Google Video Quality Report to grade how well ISPs deliver YouTube

If you've ever tried to use YouTube as a practical measure of how fast your Internet connection is, then you might be in for a surprise. Apparently, Google has the same idea and has launched its Video Quality Report service to gauge an Internet Service Provider's performance based on how well they are able to stream videos from YouTube.

It might seem almost strange for Google to offer such a kind of service that would virtually pit ISPs against each other. After all, it can turn into a virtual hall of shame really quick. But Google's motives are more or less benign and want users to have a more understandable criteria for evaluating an ISP's offer, as well as making sure they're getting their money's worth.

Being Google, there is a bit of science and math behind the service. For sure, it isn't going to rely on users' feedback or comments, which will be very subjective. It also won't simply base its results from a single person's Home connection. Instead, it analyzes how fast billions of hours worth of YouTube videos are slurped over a span of 30 days. This is then categorized by service provider and location. It also properly considers the density of users on that network per region and adjusts the scores accordingly.

The result is a grading system, indicated by none other than badges, that Google believes can help users and service providers communicate better with each other. A "YouTube HD Vertified" badge tells users that the ISP in that area is able to load videos in 720p HD most of the time. "Standard definition", on the other hand, is given to those that can load at least 360p 90% of the time. And "lower definition" is reserved for those that cannot guarantee even standard quality or, worse, a stable connection.

The website for Google's Video Quality Report is already up but currently only contains informational material on what Google is trying to accomplish and how. For the moment, Google's first test subject is Canada, since Google considers the ISPs there to be exemplars of quality YouTube streaming. Google is so far keeping mum on when it plans to start rolling out to other regions as well. It will be interesting to see how much its badges will be adopted as a way of measuring quality of service in the future.







SOURCE: Financial Post

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'YouTube' 4K demo to launch Google play to control Ultra HD

YouTube will demonstrate 4K Ultra HD video using a new codec Google hopes will corner the streaming market, VP9, at CES 2014 next week. The royalty-free codec is Google's alternative to H.265 - what's currently one of the most prevalent 4K standards - with YouTube's involvement just one of a number of companies intending to support VP9, the site told GigaOm. That's in an attempt to avoid a re-run of the last streaming codec Google tried (and for the most part failed) to launch.

That was VP8, which Google billed in 2010 as its solution to making video streaming headache-free by removing the need to force users to install plugins. Google even used VP8 itself, in its Hangouts video conferencing, but failed to get any significant traction with other companies.

You can't accuse the firm of not learning from its mistakes, however, and now it has a group of display and chipset companies lined up with support already pledged for VP9. That includes Samsung, Toshiba, and Sharp on the screen side, and Intel, ARM, Marvell, and Broadcom on the silicon side. IN fact, there are now nineteen hardware partners already onboard.

According to a YouTube spokesperson, the big benefit from VP9 is a significant reduction in how much data is transferred during streaming, and not just with 4K content. Compared to existing codecs used for HD video, in fact, VP9 is said to cut the data demands in half, leading to a significant reduction in buffering.

It's not the first time YouTube has offered 4K content. In fact, the streaming video service added 4K support all the way back in 2010, though videos actually taking advantage of the higher-resolution were relatively rare.

That's changed a little over the intervening years, though finding good 4K content to watch on Ultra HD displays and projectors still remains the primary limiting factor of the technology, beyond of course cost.

YouTube expects the changes to still be relatively gradual, predicting VP9 hardware decoding in PCs and mobile devices initially, followed by TVs with support for the codec by around 2015.

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YouTube app update for iOS and Android brings “Cast” previews

Readying itself for the likes of Chromecast, PlayStation 4 (already on PS3), Google TV, and more, YouTube has been updated this week in its iOS and Android forms. This app already allowed the user to play any and all (save no-mobile) videos with ease, now the app will allow users to watch a video or Cast a video. This added bit of functionality had worked with devices like the Nexus Q and PlayStation 3 and Google TV in the past, but here we’re seeing a “preview” screen appearing along with the ability to add said video to a queue.

Updating the YouTube app on your Android or iOS device this week will allow you to take part in Google’s newest and cleanest user interface yet, this part of an overarching smoothing-out of Android apps that’ll be taking place over the rest of this summer. This update brings on the browsing of channels for playlists as well – that’ll bring you the “play ALL the videos” ability you’ve heard so much about (if you’ve never seen playlists on your desktop computer, that is).

One of the strangest updates to YouTube in this push is the second screen. Like you were using a Samsung Galaxy S 4 (or something similar), you’re now able to watch a YouTube video while you’re searching for another YouTube video to replace it. All you’ve got to do is hold your finger on a video and drag downward.

Now we get to see if such an ability is actually useful, or just there for kids to show their parents that they’ve got a better handle on the mobile universe than they once expected.

Once a video is placed in the lower right-hand corner of your display, you have the ability to go back to full screen with a swipe upward or to dismiss said video with a swipe to the right. This update should be available for both Android and iOS devices (like the iPhone and iPad) right this minute – have at it!

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