Watch higher resolution YouTube videos

**Wan** · 11-03-2008, 09:46

Quote:

Any YouTube fans out there tired of its low-resolution videos? Personally, I'm still waiting for that high-resolution player the company promised some time ago. Many YouTube competitors, such as Blip.tv, have been offering high-definition content for some time so I'm puzzled by YouTube's late entrance into the HD arena, since the company is already talking about streaming live video.

Back in November Steven Chen said the company was testing a player that detects a viewer's connection in order to serve up high-quality videos, but if you can't wait until that's launched, there are a few things you can do.

Apparently YouTube stores videos in their native resolution, so by appending a few extra characters to the end of the URL, you can access high-quality videos instantly. I tested it, and it worked, so here it goes:

By adding &fmt=6 to the end of the URL, you'll get a video at a 448 x 336 resolution, and audio at a 44100 Hz sample rate. The video still loaded fast for me, and I was able to see a better video immediately.
If you want even better quality change the 6 to 18 and append &fmt=18 to the end of the URL. This changes the resolution to 480x360.

Example:

Regular video (320x240): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc

High-quality video (448x336): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc&fmt=6

Higher-quality video (480x360): http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzxa0SLWMnc&fmt=18

I'm not sure if this will work for all the videos on YouTube, but it works fine with newer videos. If you don't think you can remember those characters, you can download a Firefox script that automatically does this for you. Give it a try.

Very nice indeed. I just use the Firefox script and it works brilliantly.

AgentZero · 11-03-2008, 11:33

dippy already mentioned this in the spammers (?) a while back..but kudos wan.

**Kevthedrummer** · 11-03-2008, 12:46

hmmm I have installed the firefox code thing, and it's messed youtube up completely. Barely plays now, and when it does, it's silent.

I also don't believe that the quality is any better, just seems to be scaled up?

**greenegg** · 11-03-2008, 12:49

I see you have retracted your original statement Kevin

**Kevthedrummer** · 11-03-2008, 12:50

yes I did! I commented on what a wonderful find it was, but in practice it's rubbish. Good principle. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? You tried it?

**Wan** · 11-03-2008, 16:53

Just wait longer because higher quality takes longer times to load.
Here's the difference:

turns to this:

(Thanks 50!)

**Kevthedrummer** · 11-03-2008, 17:23

Oh...

Why didn't it work for me? I followed your steps?

**Wan** · 11-03-2008, 17:25

Which one or what that didn't work?
You can always change the settings of Better YouTube add-on by going to Tools > Add-ons > Better YouTube > Option

**Kevthedrummer** · 11-03-2008, 17:44

I fully retract my statement having tested it now, it works. It's certainly an improvement.

**Wan** · 11-03-2008, 18:14

Okay glad it works for you.
I like the theatre view option.
Looks realistic when you watch a movie.

Ko_nami · 11-03-2008, 21:31

Doesn't work for me.

I tried the &fmt=6 and the &fmt=18 commands with a number of different videos available on Youtube and what it does is it loads the main content of the page but not the video.

I've tried this with IE6 and IE7 with Flash Player 9 and both do exactly the same thing.

AgentZero · 11-03-2008, 21:56

how fast is ur internetz?

**Wan** · 12-03-2008, 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ko_nami

Doesn't work for me.

I tried the &fmt=6 and the &fmt=18 commands with a number of different videos available on Youtube and what it does is it loads the main content of the page but not the video.

I've tried this with IE6 and IE7 with Flash Player 9 and both do exactly the same thing.

It works fine for me on IE7.
Don't know what's wrong.

EDIT: Here's the updated version of Better YouTube (the Firefox scripts)

http://lifehacker.com/software/exclu...ion-319925.php

First post's link updated.

Stella Artois · 12-03-2008, 15:28

Cheers Wanny boy.

Ko_nami · 12-03-2008, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostGalactico

how fast is ur internetz?

I'm on an 8 Mbps connection.

Router is syched at 7709 Kbps Downstream and 1300 Kbps Upstream.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wan109

It works fine for me on IE7.
Don't know what's wrong.

EDIT: Here's the updated version of Better YouTube (the Firefox scripts)

http://lifehacker.com/software/exclu...ion-319925.php

First post's link updated.

I've just tried it again and it still does not work.