After a lot of wait and speculation, since I had asked the Youtube founders back in January when Youtube would be in HD (through Robert Scoble fortunately reading my questions through his live Qik broadcast), Youtube finally has launched Youtube HD.

I got TechCrunched yesterday with one of my Youtube HD videos that showcases well the new HD quality on Youtube for uploaded HD quality videos when you click on “watch in HD” or add &fmt=22 to the end of Youtube URLs.

Among all the coverage on TechMeme, I couldn’t see any other site yet post the full quality of the output codec comparisons between the different Flash HD sites, so I tried to do it myself using the Gspot codec information software and the Video DownloadHelper Firefox Add-on. Here are my measurements of the HD qualities among the different video services for 16:9 content.

Youtube Normal Quality: 320×180 – 350kbit/s Sorenson – 25fps (probably source based) – 22hz mono audio

Youtube High Quality: 480×270 – 1mbit/s Sorenson – 25fps (probably source based) – 44hz stereo mp3 audio

Youtube HD: 1280×720 – 2mbit/s H264 – full framerate – 44hz stereo 254kbit/s AAC audio – more details

Facebook HD: 1280×720 – 2.5mbit/s H264 – full framerate – 44hz 146kbit/s AAC stereo audio

Sevenload HD: 1280×720 – 1.8mbit/s H264 – full framerate – 48hz 96kbit/s AAC stereo audio

(I was told by the Sevenload CEO that Sevenload regulates output HD bandwidth according to viewers available bandwidth, so the optimal Sevenload HD quality might be higher then the one that I here measured. My Interview with the Sevenload CEO at the LeWeb08 is being uploaded.)

SmugMug HD: 1280×720 – 3.2mbit/s H264 Baseline Profile – full framerate - 48KHz 128kbit/s AAC-LC stereo audio

(More info about SmugMug’s quality at this page: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/Video+Formats SmugMug may even support 1080p output quality such as at http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/6677452_e9rL5#427227023_AsXNo-X2-LB but that 1080p version seems to require to use the Quicktime browser plugin rather then Flash HD. SmugMug requires a Pro account at $149.95/year to be able to publish up to 5 minute long video in HD on SmugMug.)

Vimeo HD: 1280×720 – 1.7mbit/s VP6 – full framerate – 44hz 128kbit/s mp3 stereo audio

(Vimeo has an Embedded HD subscription plan for providing up to 5000 HD streams at $59.95/year with domain filtering tools for the HD embeds.)

Dailymotion HD: 1280×720 – 1.3mbit/s VP6 – full framerate – 44hz 96kbit/s mp3 stereo audio

In terms of HD Flash video quality, Youtube and Facebook probably provide the best quality HD playback for now among these sites, though Vimeo is using VP6 for HD which has a slightly lower hardware requirement then H264 which is a very processor intensive task, thus Vimeo’s choice to stay with VP6 for HD Flash video streaming may provide a slightly smoother Flash HD experience for some people, though its bitrate seems to be a bit lower. Facebook’s player might have a slight edge over Youtube at this point for providing a cinematic HD experience, since Youtube for now does not hide its playback controls behind the video in full screen mode.

Dark Shikari from Doom9 forums says that “Facebook uses full High Profile and medium-high-ish quality x264 settings. Youtube uses a very old x264 version (unless they’ve fixed it since a few days ago) and Baseline profile.” I think that one thing to consider also trying to investigate is if Facebook also like Google goes back in all of its archive to re-encode all previously uploaded HD videos, also a parameter that might matter for HD video content uploaders is the encoding time, perhaps Facebook’s HD encoding takes longer to process then Youtube, since Facebook probably has a much smaller HD video archive and a much smaller video encoding grid. Facebook verifies accounts somehow to allow longer then 2 minutes to be uploaded, up to 20 minutes, Youtube has no time limit for users that qualify to be Youtube partners and they have a 10 minute length limit for normal people.

Here at TechVideoBlog.com, I have been video-blogging in HD quality since September 2005, publishing over 500 videos in HD from all the consumer electronic shows (CeBIT, IFA, CES) and tech conferences around the world and I have always been encoding my videos in DivX HD 1280×720 at 3.5mbit/s and using the DivX Web Player browser plugin to embed the content on this website. I still think the DivX HD solution is the best in terms of quality and customization, but it requires you to manage the hosting of the files yourself.

Originally released at http://archosfans.com/2008/09/13/archos-5-review-part-4-testing-it-outdoors-public-transportation-the-speakers/

In this video review, I take the new Archos 5 out in the daylight to see how sunlight readable the new 4.8″ screen is, I log-onto some nabours open WiFi access points, I test it in the public transportation and do the worlds first Archos 5 test in a metro.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download (116mb)
DivX SD 640×360 1.2mbit/s: Play, Download (42mb)

Flash version (high quality): Youtube

Flash versions: Dailymotion, Blip, Google, Sumo, Yahoo, Vsocial, Metacafe, Viddler, Putfile, Vimeo, Revver

You can discuss this video at http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17146

Showing the speed and compatibility of the Opera browser in this Archos 5 product that is being released right now. It has a 4 times faster ARM Cortex processor by Texas Instruments, which significantly increases the browsing experience making this a full Internet Media Tablet experience. In this video review I am showing and testing many different graphics heavy websites.

The intro music is by http://maf464.free.fr and it is used with permission.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download (206mb)
DivX SD 640×360 1.2mbit/s: Play, Download (74mb)

Flash versions: Dailymotion, Viddler, Blip, Sumo, Google, Yahoo, Metacafe, Vsocial, Revver, Vimeo

Showing the quality of the design, of the screen in this HD video. Also showing how you can browse in HD using the HDMI output on your HDTV. Comparing the size of the Archos 5 screen with the Archos 605 WiFi, the Archos 5 screen is 25% bigger while the device is smaller, its quality is even higher and it’s clearer and brighter. See how you can use the Archos 5 screen as a mouse pad when outputting the Interface to the TV.

The intro music is by http://maf464.free.fr and it is used with permission.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download (250mb)
DivX SD 640×360 1.2mbit/s: Play, Download (90mb)

Flash versions: Dailymotion, Blip, Google, Viddler, Sumo, Youtube, Metacafe, Revver

Here I am unboxing the Archos 5 which is a 250GB Linux based Internet Media Tablet based on the new Texas Instruments ARM Cortex processor that is just being released right now. It’s got a really nice high resolution 4.8″ touch-screen, HD video formats support. Check out this screen, it is pure awesome!!! It looks awesome in the metro, in the bus, in the train, pretty viewable outdoors in the sunlight. Everyone was looking at me at the train station and asking about what it was, it looks awesome and will amaze everyone up to about 100 meters around you. A bigger screen in a smaller device, that’s pretty awesome.

This video is just the initial unboxing. Check for more videos coming up on all the new faster features, showing the web browsing speed, the new awesome looking DVR Station with HDMI output and more in the next parts of this review.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download (70mb)

Flash versions: Dailymotion, Yahoo, Viddler, Google, Sumo, Vsocial, Putfile, Blip, Youtube, Revver, Vimeo

This is LG’s latest new black design, durable and cool looking slide-out camera phone with a DivX Mobile certification, 120fps slow-motion 320×240 video recording, direct to Youtube HSDPA video upload, 5 megapixel photo camera with flash. With a tempered glass to protect the screen against keys and coin scratches in the pocket, Carbon fibre casing to make it durable against drops, bangs and other misuse. It has touch-screen mode only for some of its features, otherwise it has a blue neonlight touch interface below the screen.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download (272mb)

Flash versions: Blip, Sumo, Viddler, Metacafe, Vsocial, Google, Dailymotion, Youtube, Putfile, Veoh, Revver, Vimeo

You can see some slow motion video samples that I shot using the LG Secret:

Children dancing (with Charbax music)

Football (with Charbax commentary)

Basketball (with Charbax commentary)

Volleyball (with Charbax commentary)

Charbax dance (with Charbax music)

More dancing (with Charbax music)

More dancing (with Charbax commentary)

Showing this Intel Atom based Netbook in an HD quality video review, comparing it with the OLPC XO-1, comparing it with a large 14″ notebook, showing how it can playback 720p H264 9mbit/s video recorded using the Sanyo HD1000 using Coreavc codec in Media Player Classic. Talking about ARM based $100 laptops as well.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play, Download

Flash versions: Youtube

This is a 13 minute video review of the new features that Archos announced on the 22nd of April 2008 at a press event in Paris. Everyone who owns an Archos 605 WiFi now has a $99 GPS optional accessory for it to have a very awesome GPS functionality in the car. The Archos Gen5 firmware now has reached version 2.0, and this one brings new quite awesome features such as integrated access to the worlds streaming live Web TV and Webradio channels as well as millions of episodes from hundreds of thousands of podcasts though the Web TV and Radio plugin that will be available from the beginning of May at $19, the TV+ Portation feature which basically uses the TV+ or a 605 WiFi or 705 WiFi as a Slingbox server, and there are free client softwares available on the 605 WiFi, 705 WiFi as well as Windows Mobile smartphones and Windows XP/Vista computers. Archos also has upgraded flash support to version9 with the On2 codec support, so more streaming flash video sites are now working in awesome full screen streaming.

HD quality: See the video in HD quality (3500kbit/s, 1280×720, DivX, 389mb)

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Google, Metacafe, Putfile, Revver, Sumo, Vimeo, Vsocial, Youtube

In this video, I am showing up close some of the features of the Archos 605 GPS in demo mode (not actually using it in a car). You can thus see some of how the Archos GPS Interface and the Archos In-Car GPS Holder looks like.

HD quality: See the video in HD quality (3500kbit/s, 1280×720, DivX, 380mb)

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Google, Metacafe, Putfile, Revver, Sumo, Vimeo, Vsocial, Youtube