YouTube High Quality Gets Higher in 720p

Last week Ben Homer of Online Video Watch pointed to a post by Jason Kottke about a YouTube hack for an even higher quality video in 720p. YouTube had previously introduced the current "watch in high quality" option, by adding &fmt=18 (format 18) to the end of the YouTube video's url, which offered a transcoded mp4 version encoded using H.264 with stereo AAC sound at 480x360 with bitrates up to 850K. This was earlier in the year and I posted about it here.

Today the word is officially out they now offer full 720p. This format is similar to what's available DailyMotion and Vimeo.

The Google System blog says:
"If you add "&fmt=22", some YouTube videos are now available at an even higher quality, which makes the full screen view a very useful option. Compare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY (standard format - mono, resolution: 320x180)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&fmt=18 (stereo, resolution: 480x270) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&fmt=22 (new format - stereo, resolution: 1280x720)

To embed a higher quality version of a video, replace "http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEO_ID" with "http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEO_ID&ap=%2526fmt%3D18" or "http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEO_ID&ap=%2526fmt%3D22" in YouTube's embeddable code."

CNET has a good article which Josh Lowensohn tested this with one of his own videos.

Here's the popular "Where the Hell is Matt" video in both the new 720p and standard format,
Update: Unless you have at least fast internet connection (2.5 Mbps or higher) you'll have to wait a long time to view this video.

• The Wired HowTo wiki has great information on Watch Higher Quality YouTube Videos .
• The Video Help forums has some interesting discussions and has spotted some videos available in HD, and there are a number of hacks for downloading
• The YouTube specs for uploading the HQ mode are at a resolution of 480x360 or higher. Check out Jimmy Ruska's Blog for the full specs.

Netflix CEO Wants To Get Their Streaming Client Software into Every Internet Connected Consumer Electronic Device; It's on New XBOX 360 in HD Today!

NewTeeVee Live conference in San Francisco, Rafat Ali spoke with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. In this short video Hastings discussed the future of the streaming and how he wants to get their streaming client software in every internet connected consumer electronic device. Netflix has been successful in positioning itself to move beyond DVD distribution and today partnering with Microsoft to usher in a new era in home entertainment as the first to bring instant streaming in High Defintition to consumers with the new Xbox 360 Experience (NXE) console. Xbox 360 is the only Netflix-ready device on the market with this offering. Netflix subscribers will be able to stream up to 12,000 TV episodes and movies with approximately 300 in full HD. You'll need to be an Xbox Live Gold member to access the service.

Michael Hatamoto of CDFreaks says, "Video quality is impressive, but users who are on slower Internet connections may be rather disappointed. I found it to be somewhere between DVD and upscaled DVD quality, and it initially seemed better than Roku's service."

The specs on their HD Quality are here.

In this Contentnext video Reed Hastings addresses what he's doing to build parterships with device makers, timelines for making partnetrships work, reaching TV with web browsers, cost margins of DVD vs. streaming, his competitors like Hulu and traditional cable companies (which he sees as a potential partner among) , how to build the online video inventory and his outlook for the DVD busines for next year.



Liz Gaines wrote yesterday in that "The living room is on the horizon. And Netflix stands ready to capitalize on it. CEO Reed Hastings won us over by being engaged, enthusiastic and realistic about Netflix’s role in our home entertainment near-future. He described the current living room streaming environment, in which sites and devices come up with case-by-case solutions for publishing video, as a “brute force approach,” and instead proposed that a browser run directly on a TV." - from 10 Things We Learned About the Future of Online Video from NTV Live « NewTeeVee

Check out NewTeeVee’s coverage of his keynote or watch it here.

Related:

• Video Interview: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings On Moving Beyond The DVD
• The Official Netflix Blog: Movies Instantly Streamed from Netflix to the TV Via the XBox 360
• New Xbox 360 Experience Starts Today For Netflix Users : dBTechno
• A New Dawn in Home Entertainment for Everyone Begins Nov. 19 - MarketWatch
• Netflix Should be Aggressively Pursuing Broadcast Networks for Watch Instantly Service
• HD Netflix streaming comes to Xbox 360 first - Engadget
• Xbox 360’s New Experience: Canada missing out : Product Reviews Net

Adobe Scores with MLB, Silverlight Strikes Out

Yesterday in a stunning defeat, the Adobe® Flash® Platform beat out Microsoft's Silverlight as the video delivery platform for MLB.com. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MLBAM, is dropping Silverlight after one year in favor of Flash which MLBA's president and CEO Bob Bowman said better suits its needs. Under a two-year agreement the Adonbe's Flash Platform will deliver all of MLB.com's live and on-demand video offerings beginning in 2009. MLB.com has signed up more than 1.5 million subscribers since 2003 and streams more than 2,500 regular and postseason games annually.

Bowman said "our experience with Silverlight has led us to where we are.. We did it because we serve up more live video than anybody "Flash provides a TV-like experience, you turn it on and it works... We want it to be flexible so we can add features...and it’s got to be scaleable. We are the largest server of live entertainment int he country. Whether we are serving 20,000 for one game or 250,000 for another game it’s got to be scaleable over periods of time like nothing else.”

Read the full press release here.

Baseball is not the only sport that has drafted Flash as a delivery platform as it was just in September that the NFL selected Flash for streaming of football games on NBCSports and NFL.com. Many tech blogs implied that NBC "dropped", "dumped" or "ditched" Silverlight in favor of Flash and it was Dan Rayburn who set the record straight saying, NBC Did Not "Drop" Silverlight In Favor Of Flash: Bloggers Simply Want Headlines | The Business Of Online Video.

Ben Homer of Online Video Watch noted,"While the battle rages on, Flash has 98% penetration versus Silverlight’s 25% Microsoft continues to have a rough time convincing media companies to get on board with Silverlight without paying them to do so. Instead of releasing a new product in Silverlight that does more than Flash Microsoft is still trying to play catchup, and they’re falling further and further behind."

The Flash/MLB.com partnership was announced this week in San Francisco at the Adobe Max developers conference which kicked off with other major announcements in the latest Flash technology developments.

Among them were:

• Adobe Flash Platform streamlines creation of applications, content, and video for the web
• Adobe unveils Flash Media Server 3.5 for delivering rich interactive media over the web
• ARM and Adobe join forces to accelerate Flash and AIR for ARM platforms
• Adobe expands collaboration with SAP to maximize business agility for customers

There was also a lot of buzz about Adobe opening up its cloud initiative, known as “Cocomo,” as a public beta which allows developers easily add real-time social capabilities into their RIA. Read more about Cocomo here.

Related:

• In Major Blow to Silverlight MLBAM Moves to Flash | Online Video Watch
• Beet.TV: Breaking: Major League Baseball Signs Adobe for Streaming, Microsoft's Silverlight has Setback
• MLB.com drops Silverlight for Adobe Flash | Digital Media - CNET News
• MLB to Silverlight: You’re Out! « NewTeeVee
• Streamingmedia.com: Everything Changes In (A) Flash
• Adobe's CEO Underestimating Microsoft's Ability To Compete With Flash | The Business Of Online Video
• Flash Is Now A Platform, AIR Gets An Upgrade, And Adobe Puts A Catalyst In Gumbo

PBS to broadcast The Rape of Europa nationwide in US on Monday, Nov 24th

My friend Tami Stepanek sent me this announcement from Richard Berge of Actual Films. Tami and her husband Petr both had worked on the film which was released in 2006 and will air on PBS next Monday, November 24 at 9 pm. Check your local listings to confirm times in your area.

"The Rape of Europa tells the epic story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during the Third Reich and World War II. In a journey through seven countries, the film takes the audience into the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in history. But heroic young art historians and curators from America and across Europe fought back with an extraordinary campaign to rescue and return the millions of lost, hidden and stolen treasures.

The Rape of Europa begins and ends with the story of artist Gustav Klimt’s famed Gold Portrait, stolen from Viennese Jews in 1938 and now the most expensive painting ever sold." - from Acyual Films: The Rape of Europa Web Site

From: ActualFilms
Trailer for the newly released feature documentary film about the fate of art in the Third Reich and World War II. The film, based on the landmark history by Lynn H. Nicholas, is now playing at film festivals. www.therapeofeuropa.com

Winner of
Audience Award Best Documentary Feature Boston Jewish Film Festival
Best of Fest Palm Springs International Film Festival
Audience Award Best Documentary Film Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Executive Producer - Bonni Cohen
Producers - Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham
Co-producer - Robert M. Edsel
Cinematographer - Jon Shenk
Editor - Josh Peterson
Narrator - Joan Allen
A Production of Actual Films in association with Agon Arts & Entertainment and Oregon Public Broadcasting
Based on The Rape of Europa by Lynn H Nicholas

Related:

• Actual Films - Films
• THERAPEOFEUROPA.COM
• YouTube - The Rape of Europa
• The Rape of Europa - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com

President-elect Obama Ditches Old Media for New Media, Weekly Address Moves from Radio to YouTube

There's been a lot of discussion around the internet since President-Elect Barack Obama announced that his weekly radio messages will become video messages available each week on his YouTube Channel ChangeDotGov.

It's an interesting development in how social media has transformed the way our political leaders engage in conversation and community.


Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect
President-elect Obama talks about the economy in this week's Democratic address. For more information, visit http://www.change.gov

While comments have been disabled for the video the conversation has unfolded in other forums like FriendFeed where Allen Stern and Dan Farber both raised the issue of the President-elect posting on a commercial site which has the appearance of favoring or endorsing YouTube over other video sharing sites.

Allen Stern said,"My issue with the YouTube selection is around fair competition. I'd prefer that the videos not be embeddable and be offered online only on the whitehouse.gov and change.gov websites. If they are going to use online video hosting services as an outlet, I'd like to see a full RFP process take place. All video hosts who want to host the weekly videos should have an equal chance of winning the government contract." - from Obama Says Yes We Can Use YouTube - Digital Life Blog - InformationWeek

Dan Farber asked this question, "But why should the incoming president, or public official, favor one Internet video service over another? Yahoo, MSN, Blip, Veoh, and other video-sharing sites shouldn't have to lobby the White House for equal time or at least some time. I am sure the choice of YouTube was practical, and has nothing to do with Google CEO Eric Schmidt's very public support of Obama. Implicit product endorsements are difficult to avoid for any public official." - from Obama appoints YouTube (Google) as secretary of video | Outside the Lines - CNET News

Many others love the idea and say that it's a good step toward reaching the masses since YouTube is so mainstream compared to other video sharing sites and actually the video is also available on AOL, Yahoo, and MSN and High-resolution, Quicktime format: (106MB .mov file.) I noticed that the video on Change.gov uses the embedded YouTube player and they also included the full text transcript in the post. If they continue to distribute videos on YouTube I'd like to see them incorporate the new captions feature so that it would be easier to translate his message into different languages and make it more accessible for the hearing impaired. That would be an added value to using YouTube as a distribution platform.

Coturnix had another perspective, "People like Dan Farber and Allen Stern are worried about favouritism - why YouTube and not other video services? Answer: if the only place they place a video is Change.org, then someone else will put it on YouTube, perhaps edited, with open comments, who knows what else. By posting it on YouTube themselves, the Obama comms folks are putting a degree of control over the message. In the next few months, they may decide to do the same on several other video-hosting services. This was just the first address, and YouTube, being such an 6000lbs gorilla (or is it an elephant in the room?), is the obvious place to go and test the waters first before embarking on a more ambitious program." - from A Blog Around The Clock : Will there be new communication channels in the Obama administration?

I agree and I'll be watching as he continues make history and I'll be participating in the conversation.

Here are some related blog posts and discussion:

• The YouTube Presidency | 44 | washingtonpost.com
• Obama Says Yes We Can Use YouTube - Digital Life Blog - InformationWeek
• Obama appoints YouTube (Google) as Secretary of Video - FriendFeed Discussion
• Obama appoints YouTube (Google) as secretary of video | Outside the Lines - CNET News
• A Blog Around The Clock : Will there be new communication channels in the Obama administration? by Coturnix
• Obama's YouTube speech raises the question: is there an efficient way to listen to America?
• Is Obama Ready To Be A Two-Way President? by Brian Solis for TechCrunch
• Snazzy new technology isn't enough to bring transparency to the White House. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine

Update: Fixed a few typos, grammatical errors and added some new text.