Share your videos in widescreen

Posted on 26 Nov 2008 at 11:24

YouTube has launched a new widescreen video player, which means that it will present videos that are shot with a 16:9 aspect ratio video camera, more effectively.

The company said it is expanding the width of the player to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos that users create. It will also improve the viewing experience of users with widescreen monitors.

"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," said the company in its blog. "That's why today we're excited to announce a bigger YouTube player."

Although the new player is in a widescreen aspect ratio, the company insists that your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just as well in the new player. However, in practice, 4:3 videos have suffered, as videos have been compressed to be compatible with the new player.

The YouTube community has given a mixed reception to the new player, with many requesting an option to toggle between 16:9 and 4:3, in the same way users can currently toggle between high-definition and standard-definition quality videos.

"Can you make it an option to not have it as well?" wrote 'ZacharyDY4', a user who posted a comment at YouTube's blog."Most videos I watch aren't widescreen and I find the black bars to be distracting and annoying."

"I don't like it. I don't have a wide screen, so everything looks very cramped and claustrophobic. Maybe you see quality, but I see clutter. Can we have the option to view videos like we did before?" added 'supaslim'.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota

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