YouTube Announced Support for 4k! at DVinfo.net

Theodore McNeil · July 9th, 2010, 03:54 PM

This is not a joke.

"Today at the VidCon 2010 conference, [Youtube] announced support for videos shot in 4K (a reference resolution of 4096 x 3072), meaning that now we support original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4096p."

Read the rest of the blog post here: YouTube Blog: What's bigger than 1080p? 4K video comes to YouTube

As of this writing, there are only 5 videos currently up. They are here...

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Sigh... Now I have to get a 4k projector just to watch my lolzcats.

Sam Tansey · July 9th, 2010, 06:50 PM

Looks like youtube is determined to prevent sites like vimeo getting a jump on them like what happened with HD.

Whats the cheapest 4k monitor/projector currently available retail?

Ryan Farnes · July 10th, 2010, 01:57 AM

720p is cleaner. Resolution means little if not backed up by massive bit rate.

Noa Put · July 10th, 2010, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Resolution means little if not backed up by massive bit rate

I just watched two 4k video's on youtube and I hardly saw the difference between 1080p and 4k, the 4k red footage displayed artifacts and I also see that it all comes down to used bitrate. showing 4k footage in it's native resolution but with limited bitrate has almost no advantage over 1080p footage. And once you crank up the bitrate your files will get huge and no-one with normal computers will be able to watch them.

Plus the fact that all youtube watchers have lcd screens that support max 1080p so what's the use? I actually can't see a reason why someone would publish at 4k for internet use?

Brian Drysdale · July 10th, 2010, 05:29 AM

Some people just love bigger numbers, it's a rather pointless exercise given how these videos are going to be viewed. The film makers will have to up their game to make this more than a "wow I shot this 4k" line!

Meryem Ersoz · July 10th, 2010, 07:04 AM

I think it is an experiment in the future of delivery - it's still pretty beta, and it's not going to be perfect in its first incarnation - like all things that push the technical envelope, this too will change.

I don't see a need for Youtube 4K for the web as it exists today, either, but this won't be the same web 15 years from now, anymore than the web of 15 years ago (can you say 1995, AOL, text-based browsers?) resembles what we have today.

Nicholas de Kock · July 10th, 2010, 07:34 AM

Most monitors don't even support 4k yet, it's really quite pointless to watch 4K on a 1080P Monitor. Guess they jumped the gun.

Richard Alvarez · July 10th, 2010, 09:43 AM

Jumping the Gun vs. Pushing the Envelope. I don't see it as a loser for YouTube. It's just more R&D, and some good press and internet buzz. Win/Win in business terms.

Evan Donn · July 10th, 2010, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Plus the fact that all youtube watchers have lcd screens that support max 1080p so what's the use?

It's not 4k but plenty of people currently have 30" displays which support greater than 1080p. With the release of the iPhone 4 & it's 'retina display' hype I wouldn't be surprised to see a trend towards higher pixel densities in monitors over the next few years - even a 20" display at 300+dpi would be well over 4k resolution. As others have said - it's not about hitting the current target but doing R&D for what's coming down the line.

Brian Drysdale · July 10th, 2010, 12:45 PM

It really depends on how close people are going to sit in front of their screens. If the screen is going to dominate as in the front row in a cinema, the higher resolutions make sense, but it's more like the back row much less so.

Neil Vitale · July 10th, 2010, 03:03 PM

Personally, I'd much rather them work on youtube Pro:

Longer time limits. Imposing ten minutes has done nothing to stop shows from being uploaded.
Pro account will allow for uploading of music files in videos, so no fear of deletion.

I'd say a $10 Pro account would match that of what vimeo has to offer.

I'd ditch YT altogether where it not for one thing. More eyeballs :).

Paulo Teixeira · July 10th, 2010, 09:08 PM

I'm not sure if you meant $10 a month or $10 per year but if you did meant per year, I don't think that would cover the downloading of the original files. They'd have to do that to match Vimeo's service.

Casey Krugman · July 11th, 2010, 08:56 AM

Idk guys... I understand the point of pushing the envelope and what-not... but 4k? Really? I would think it would be a better move to focus on improving the mobile codec. Or at least figure out some way to download of the site like the previous guy said. Google Video has it... why not Youtube? This is the resolution equivalent of the Vuvuzuela button. Sure its funny, but useful?

And besides, downloading those must be such a pain in the a$$ in terms of speed... why bother? the 1080p will full screen or bigger for the majority of monitors.

Neil Vitale · July 11th, 2010, 10:03 AM

Oh, BTW, there IS a non official way to download videos..
Get firefox and look up easyyoutube video downloader. Not original file, but MP4 is next best thing...

And we do know youtube has this option....Users can re-download their own footage in the my video section...My guess is they do not offer this feature due to all the illegal show uploads.

Dan Brockett · July 11th, 2010, 03:21 PM

Specs are like crack and too many people in our business are crack addicts. For the foreseeable future, this spec means nothing.

Dan

July 9th, 2010, 03:54 PM	#1
Theodore McNeil Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Centreville, Maryland Posts: 258	YouTube Announced Support for 4k! This is not a joke. "Today at the VidCon 2010 conference, [Youtube] announced support for videos shot in 4K (a reference resolution of 4096 x 3072), meaning that now we support original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4096p." Read the rest of the blog post here: YouTube Blog: What's bigger than 1080p? 4K video comes to YouTube As of this writing, there are only 5 videos currently up. They are here... YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Sigh... Now I have to get a 4k projector just to watch my lolzcats. __________________ http://twitter.com/tedmcneil

July 10th, 2010, 01:57 AM	#3
Ryan Farnes Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 220	720p is cleaner. Resolution means little if not backed up by massive bit rate. __________________ Vimeo Profile Maryland Wilderness Channel

July 10th, 2010, 03:03 PM	#11
Neil Vitale Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wyckoff NJ Posts: 65	Personally, I'd much rather them work on youtube Pro: Longer time limits. Imposing ten minutes has done nothing to stop shows from being uploaded. Pro account will allow for uploading of music files in videos, so no fear of deletion. I'd say a $10 Pro account would match that of what vimeo has to offer. I'd ditch YT altogether where it not for one thing. More eyeballs :). __________________ www.vimeo.com/channels/PackingProtons youtube.com/WPLJTV www.packingprotons.com Thanks!

July 10th, 2010, 09:08 PM	#12
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	I'm not sure if you meant $10 a month or $10 per year but if you did meant per year, I don't think that would cover the downloading of the original files. They'd have to do that to match Vimeo's service. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

July 11th, 2010, 08:56 AM	#13
Casey Krugman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 135	4k really? Idk guys... I understand the point of pushing the envelope and what-not... but 4k? Really? I would think it would be a better move to focus on improving the mobile codec. Or at least figure out some way to download of the site like the previous guy said. Google Video has it... why not Youtube? This is the resolution equivalent of the Vuvuzuela button. Sure its funny, but useful? And besides, downloading those must be such a pain in the a$$ in terms of speed... why bother? the 1080p will full screen or bigger for the majority of monitors.

July 9th, 2010, 06:50 PM	#2
Sam Tansey Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 59	Looks like youtube is determined to prevent sites like vimeo getting a jump on them like what happened with HD. Whats the cheapest 4k monitor/projector currently available retail?

July 10th, 2010, 05:29 AM	#5
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,143	Some people just love bigger numbers, it's a rather pointless exercise given how these videos are going to be viewed. The film makers will have to up their game to make this more than a "wow I shot this 4k" line!

July 10th, 2010, 07:04 AM	#6
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	I think it is an experiment in the future of delivery - it's still pretty beta, and it's not going to be perfect in its first incarnation - like all things that push the technical envelope, this too will change. I don't see a need for Youtube 4K for the web as it exists today, either, but this won't be the same web 15 years from now, anymore than the web of 15 years ago (can you say 1995, AOL, text-based browsers?) resembles what we have today.

July 10th, 2010, 07:34 AM	#7
Nicholas de Kock Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: KLD, South Africa Posts: 983	Most monitors don't even support 4k yet, it's really quite pointless to watch 4K on a 1080P Monitor. Guess they jumped the gun.

July 10th, 2010, 09:43 AM	#8
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Jumping the Gun vs. Pushing the Envelope. I don't see it as a loser for YouTube. It's just more R&D, and some good press and internet buzz. Win/Win in business terms.

July 10th, 2010, 12:45 PM	#10
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,143	It really depends on how close people are going to sit in front of their screens. If the screen is going to dominate as in the front row in a cinema, the higher resolutions make sense, but it's more like the back row much less so.

July 11th, 2010, 10:03 AM	#14
Neil Vitale Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Wyckoff NJ Posts: 65	Oh, BTW, there IS a non official way to download videos.. Get firefox and look up easyyoutube video downloader. Not original file, but MP4 is next best thing... And we do know youtube has this option....Users can re-download their own footage in the my video section...My guess is they do not offer this feature due to all the illegal show uploads. __________________ www.vimeo.com/channels/PackingProtons youtube.com/WPLJTV www.packingprotons.com Thanks!

July 11th, 2010, 03:21 PM	#15
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	Specs are like crack and too many people in our business are crack addicts. For the foreseeable future, this spec means nothing. Dan