Vimeo now does 1080P
 

Looks like Vimeo has started to work with folks wanting to upload 1080P material...

Here is the Vimeo forum where they are working out the initial bugs.. some of those videos look
very good at 1080P

Let's talk about 1080! in the Help Forum on Vimeo

and a nice example here ( don't forget that if you want to see this video in HD you have to click
the word " Vimeo " in the lower right side of the video and go to the vimeo site)

1080
 

Ray, your example doesn't play in 1080 on my PC, when i press "scaling" it shrinks at about 720 (on Vimeo, of course).
But this one is actually 1080, it doesn't shrink

I wish they would simply offer the same higher bitrate (that they use for 1080p) with 720p. At bitrates this low, it would probably look better. At low bitrates, doubling both the number of pixels and the bitrate does not necessarily improve quality (or actual resolved detail) over and above what you would get by using that same doubled bitrate with the lower number if pixels. I understand why they do it though. Folks buy lots of 1080p HDTVs for the same reason - 1080 just plains sounds like more than 720, even if it really is just crappy 1080.

You have to be a Vimeo Plus member for your videos to be made available in 1080p. Also, you have to go the video settings page and tick the 1080p box.

I think it is great. I uploaded a test video yesterday, and for online video the quality is fantastic. My only gripe is that even my Mac Pro gives stuttery playback when scaling is turned on. Admittedly it's a 1st gen MP, but even still it is more powerful than some of the more modern lesser specced machines that most people have. 1080p H264 video shouldn't really be a problem for it, and isn't usually.

Just goes to show how inefficient the OS X version of Flash is really.

Another blow for Vimeo not allowing basic members to upload 1080p, as opposed to YouTube where EVERY member can upload 1080p.

Still low quality 720p uploads from me then...

First, scrapping original file downloads and now 1080p is exclusive to Plus. It seems like Vimeo is pushing people to plus... >:(

From what I can tell the 1080p of Vimeo is superior to YouTube. At least for users who don't have BBC in their account name.

I don't have a problem paying for Vimeo. My only gripe with the Plus service is that they still levy the same restrictive way in which videos can be used (ie not allowed to use for commercial reasons or to embed on sites with adverts on them)

If I'm paying for a service I should be able to do those things. I don't like YouTube though because even if you delete your video they still keep it themselves and reserve the right to use it in promos etc. So once you upload to YouTube you pretty much lose control over your stuff.

That's okay with me as long as they allow me to post commercially. Remember Vimeo doesn't have advertising, and the bandwidth costs for such a site are huge. YouTube isn't profitable, so the Vimeo guys just have a way to make it work. The people who work for them need to earn a living. I think this whole thing about expecting everything on the internet to be free has simply got to stop.

Some young video producers don't have credit cards... There's no way they can get plus. Plus, some people uploading just need an account and don't want to upgrade to plus just for one video.

If free members get 1080p, at least to compromise just do a 1-pass encode so that it looks around the same as YouTube. Plus members would get 2-pass, getting superior quality.

So then they just have to use a free service until they can afford it. I'd like a Sony F35, but I can't afford one, so I have to work hard until I can.

If people only want to display one video for free at 1080p, then just use YouTube.

Thanks Cristian, that footage was one of my favorites... does anyone know if when you download a file from Vimeo, do you get the non compressed original version or do you get
the modified Vimeo version ???

Vimeo is a private company. They can do what they want. Frankly I think their free service is great asset. It shouldn't be difficult for anyone to come up with $59.95 a year if they want the extras.

Money is a hard thing though... that's a lesson of life.

Plus Members' videos will be the original uploaded file for an unlimited amount of time. Basic members' videos are only the original upload for 1 week, then it becomes the encoded file.

You don't need a credit card to pay for something by Visa. It's not easy to open a checking account anymore without getting a Visa check card, and even folks that don't have checking accounts can buy a prepaid Visa card.

Sure it is, but it costs more than that just to put gas in my truck.

A camcorder is either a business tool or a luxury item. Most of our readers creating HD video use camcorders costing at least a couple thousand dollars. If you can afford one, then surely you can afford a Vimeo Plus subscription... if I couldn't afford to put gas in my truck, then I wouldn't own one. I'd get rid of it for something more economical.

Simon, I have the same issue on my Macbook Pro as well which is second or third generation. Both YouTube and Vimeo seem to be very choppy when playing back 1080p. Vimeo is better but still not perfectly smooth. Downloading them and playing them in Quicktime works perfectly though. If anyone's found a solution to this is would be great.