You tube quality

[Mark W]

At last - I have just noticed the quality option, set to high the tube now streams at 1mbit and the vids look great - deep joy and I bet everyone else already noticed !

[Marc Peters]

Originally Posted by Mark W At last - I have just noticed the quality option, set to high the tube now streams at 1mbit and the vids look great - deep joy and I bet everyone else already noticed !

Does that mean my mobile phone cam will now look and feel like high definition? Can't wait to film my mates scrapping outside Nandos on Saturday. I'll upload it as soon as we get home.

[Mark W]

Originally Posted by Marc Peters Does that mean my mobile phone cam will now look and feel like high definition? Can't wait to film my mates scrapping outside Nandos on Saturday. I'll upload it as soon as we get home.

Lol - well my films look nice and that made me happy, but you are so right about the tube - a free to access broadcast medium is an amazing thing but I dont think we are ready for it yet as a society....

[evilc]

YouTube is still rubbish quality even with the High Quality setting. Stage6 was much better.

I now use hostmedia.us - this is a new stage6 replacement that, like stage6, will host an unmolested divx and let end users download a copy of the uploaded divx.

See YouTube - LARD 13 - "Miniket Madness"
then see Host Media - Stage6 Replacement

I uploaded the same source file to both sites. No comparison in quality...

[thebeatsuite]

Wow that hostmedia site is slow, not impressed at all. I'm on a 20mb line and had to wait for 2 videos to buffer... got to bout 4% for each and got sick of it.

[Marc Peters]

Originally Posted by thebeatsuite Wow that hostmedia site is slow, not impressed at all. I'm on a 20mb line and had to wait for 2 videos to buffer... got to bout 4% for each and got sick of it.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

There's clearly an desire for high quality content, but we aren't prepared to wait for it. Now this isn't another 'Generation X' attention span comment (after all, why would we want to sit and wait for something to buffer when we could atcually be doing something), but rather that video needs to be streamed on high quality servers. Unfortunately it seems that as soon as a small site becomes popular, servers become hopelessly overloaded and speed becomes an issue. I've never understood why there haven't been more collabarotive, non for profit efforts to create a network of servers to distribite the load.

As an aside, I run software on my server to provide users with a upload video gallery. Interestingly, even the regulars here prefer YouTube over this, as I can only assume the think they will gain increased exposure by using YouTube. No doubt true, but it becomes a self defeating method of promotion - the more one particular site becomes popular, the greater the bandwidth requirements and the more chance that server loads result in buffering.

What's needed is a few aggregators. These would take video in standard format from any site using the bandwidth from that feeder site. Adverts embedded in the video code would enable feeders to subsidise the cost of bandwidth.

Just a few thoughts...

[KenneyG]

To be honest, I think the youtube's quality is terrble. I much rather prefer uploading my videos on Heavy.com

If you compare a video on youtube, to one on Heavy.com, you can notice the HUGE differece. See for yourself with the new Buckcherry / Papa roach music video.


Youtube Version - - - - > YouTube - papa roach and buckcherry JVC commercial

Heavy Version - - - - - > "Turn Me On" feat. Papa Roach & Buckcherry Video - Heavy.com

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

I've noticed that the high quality option isn't available for every video; I wonder what makes a video eligible for the high quality viewing option? In most cases it's just a sharper picture and better rate of sound. I'm thinking maybe videos with larger file sizes, more compressed get the option?

[Mark W]

I have sussed thre you tube quality thing.

Due to bandwidth and cpu restrictions and server space issues my very old vids were made for webcasting at 500 kbit / sec, 320 x 240 wmv, a few of those are on my tube page with no quality option.

My latest vids go up at 1.5 mbit max res wmv and they all have the hq option.

If your video is decent quality then the option will be there.

You tube hq is 1 mbit and appears to be 640 by 480 so do better then that and I am guessing you get hq.

[Captain Malcolm Reynolds]

Ahh, that's a lot clearer. Thanks for the update!