Google is set to launch a new YouTube Full HD 1080p service this week that will allow viewers to download full HD video and movie content to a PVR, PC, TV or storage device. The move has upset several ISP’s who are concerned that the expanded file size and the longer time needed to download Full HD content will impact their “Unlimited Bandwidth” offerings.
The new service will allow content shot in HD quality to be uploaded and viewed on the site.
An official YouTube blog claims that the service is being launched because more consumers are using Full HD camcorders to shoot content and because of the availability of professionally shot Full HD content.
Existing videos that have been uploaded in 1080p, which presently only appear in 720p quality, are being re-encoded for the higher-quality version, says Billy Biggs, a software engineer at Google who own YouTube.
An accompanying video shows the difference (included at a smaller size below) between the different qualities – though it is slow to load because 1080p video requires substantially more storage than lower-quality formats.
The introduction of more high-quality video will increase the friction between Google, and particularly YouTube, and various internet service providers where “net neutrality” has become a sore point. Some US ISP’s who don’t charge for additional bandwidth like Telstra, or iiNet, argue that companies which send large amounts of data – particularly video – over their networks should pay to ensure that it does not block others from sending their data.
Google and other companies contend that it is the telephone companies’ and ISPs’ responsibility to maintain the standards of their networks to meet growing demand for high-volume data transmission.
