Google are really shaking up YouTube at the moment. We told you about their plans to move away from classic YouTube videos like funny cats, laughing babies and Jackass style pranks and start creating a series of programmes and now they're doing something which some would say is long overdue. They are updating the quality of videos.
Don't be fooled by the HD button or high quality at the bottom of videos, if the video was taken on a low quality phone camera for example it's never going to look amazing but thanks to a company called Green Parrot Pictures (who have worked on huge movies such as Lord of the Rings, X-Men and Spider-Man) Google will now be able to tidy up low-quality video content uploaded to YouTube by sharpening images, reducing visual noise and producing a steadier video. Green Parrot’s impressive technology also improves playback speed and ensures that videos use less bandwidth.
YouTube said in a blog post: “Some of YouTube’s most popular or moving videos are shot using low-quality mobile phones and video cameras. Take, for example, videos of recent protests in Libya. Although emotionally captivating, they can be jerky, blurry or unsteady.” They've got a fair point and these videos (arguably some of the most important ones) are always going to be low quality. All people have is their phone cameras in times of drama and crisis you can't expect someone to run home and grab their HD camera to take to the protest.
Green Parrot Pictures said: “As the number of video creators worldwide and the richness of their video increases, demand for our technology has grown across multiple platforms. We’re excited to join Google, where we will apply our expertise to improve the online video experience for hundreds of millions of users worldwide on many different products, platforms and services.”
YouTube is going places! If film makers, artists etc hadn't already relelised the potential of YouTube with Google's improvements they sure are. It won't be long until YouTube videos are winning awards.
How about you? Have you seen anything stunning on YouTube?