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C h a p t e r 7 Understanding Audio/Video Technology 71

tion looked okay in a small window on a small computer monitor, but really didn’t
hold up well at larger sizes. (It’s effectively one-quarter the resolution of pre-HD
standard definition television.)

It took a couple of years, but YouTube eventually upped the resolution ante, moving
to what it dubbed High Quality (HQ) videos, displayed at 480×360 pixels. That’s
about three times the resolution of the original standard (retroactively dubbed
Standard Quality, or SQ), but still below that of standard definition television. An
improvement, but not much of one.

Things evolved, and YouTube embraced standard definition (640×480) video, in
both standard and widescreen aspect ratios. It didn’t stop there, however, as
YouTube eventually let users upload and view full high definition videos, at both
720p and 1080p resolutions.

Note

In addition to embracing today’s HD videos, YouTube also lets you upload
what is known as 4K video. This is an unofficial post-HD standard that has
more than six times the resolution of today’s high definition videos—not
widely used by the general public, but common in IMAX presentations.

In short, when it comes to video resolution, YouTube lets you have it pretty much
any way you want it. (Table 7.1 compares the different video resolutions that you
can use with YouTube.)

Table 7.1 YouTube Video Resolutions

Name 240p 240p 360p 480p 1080p 4K
Widescreen 360p Widescreen 480p widescreen 720p

Resolution 320×240 400×240 480×360 640×360 640×480 854×480 1280×720 1920×1080 4096×3072
(Width×Height)

Description Original SQ with YouTube HQ with Standard SDTV 720p High 1080p HDTV; Highest
widescreen Definition widescreen
YouTube widescreen High aspect ratio Television Definition AKA “Full quality video
(SDTV)
Standard aspect ratio Quality Television HD” currently

Quality (HQ) (HDTV) available,

(SQ); the not a current

default for consumer

most web standard;

browsers used in IMAX

presenta-

tions

Aspect ratio 4:3 16:9 4:3 16:9 4:3 16:9 16:9 16:9 16:9
76,800 96,000 172,800 230,400 307,200 409,920
Total number 921,600 2,073,600 12,582,912
of pixels