This is an important move not just to support the increasing number of home video cameras with HD options but also to give professional content creators confidence that the platform is right for their work.

YouTube Video Quality

When YouTube first launched four years ago, video quality (360p) on the site wasn’t great. But that wasn’t what the site was about so it didn’t matter. YouTube was there to offer a free and easy way for people to host video online. And it did that so well that Google paid $1.65 billion for the site a year later.

But times move on, as does technology.

YouTube first started offering a ‘High Quality’ (480p) version of some videos, and while the difference wasn’t vast it was noticeable. Then in December 2008 YouTube launched ‘High-Definition’ video, which took the clips to a native 720p.

Full HD On YouTube

Now, after an announcement on the YouTube Blog, the site is starting to offer Full HD of 1080p. There’s already a test video running at that super high quality and the rest of the videos on the site will begin airing in 1080p from next week.

YouTube is in the process of re-encoding all content that has been uploaded at 1080p back to its original resolution. However, there will still be a 720p option available on all videos so as to support viewers who can’t view 1080p without massive lag or hardware problems.

There will still be a 10-minute limit on video uploads but the 2GB size limit will surely be increased to cater for this new breed of high-definition video clips.

Conclusions

This change could have a huge impact in a couple of different ways.

For the average home user of YouTube it’ll make the viewing experience more pleasurable than ever, especially for those watching on HD televisions via their games console, set-top box, or connected laptop.

But more importantly than that, it will surely help YouTube in its quest to entice professional content creators to the site. Some may have been resistant all the while their content was going to look relatively poor, but now it’s widescreen and in Full HD, that reason not to get involved flies out the window.

Related Ad

Buy a ‘Sony BRAVIA 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV’ on Amazon

Epix Coming Soon

June saw a new venture announced by the name of Epix. It’s a premium movie channel from Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount which will be available to watch on cable and, if you are a Verizon FiOS subscriber, on the Web as well.

At the time I described it as a Hulu for movies but that was slightly over the top. It is only available to U.S. residents, the same as Hulu, but it’s a different animal altogether by virtue of being inextricably linked in with a cable subscription. Something which Hulu is not, although even Hulu could soon start charging for selected content.

What Epix Isn’t

Epix is the TV and movies industries trying to move with the times a little. Just a few years ago, the idea of offering streaming movies over the Web would have been anathema to the studios, but they are at least now experimenting with the format.

However, as previously reported, Epix is just one small cog in a very large wheel, and on it’s own won’t achieve anything. What’s really needed is an integrated online movie store with content from all available sources, and that’s the only way the movie industry will avoid going the way of the music industry.

What Epix Is

However, we are left with Epix in its current format, and it’s not a bad start to the move to offering Hollywood content over the Web. Epix has launched today, and a limited number of free three-day weekend passes are being handed out from now until Thanksgiving at EpixHD.com/invite.

While Epix on the Web is currently limited to FiOS subscribers, other Internet and cable providers are in talks.

According to ReadWriteWeb, EpixHD is totally Flash-based to avoid the need for any downloads or plug-ins being installed. Video quality is reported as exceptional, with fast connections receiving video at 720p HD.

There are currently 300 movies available on the site, including recent releases such as Iron Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Indiana Jones and The Temple of The Crystal Skull.

Conclusions

It’ll be interesting to see how many people take up the free weekend pass offer and then how many of those choose to use the service in the long term. To truly succeed, Pix needs to sign up more Internet and cable providers but for now I’m certainly jealous of FiOS subscribers.

Moving To The Web

Cable and network television companies are slowly starting to realize the potential of online television. Some are resistant to the change in viewing habits currently taking hold, mainly because the Web constitutes a sector of the market they don’t control. There’s also the fact that ad revenue on the Internet is generally a lot lower than on television.

But slowly and surely, cable companies and the big U.S. television networks are fathoming that they need to get on the boat at this early stage or risk being left behind at the port. Hulu has NBC, Fox, and ABC on board as well as smaller networks such as Bravo, PBS, E!, and Comedy Central. And others are finding their own way online.

TV Everywhere

Last month saw two of the major cable companies, Comcast and Time Warner, unveiled a new upcoming service called TV Everywhere. This constitutes a set of guidelines for moving cable TV content on to the Web. The only catch being that you can only access that content it if you already subscribe to cable TV from one of the two companies.

TV Everywhere states that the cable companies do want to head for the Web, making content accessible across a wider range of platforms than currently. Existing subscribers will not have to pay any additional fees to access the programming online. But in the same vein as Epix, the joint venture between Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM, there will be no opportunity for others to join in the fun.

On Demand Online

Comcast and Time Warner is due to test out the system, with 5,000 existing cable subscribers participating in the On Demand Online, due to launch in the next few weeks. The lucky chosen ones will be given access to 750 hours of programming each month. This was already going to include content from Starz, TBS, and TNT, but now two new partners have signed up as well.

HBO and Cinemax

HBO and Cinemax today joined the fray, both offering programming to the On Demand Online trial. HBO will contribute full-length episodes of popular series such as Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Sex and the City, and The Sopranos. While Cinemax will offer movies such as Transformers, The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder, Shrek the Third, Kung Fu Panda, The Bourne Ultimatum, Juno, Mamma Mia!, and Burn After Reading.

Conclusions

This is a good, and somewhat necessary move on the part of the cable companies. I hope the 5,000 trial participants have a good experience so that the service is expanded in the future. However, why is it being limited to existing cable subscribers? Why wouldn’t the cable companies want to offer others the chance to access their programming via either a subscription-based model or ad-based model?

On Demand Online is definitely a positive step in the right direction but the cable companies are going to have to accept the Internet and online video in a bigger way altogether if they want to evolve with the rest of us.

Related Ad

$300 Cash Back on Comcast

Hollywood Vs. Pirates

Hollywood is becoming increasingly worried about movie piracy, and with good reason. There’s evidence to suggest the majority of people don’t see anything wrong with it, and even those who do see why it’s a bad thing still do it regardless.

The recent leak of X-Men: Wolverine a full month before it was due for release and the consequent downloading of the file by millions of people show that if movies are available online, people will want to watch them, regardless of the legality or otherwise of how they are obtained.

Epix is Epic

So clearly what Hollywood and the movie studios need to do is embrace the Internet rather than keep fighting against it and the distribution channels it makes possible. Although the cinema experience is still being held up as the ultimate way of watching movies, once they’ve completed their run in theaters and are on their to DVD, movies are becoming accessible.

Today sees the launch of Epix, a joint venture between movie studios Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM. There will be an HD channel coming to cable services, with an HD online streaming service also being made available. The two services will show the same movies, which will include brand new releases fresh out of the cinema.

TV Channel and Web Site

The cable television channel will show high-definition versions of recent movies, those that up to now come under the pay-TV banner. These are movies that have had their full runs in cinemas but are yet to become available on DVD and Blu-ray. What makes Epix different is that it’ll be sold bundled in existing cable packages rather than asking for extra payments or a subscription.

In conjunction with the TV channel is a new Web site located at EpixHD.com. This will offer viewers the not only the same content online and on-demand but also the full back catalog of movies, even after they’ve stopped being shown on television. The movies online will also be available in 720p HD, although the quality of the stream will depend on the quality of your Internet connection.

Unlike Hulu and Netflix On Demand, the Web site will operate with neither a pay-to-view revenue model or an advertising-based revenue model. To all intents and purposes it will actually be free, but there is, inevitably, a catch. EpixHD will only be available to those who pay for their cable television and Internet through the same company. I assume this also means it’s a U.S.-only based affair, just like Hulu in fact, at least for now.

Conclusions

It’s a great idea but obviously one that has its potential nixed to a certain degree by the requirements placed upon it. Not only is everyone outside the States being ignored, so are U.S. residents who don’t subscribe to cable. Which means I can see the good intentions being trodden on by the bad infrastructure.

Maybe it’s too early to call this one. The site is still in beta and no cable partners have yet been announced. With the service still at such an early stage of development, it could still be transformed into what the majority of consumers really want. Otherwise I fear the mainstream will stick to downloading movies from torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay.

[Via Ars Technica]

Related Ads

Buy ‘Iron Man’ Blu-Ray on Amazon – The ultimate Tony Stark experience.

The Internet Is For Porn

There’s no way to get around the fact that one of the most popular aspects of the Internet is for porn. The Avenue Q song, The Internet Is For Porn, rather says it all. Not only is it hugely popular but it’s also one of the most profitable slices of the Internet, whether your morals tell you that is right or wrong.

BitTorrent companies, on the other hand, may provide a service which many of us use on a regular basis but making money is a little trickier. As the four founders of The Pirate Bay will attest, the money made doesn’t cover the cost of the fines meted out when your company is taken to court for copyright infringements.

Vuze Offers StudioHD

However, according to NewTeeVee, Vuze (formerly Azureus), a BitTorrent client feeling the pinch from increasingly popular competitors such as uTorrent, may have found a solution. The company is offering an adult video download service called StudioHD, which offers all the porn you could handle for a set monthly fee. And all in high-definition too.

StudioHD is listed alongside the ‘Sexy’ video category, is accessible to anyone running Vuze who verifies they are over 18-years-of-age, and is willing to pay the asking price of $25 a month. For that, they will gain unlimited access to around 300 high-def porn videos,not lumbered with DRM and available on up to three computers at once.

The Problem – Free Alternatives

P2P networks are literally infested with pornography of all kinds so offering a premium, paid for service would seem to be a logical step for a company such as Vuze. Torrents are notoriously hard to monetize and so setting up more legitimate businesses around the technology and charging for them is sensible.

However, the big problem may be how popular porn is in the first place. It’s estimated that 60 percent of video content downloaded via peer-to-peer is of an adult nature, and most of that is obviously pirated and therefore free to obtain. When you consider that the section dedicated to HD porn on The Pirate Bay runs to 600 clips, the problem becomes obvious.

Conclusions

The reasons for Vuze doing this are obvious – it’s struggling to make any serious revenue and failing to obtain any more mainstream offerings from media companies. When in doubt, target people where they’re weakest, which for most men is the libido. Whether these men (and women) will want to pay for something they can get for free elsewhere remains to be seen.

iPlayer = Awesomeness

The BBC iPlayer is already awesome. So much so that I’m sorry for people outside of the UK who aren’t given the chance to use the service without employing some proxy server shenanigans. Just think of it as payback for Hulu and all the other U.S.-based premium programming services off-limits to anyone who isn’t blessed enough to reside in the States.

As awesome as the iPlayer is, there is always room for improvement. And the BBC is great at keeping on top of new advances in technology and new ways of delivering and packaging television content. Which is why the iPlayer has now gone HD, and had a host of other improvements tacked on at the same time.

High-Definition Online Video

High-definition is becoming more popular by the day. There are obvious uses already out there – Blu-ray, video games, paid-for HD channels, but online video is slowly yet surely catching up. And the BBC is the latest to jump on the bandwagon of offering high-def streaming and downloads.

According to BBC News, only selected programmes will be available in HD through the iPlayer. Doctor Who, Kerwhizz, and Dragons’ Den are three of the shows being promised to receive the treatment. The BBC already offers some HD content via its BBC HD channel on Sky and cable but this is the first chance for the average viewer without one of those services to have instant, up-to-date access to high-def programming.

The HD streams on the BBC iPlayer have a 1280×720 pixel resolution and encoding bitrate of 3.2Mbps. This does mean that users hoping to take advantage of them will need a speedy Broadband connection and a decent PC with a good graphics in order to do so. Also, no word yet on what the moaning ISPs have to say about all that extra bandwidth clogging up their tubes.

Other Improvements

To coincide with the HD offerings, other improvements have also been made. The most important being the adaptive bitrate feature which tests an individual’s Internet connection speed in order to deliver the best quality stream available to them. Which should please the ISPs about as much as the HD option displeases them.

These improvements to the service were unveiled at the same time that the cross platform desktop download manager was officially released. The BBC iPlayer Desktop was released as a beta in December but is now available to everyone. Everyone means Mac and Linux users as well as Windows users whose operating system has been supported from the beginning.

PC Pro notes that iPlayer users can also now download programmes directly in the WMV (Windows Media Video) format, bypassing the Adobe AIR-based desktop client entirely. This is important because it means Xbox 360 owners can now enjoy the iPlayer in the same way their PS3 and Wii-owning brethren have for a while.

Conclusions

The iPlayer was already an impressive service when it originally launched. But thanks to improvements and additions constantly being made, the BBC is managing to turn it into a must-have for any UK resident with a PC or media extender such as a games console. Now the corporation just needs to make it worldwide and expand its viewing figures by millions. A mere pipe dream?

Offline HD

In the offline world, HD is all the rage. A large percentage of the population now own Full-HD or HD-Ready televisions, and despite a slow launch, where it had to battle against HD DVD to become the format of choice, there is evidence that Blu-ray is also gaining a sizable market share.

There are also more content providers than ever offering their wares in high-definition, with Sky HD and BBC HD two of the leading proponents.

Online HD

Online has so far been a different story. Hindered by bandwidth and Broadband speed limitations, many Web companies have lagged behind their offline counterparts in offering a range of HD services. But no more.

YouTube took the plunge last year, offering HD streaming of selected videos. In a move coupled with a default widescreen player, December finally saw high-definition video come to the world’s most popular online video site.

Facebook quickly followed suit, so it seemed the streaming market was making headway into the world of HD. However, the ISPs are still likely to complain about high-def video becoming standard, which is why FilmOn developed HDi technology, which it claims eliminates the pesky bandwidth and speed problems by cleverly using compression.

Apple iTunes

Apple has been offering HD downloads of TV shows since last September, and all of the major networks were on board by October. And now it’s also offering HD movie downloads as well. The initial offering is small, with Quantum of Solace and Twilight the big movies instantly available, but the library is sure to grow over time.

Apple iTunes HD movie rentals are priced at $4.99 while downloads will cost $19.99 for newly-released movies. This seems steep although when compared to the $25 – $30 being asked for a new movie release on Blu-ray, it may actually not be so bad.

Amazon Video on Demand

Amazon has been growing its online video business for some time now, and there is growing evidence that it too will shortly be selling HD versions of television shows. According to Ars Technica, multiple Web sites have independently found evidence of the move. The fact that this evidence has turned up over the course of a few days suggests it’s more than just pure speculation.

The evidence suggests that Amazon will go toe-to-toe with Apple, matching the $2.99-per-episode price of HDTV content. Amazon has responded to the claims, telling Tech Flash:

“We said many months ago that we intend to bring HD titles to our catalogue in 2009 but we have no further details to announce at this time.”

The Winner: Consumers

The start of an online HD video war is good news for the consumer. It should mean prices will come down as both sides battle to provide the lowest-priced service. It could also mean advances are made in the delivery methods, as neither side wants to be labeled with having the worst-looking high-definition content on the Web.

HD is finally finding its feet on the Internet. It’s now up to the companies involved to push its adoption.

Related Ad

Amazon Video on Demand

Most of us have a PC hooked up to the Internet. And it’s on that that we watch homemade video clips on YouTube, television episodes on Hulu, or BBC iPlayer, and movies through torrents.

Set-Top Boxes

The last couple of years has seen various companies try to bring Web video to other parts of the living room via set-top boxes such as Apple TV, VUDU, and Roku. But none have really caught in a big way despite showing promise.

There just seems to be a lack of public interest in buying yet another device in order to watch television content. Which leaves one solution: integrate the Web video delivery system into the TV itself.

Broadband HDTV

This is exactly what LG is planning to do with its new range of Broadband HDTVs. The LCD and plasma televisions will be Internet-ready straight out of the box, and while surfing the Web won’t be possible, accessing video sites will be.

The Broadband HDTV range won’t come cheap, costing approximately $300 than comparable models sold without Internet access. So I’m not sure the middle of a recession is the best time to be launching this product.

Netflix

The first partnership being announced is with Netflix, which should really come as no surprise seeing as how the company is seemingly doing deals with everyone and his mother in the hopes that one of them will lead to something good.

We’ve already seen Netflix being integrated into the Roku set-top box, an LG Blu-ray player, and the Xbox 360. And now Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ library of 12,000 movies will be available on LG televisions too.

The Start Of The Future?

Despite the recession, this is a big step on the road to a future when a proportion of television will be delivered over the Internet. While consumers may not have been willing to pay out for an extra set-top box, they may be willing to spend a little extra to have the added content if they;re already in the market for a new TV.

Games consoles have really shown the way forward for devices other than computers being permanently connected to the Internet. Televisions seem to be the next logical step in that trend so it’ll be extremely interesting to see if the general public takes to the idea or not.

[Via The New York Times]

Related Ad

Buy an LG HD Television on Amazon now!

Here are my highlights of 2008 in the world of Web TV, with the two or three most fascinating or biggest stories from each month of the year. I wonder if 2009 will hold equal delights?

January

The year began with speculation as to whether Joost would survive the year. And despite a dodgy economy and bumps along the way, it has managed it. Meanwhile, there was an intriguing story concerning how BitTorrent wasn’t being used just by pirates to swap illegal wares.

February

Blu-ray finally won the battle of the high-definition formats but would it really matter in the end when digital downloads were surely the future? Quarterlife made its NBC TV debut and unfortunately didn’t do very well, proving Web video still has a way to go before mainstream acceptance is guaranteed.

March

Hulu launched in beta, and we had a full and frank look at what it offered.

YouTube founder Steve Chen argued that vetting videos uploaded to the site would ruin the immediacy. While a Web-based Joost was first rumored, a rumor which came true later in the year.

April

The month began with YouTube delivering the ultimate RickRoll. Then the popular torrent tracker Demonoid came back online after six months. The photo-sharing site Flickr launched video, which didn’t really cut the mustard and even lead to a user revolt.

May

The Roku player launched, with a budget price of just $99. It has since moved on from its initial use as a Netflix-only service provider. There were also predictions about the future of online video, with one billion users guesstimated in five years time.

June

Should Google kill YouTube? was the question that screamed from the page in June. But a look at the successful phenomenon that is Fred shows why YouTube is important to the health of the Web. Meanwhile, the BBC launched iPlayer 2.0, a vast improvement on the original.

July

This month saw the release of The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie. Keeping it pirate-free for 38 hours was regarded as a huge success but once it hit the Web, The Pirate Bay used it to taunt Hollywood. Meanwhile, Google described monetizing YouTube as “the Holy Grail”.

August

August was all about the Beijing Olympics. A delayed opening ceremony on NBC forced many people to the Web. Torrents proved massively popular, while in the end, the online coverage failed to make any serious money. Back to the drawing board for London 2012 then.

September

Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend became the first video to break the 100 million views mark on YouTube. A video streaming site launched using The Pirate Bay’s popularity to gain traffic. While it looked as though the MPAA secretly killed off Peekvid when no-one was looking.

October

October saw my second attempt to explain my frustrations at having most premium video services denied me due to territorial rights licensing. While Steve Jobs describing Apple TV as a hobby lead to questions regarding whether set-top boxes will ever become essential?

November

It emerged that Hulu was set to match YouTube for profits despite enjoying a lot less traffic. Meanwhile, a man committed suicide live on Justin.tv, turning lifecasting into deathcasting.

December

December finally saw YouTube go HD after months of almost getting there but never quite managing it. This correlated with a feeling that the Google-owned site was growing up. Meanwhile, The Dark Knight was announced as the most pirated movie of the year.

Online Video Growth

Online video is big business, and seemingly becoming even bigger every day. But with bandwidth issues and slow Broadband still being the order of the day, is the Web ready for the revolution?

FilmOn.com is a video streaming site just like any other, at least on first sight. But Alki David, its founder and chairman has, along with Rich Crosby, a television engineer from Miami, has developed a technology called HDi which could lift it above its rivals.

FilmOn HDi

HDi went live on the site this week but deals have already been signed with high-profile content providers such as Turner Network Television, and many more are expected to be announced soon.

What’s more, the British telecommunications giant, BT, is thought to be interested in the technology. And David and Crosby are also contemplating offering set-top boxes to allow people to watch Internet video on their televisions.

Founder Speaks

Mr David told The Times:

“The way we watch film is changing. People used to dress up to go out to the cinema. Then it was a trip to the video store. Now you’re at home with your plasma TV and an Internet connection.”

“We’re trained to watch what’s on the box, but audiences are not fools and it doesn’t take long at all to change. The YouTube generation is a good example. You can seek what you want to watch when you want. We’re the next step. It’s a natural evolution to qualitative distribution.”

Connection Issues

Currently, high-definition video such as that now added to YouTube, can be viewed online but often succumbs to huge loading lag or juddering playback due to slow Broadband connections.

The developers claims HDi eliminates these issues using compression technology which squeezes the signal. Despite this, HDi can run over copper or wireless networks, eschewing the need for connections plumbed directly into people’s homes.

Revolution Or Marketing?

FilmOn currently offers over 7,000 streaming movies and documentaries, many of which are free. The titles that have to be bought cost £3.99 ($7) to stream for 24 hours, or £5 ($8) to download and own.

Whether the HDi technology is as revolutionary as claimed or is just being used to promote the video site remains to be seen. But let’s hope something is being done to prevent ISPs being able to determine the growth of Web video.