Really using the widescreen feature in YouTube by forcing the 'high quality' or uploaded HD versions with &fmt=22

Using &fmt=22
Watch the high quality by adding the &fmt22 to the end of your URL!!
"Scott, we think they're teleporting in... " Here's Scott at the Second Life Community Conference , SLCC2008, about 16 minutes before the Keynote...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10VmTdSzMnQ&fmt=22
CNET article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10104182-2.html
So if you upload HD video (this one is 720p - 1280x720 pixels), just add the format information and code number indicating its format size, e.g.: 720p= &fmt=22 .



For videos that have a 'high quality' option shown on the lower right of the YouTube player, you can force the 'high quality' display by adding the following format code to the URL: &fmt=6 .
Of course, anyone can set their YouTube display to ONLY show in the higher quality view by going into the 'Account' link which is at the top right of the screen (if you are logged in). Then, look to the left side of the next window, and under the 'Overview' heading you will see 'Playback Setup'. Under the 'Video Playback Settings', select the following option:
I have a fast connection. Always play higher-quality video when it's available.
So now you can share that URL which will launch the 'high quality' version.
So herein lies the dilemma; when uploading the HD version, you leave the down-converting to the default sized flv to YouTube...
How I wish we could do both.
So, the default down-converted video clip that YouTube shows is embarrassingly pixilated. Yes, we always blame ourselves for not uploading a the HD version and leaving the work to YouTube to do automatically.
So.... it occurs to me that I should create an HD sister-account where I can just upload the HD stuff and upload video for my regular account at the high end of the YouTube spec which may be changing given the new widescreen view.
See the YouTube Handbook: Best formats for uploading.
When I get a chance this week, I'll have to take a truly short clip at 1080p to see what YouTube does with it and find the format code to display...