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HD Video Sharing: Best Solutions To Publish High Definition Videos - Sharewood Guide
Looking for a solution that allows you to share high definition video with your friends or others? Tired of the restrictions that YouTube places on the quality, size, and length of the videos that you upload? In today's Sharewood Guide, I will be reviewing eleven high definition video sharing and publishing platforms so that you can choose the YouTube alternative that best suits your HD video publishing needs.
Photo credit: ray222
YouTube is the 800 pound gorilla in the online video publishing space. But there are many alternative platforms to publish and distribute your videos on. Many of those platforms hold distinct advantages over YouTube. In particular, one well known limitation of YouTube is its aversion to offering publishers the ability to share true HD content. YouTube doesn't allow publishers to upload high definition videos because of accessibility concerns. Many users just don't have the needed bandwidth because of a lack of available broadband to deliver the HD content.
But recently even YouTube seems to be changing their tune in order to stay competitive in the evolving online video landscape. Word has it that YouTube is testing HD quality video playback. But that move has not made yet been made official.
So for the time being whom do you turn to if you want to publish and share your high definition content?
Here are eleven options from you to choose from. Listed alphabetically they are: Blip.TV, DailyMotion, Exposure Room, Miro, Pandora.TV, Veoh, Viddyou, Vimeo, Vuze, Wildscreen, Wuapi. Each of these video publishing platforms has its own advantages and disadvantages, but every single one of them will allow you to publish and share your videos at 720p HD quality or greater.
Reviews Of High Definition Online Video Publishing and Sharing Platforms
See the Full Size HD Online Video Publishing Comparison Chart
The solutions reviewed are by no means the only HD video publishing and sharing platforms that are available, but should none-the-less give you a good idea of what is available to use and what features each should have. Unless otherwise noted, all of the high definition video sharing platforms compared below offers unlimited storage and bandwidth for videos, as well as the capability to embed videos into other sites.
- Blip.TV
Blip.TV is a high definition video sharing site based out of New York, NY. They are trying to focus on episodic content (i.e. series of shows) rather than viral videos in order to differentiate themselves from YouTube and other video publishing platforms.
Blip.TV allows users to upload videos with any size, quality, or length restrictions. The video playback quality is the same as the quality with which it was uploaded - in other words Blip.TV does not compress or otherwise alter your video to save bandwidth.
Once uploaded, publishers can also choose to allow their viewers to download content. If the publisher chooses to allow viewers to download their content, viewers will be able to download the video at full quality.
Further differentiating Blip.TV from its competitors is the 50/50 ad revenue share Blip.TV offers with its publishers. So if you are looking for a platform to serve your high quality videos for free and make a few bucks off of it, check out Blip.TV
Cost: Free
Quality: Same as Source
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes
Unique Feature(s): Ad Revenue Share, Downloadable Video - DailyMotion
DailyMotion is a high definition video sharing site based out of Paris, France. DailyMotion is seen as one of the primary competitors to YouTube. Unlike YouTube, however, DailyMotion supports HD (resolution up to 720p) video publishing and sharing. But HD video publishing and sharing is only available to verified users, called MotionMakers by DailyMotion.
Applying for MotionMaker is a straightforward process. This label merely denotes that the user is the creator of their videos, and that their videos do not contain any violation of intellectual property rights, copyright or otherwise. Once the user has been verified, the videos published by the user are labeled "Creative Content".
As a MotionMaker, the user is able to upload videos of unlimited length and up to 1GB in size. However, viewers do not have the option to download that video as they do on some of the other sites reviewed here.
Cost: Free
Quality: up to 720p
File Size: 1GB
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes - ExposureRoom (XR)
ExposureRoom is a high definition video publishing platform that is targeted at professionals, those who would like to gain more exposure for their work. ExposureRoom allows publishers to share videos of up to 720p quality. Like Vimeo and Blip.TV, once the video is uploaded publishers can also choose to allow their viewers to download the video at the original quality.
ExposureRoom plans to provide an e-commerce platform where publishers can sell their video productions. I have not yet determined whether this feature is available, but when I do I will let you know.
What makes ExposureRoom unique is their focus on the social networking aspect. The goal of the site is to connect professionals to a platform where they can exchange ideas and provide the talent with exposure and opportunity.
Cost: Free
Quality: up to 720p
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes
Unique Feature(s): Social Network for Video Industry Professionals - Miro
Miro, Japanese for "Look!", is an open source desktop internet TV platform / video aggregator managed by the Participatory Culture Foundation. Miro like Vuze delivers high definition content straight to your desktop via a combination of peer-to-peer and direct download. Using Miro, users can subscribe to your video feeds via RSS.
However, one disadvantage of Miro is that as a desktop application, you cannot embed video from Miro on to web pages. But Miro holds its own unique advantages over web platforms.
Making Miro unique is the capability to create a co-branded versions of Miro. Miro Co-Branded Players enable content publishers to extend their brand and content onto the desktop. Furthermore, using the co-branding solution, content publishers can run advertising within the player to further monetize their content.
Cost: Free
Quality: Same as source
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: No
Unique Feature(s): Peer-to-Peer, Desktop Player, Co-branding - Pandora.TV
Pandora.TV is a high definition video sharing site based out of Seoul, South Korea, so don't be surprised if you see Korean ads all over the site. It is the leading player in the video sharing market in Korea... the equivalent of YouTube in the US but with high definition. Luckily for those of us who can't read Korean, the interface is in English (as well as Korean) so the language barrier is not an issue.
Like most of the other HD video publishing platforms reviewed here, Pandora.TV does not place any restrictions on the file size or the length of the video that can be uploaded. And Pandora.TV supports up 720p quality video playback.
Cost: Free
Quality: up to 720p
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes - Veoh
Veoh is another US based high definition video publishing platform. Veoh offers a maximum resolution of 720p for video playback. Additionally, Veoh is one of the few platforms that allow viewers to download content directly to their desktop (with the publishers expressed permission of course).
Veoh is unique in that it is able to deliver its content in two different ways: streaming which is standard and through a DVR type application called VeohTV. VeohTV is a peer-to-peer desktop video aggregator that allows users to download videos from any website and save them for later viewing (similar to Miro and Vuze). VeohTV works with media center remote controls so viewers can watch and jump through content all from the comfort of their couch.
Furthermore if publishers upgrade from the free account to Veoh Pro (also free but requires additional verification), they will have access to the Veoh video syndication system, which means that Veoh will automatically publish that same video to YouTube, MySpace, and others. Veoh Pro also consolidates reporting (similar to TubeMogul).
Finally, Veoh can serve as an e-commerce platform for those who want to sell their videos. Veoh splits the revenue 50/50 with the publisher.
Cost: Free
Quality: 720p
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes
Unique Feature(s): Downloadable Video, E-commerce platform - Viddyou
Viddyou is a high definition video sharing site based out of San Francisco, CA. Like Wuapi, Viddyou supports 1080p quality playback of your HD video.
Unlike Wuapi, however, if you want to publish and share your HD content you will have to pay some money. But at $34.95 a year, Viddyou shouldn't put too large of a whole in your pocket. If you are a paying (premium) member, Viddyou makes no restrictions on the upload size of your video or on the length of your video.
Once uploaded, publishers get unlimited storage and delivery of their videos. So should they choose to download their videos, they can do so without restriction. Unfortunately, viewers cannot download the video.
As a paid service, Viddyou can offer publishers and viewers what other platforms cannot: mainly extensive privacy controls and a lack of both advertisements and trolls. So if you are looking to share your videos in a clutter free, private environment through which to share your home videos or any content that you would like to control access too then Viddyou is well worth checking out.
Cost: $34.95 / year
Quality: up to 1080p
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes - Vimeo
Vimeo is a high definition video sharing site based out of New York, NY. Vimeo was one of the first online video sharing and publishing sites to offer HD quality uploading.
There is no restriction in regards to video playback length. However, Vimeo does enforce a rule that limits user video uploading to 500MB per week. So if you were looking to upload long high definition home movies, this is not the place for you.
One of the distinct advantages that Vimeo offers is the ability for viewers to download content. Naturally, the publisher of the content can choose whether they want to allow unrestricted downloads or allow downloads by authorized users (via a password) only.
Cost: Free
Quality: up to 720p
File Size: 500MB / week
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes
Unique Feature(s): Downloadable Video - Vuze
Vuze does not fit the same mold as most of the other solutions reviewed here. Vuze is a desktop video aggregator that allows users to distribute and / or dowload high definition content. Vuze is a is a "commercial-grade platform" that serves as both a BitTorrent client and content service. Because it is based on the p2p model, Vuze is able to distribute high definition video quickly and efficiently straight to its users desktops.
However, like Miro because it is a desktop platform, you cannot embed HD videos directly from Vuze on to a website.
If you are a publisher looking for a way to let your viewers download your content quickly and without straining your own bandwidth, Vuze is an option worth checking out.
Cost: Free
Quality: Same as source
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: No
Unique Feature(s): Peer-to-Peer, Desktop Player - Wildscreen
Based out of Berlin, Germany, and launched in April 2008, Wildscreen is one of the newest high definition video sharing sites on the web. But Wildscreen has tried to differentiate themselves by focusing on combining quality content with a social media network. Users will be able to publish and share videos of any size, length, and up to 720p quality.
Further differentiating itself from its competitors, Wildscreen provides its publishers with the capability to create custom branded channels through which to share their content. Additionally, Wildscreen is the only solution that allows its publishers to keep 100% of the ad revenue from their video channel. This combined with no upload file size or video length restrictions, makes Wildscreen a site worth checking out.
Cost: Free
Quality: Same as Source
File Size: Unlimited
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: Yes
Unique Feature(s): Publishers keep 100% of Ad Revenue - Wuapi
Wuapi is a relatively new high definition video distribution platform based out of Barcelona, Spain. Wuapi claims to have developed a proprietary distribution platform that allows for them to deliver high definition video more quickly and affordably than other sites.
Backing up that claim, Wuapi offers publishers the capability to upload and deliver full 1080p HD quality videos. Like most of the solutions reviewed here, Wuapi sets no limits on video length, however they do have a file size max of 4GB for uploads.
One disadvantage that Wuapi has is the inability to embed videos on to other sites. Otherwise Wuapi is a complete HD publishing solution, so hopefully that will change soon.
Cost: Free
Quality: up to 1080p
File Size: 4GB
Video Length: Unlimited
Embeddable: No
Do you see any mistakes with these reviews? Would you like to suggest other high definition publishing solutions? Would you like to share your own experiences with any of the solutions reviewed? Please leave a comment below.
Originally written by Andre Deutmeyer for MasterNewMedia and first published on November 23rd 2008 as HD Video Sharing: Best Solutions To Publish High Definition Videos - Sharewood Guide.
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