Recently, Youtube has announced that they will support videos that are shot in 4K, meaning increasing the oringinal video resolution from 360p to 4K. In their announcement, they specified that the ideal screen size for a 4K video is 25 feet.
In December, 2009, Youtube announced support for 1080p, or full HD. In comparison, 4K is more than 4 times the size of 1080p. Youtube also pointed out that 4K requires a "ultra-fast high-speed boardband connections in order to run it smoothly. In order to experience the power of 4K, Youtube has given a list of videos that are made by filmmakers with access to 4K camera.
Is it applicable? This is the question being asked by so many people. 4K, indeed, will improve the online video watching experience significantly. But as they have said in their annoucnement, 4K cameras aren't cheap, it is used often by filmmakers. Sure, some people have a 4K camera. But for most of people, it is just too expensive to get a 4K camera. The camera body is goning to cost about $18,000. Who would buy a cemera that is going to cost you $18,000, except those professionals?.
More interesting is that the requirement of boardband speed. I don't think people would get an ultra-fast high-speed boardband for just watching 4K video on Youtube.
However, Youtube does give viewers options to choose what resolution they want for the video. I hardly think anyone would choose 4K. But it is there as a feature of Youtube. What kind of audience they are trying to target with a 4K video? professional filmmaker or what? Isn't it better to watch this sort of video or movie in a movie theater? Though it is free to watch on Youtube, the the time one should wait for 4K to download is just too long....Perhaps we all should get an "ULTRA-FAST HIGH-SPEED" boardband, if Youtube is going to pay all the cost :)
Great point and well made, it doesn't seem commercially viable. That is unless they move into 'pay per view' movies which has been rumored for a couple years now.
ReplyDeleteThis being said, Australia's internet is so rubbish we won't be able to use it anyways.
Maybe YouTube are just trying to send a message out that they are the online video market leaders, thinking ahead, and they'll be around for years. Cementing a place in our lives?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget that we are now seeing most new TVs having YouTube access as a standard function!
@Wages: Is it essential,then,to bring out a 4K option for users? As many of users will not be able to watch it! I'm still confused with this move by Youtube. I personally perceive Youtube as an online video watching website, I'd never expect Youtube to have 4K though. What would Youtube gain by introducing 4K option? Or is it an indication that Youtube is going to introduce online movie watching?
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