Tweaking YouTube's resolution settings the easy way

Higher resolutions or not, YouTube still tweaks the quality of its videos for users depending on what kind of connection they've got. So how about a workaround to make sure you're getting the best of the best? Bayme of the VideoHelp.com forums seems to have found a way to tweak the URL of some videos to force YouTube to serve you the version with the highest resolution. The good news? It's easy as pie. The bad news? It's not going to work on all your videos, and it's not noticeably better

To give it a spin, just drop &fmt=6 at the end of the URL of any video you're watching. If YouTube has a higher quality version available on its servers, it'll start playing right away. Otherwise, you'll simply be staring at a loading symbol. Greasemonkey users can also download a simple script that adjusts all YouTube URLs automatically.

There's a long discussion over on the VideoHelp boards about which file types are retaining the most quality after automatic conversion. YouTube appears to be experimenting with a few variants of Flash and H.264, the latter of which became a major part of YouTube with the introduction of the iPhone and AppleTV--both of which access videos from the service without using Adobe's Flash player.

Related: YouTube sucks: 4 sites that do it better

[via Cybernet News]

[estongreyes]

At YOUTUBE, you can find anything under the sun........no borders, no racialism, no genders and no limits, just a click of the button it is like you have all the videos around the world, thanks for having your site on my screen every time i wanted it.

[Buick107]

Let us all mourn the passing of Stage6.com. Ultra high quality video in the device friendly Divx format. This was the only site to go on the net for HD video at a decent file size. I liked hooking my 42" plasma up to the laptop and watching great foriegn tv shows, user created content, cutting edge c.g. animation, HD movie trailers, etc. Utube, Veoh and the like have HORRIBLE video quality, cluttered searches, and basicaly plenty of low class content. Stage6.com we will miss you.

[jtpinhead]

bad news someone was paying the price i guess

[jim63135]

I, too, miss Stage6.com. It's a shame to see all the good things pass on. Someone should have had the diversity to purchase that site and retain it for public interest.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Who would have thunk the pipes would be full of teen girls in their undies doing "booty dance"
DARPA never saw this coming. BTW...THUNK is the NASCAR equivalent of WOULD HAVE THOUGHT...but THUNK is easier to type.