[2008-03-12 @ 9 AM] The high-qual links are gone! Wonder what happened?
YouTube's been so good to me for the most part. I've really appreciated being able to use it as a vehicle to broadcast my video tutorials from! One of the exceptions was a nasty audio distortion bug I noticed recently, that affected some of my videos but not others. I'll explain more in a sec.
Today, I noticed that under my videos, such as the "PARCEL MEDIA" series I recently uploaded, there are:
Watch this video in higher quality. / Watch this video in lower quality for faster playback.
links underneath the players. Not that I'm complaining, but they sort of stood out and didn't integrate well into the rest of the UI.
So I clicked one to see what it did, and sure enough, the video looked somewhat crisper (not quite as sharp as some other places — compare Revver to YouTube), but a marked visual improvement. On the downside, I also noticed that the audio was a lot louder and noticeably distorted — aha! So was this the culprit that had boondoggled me for the last stretch of weeks? I emailed YouTube Support back to let them know of my findings (Ardra's been helping me sort this out…).
While this is an improvement, the visual quality should be even better, I'd appreciate stereo sound (instead of the mono that uploads automatically get lopped to), and the distorted sound bug definitely needs to be fixed.
In any case, it looks like not all videos, and not even all among certain groups like Partners have the high-quality links. But I do. I don't know if it was specifically added to mine. And to be frank, I haven't seen another YouTuber with these links yet. I can't be the only one, right? Do you know anything about this? I await YouTube's reply…. 
I remember reading somewhere recently (can't find the link now) that you can add an fmt parameter to switch any YouTube video to hi-def, such as adding "&fmt=18" to the end of the url.
I don't know for sure if it's true, as my eyes are not good enough anymore to really notice the difference, but perhaps someone with better eyes could very easily verify it?
My mistake, it's "&fmt=6" according to this article : http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/03/youtube-tests-higher-resolution-videos.html
Spam filter might have eaten my last post, but the Google Blogoscoped (googlesystem.blogspot.com) blog had an article on March 02 about being able to change quality using
"&fmt=6" and "&fmt=18" at the end of the url.
This is why i've recently become fond of vimeo.
i've noticed the addition of "&fmt=18" has improved the quality of some videos not all. I think it really improve those who are in small quality at start like mines :)))
Take a quick look and tell me if it's as obvious as for me.
This one without:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBz9b-xeir0
This one with "&ftm=18":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBz9b-xeir0&ftm=18
Perhaps it's because i know all the details and that there could only be me to see the differences, i don't know. But i really think it works.
I've noticed that too on my videos. By simply adding "&ftm=18", my videos pass to h264 and sound in AAC. Perhaps it's only me seing that because i know all the details, but it really appears improved.
See by yourself and tell me:
Without:
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=SBz9b-xeir0
with "&ftm18"
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=SBz9b-xeir0&ftm18
For your sound problem torley i think it comes from the transformation from mp3 to AAC.
And the way they put the hq on your videos is because they are testing it these days and apparently you were chosen: I can understand them
yours
Sam
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/03/youtube-tests-higher-resolution-videos.html and http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-03-11-n15.html say a little about it.
You can get stereo on youtube btw, and to prove it something you might like that I was playing with over the weekend …
Journey into the Torlean Nebula
Though you're better watching it at Dailymotion, where it's in HD
Journey into the Torlean Nebula - HD
@Takuan: Thanks for sharing that, I hope it becomes easier soon to toggle between modes, and that the awful audio distortion bug I've experienced is fixed. YouTube hasn't gotten back to me about it yet. :\
@Joga: I'm also on Vimeo!
@samlowry: Yeah, it seems to improve some videos but not others. I'm sure this is due to subject matter, but I don't think all videos have hi-quality modes. Generally, the diff. between lo/hi-quality YouTube videos isn't very startling. Revver's "default" still looks much crisper than YouTube's hi-rez.
Have you heard that YouTube is now offering you the choice between lower and higher quality video playback? I have a post about how you can watch YouTube videos in High Quality by simply adding some code to the URL. Copy & paste is all you need to know!
http://chvnx.com/2008/03/youtube-hack.html
^ Aye, I've seen that, but am disappointed because it's not even as high-quality as Vimeo, Revver, etc. and last I checked, the audio was distorted as I mentioned.
I have noticed on all my uploaded Youtube videos that there is a link to play the video in high quality or standard quality. I notice with high quality the vide looks crisp and sharp. The problem is that the videos dont play smoothly. They start and stop, start and stop. When I play other peoples videos that dont have the high / standard quality link attached, their videos play smoothly. WTF?????
Since a couple of weeks now i also have problims with audio distortion bug,
the sound shoot's up in volume for a second or less and then go's back to normal and that a few times per video , it's really freaking me out !
I hope they fix it soon.
@Peter: One of YouTube's many hobgoblins of inconsistency, I'm afraid. :\ I've had that problem too.
@Mike: Ugh, I've contacted them numerous times with clear repros, and they haven't gotten back to me.