD movie and an SD movie side by side and you'll see how great HD is.

 

Or another way of putting it is play something which is amazing on a xbox 360 or PS3 in HD, then set everything to SD and play the same game. Baring games which push the standards of SD gaming and TV's there will be a difference.

[ShaolinHandLock 73]

I was wondering why YouTube's video player had suddenly changed size. I thought my computer might have been to blame! :lol

[BRM 220]

Only a week to go for TDK :)

[Guest Al Stevens]

Only a week to go for TDK :)

 

And then My Blu Ray collection will go up plus + 1. I cannot wait :D:D

[Guest Fiona]

Coming from the poor side of the forum I don't have an HD television and don't have any plans to buy one anytime soon. I'll wait until they come down in price.

 

This new Youtube is horrible. All my videos have big black spaces on either side of them.

[Guest Popsi]

The best way to understand HD is comparison.

 

Watch a HD movie and an SD movie side by side and you'll see how great HD is.

 

Oh I have done the comparison, but the bit I don't understand is how can I watch a HD movie if I don't have an HD player on my laptop! Seems to make the HD a bit pointless!

[Paul 584]

You can watch it online though. Or so the marketing goes I bet. :lol

[Guest Nemesis Enforcer]

I had a look at it for the first time today, its very meh with the big black lines down the side but I can live with it for the stuff I watch on there