Dear YouTube, I heart your video player

A few days ago, a wonderful change took place on a website I frequent. YouTube took the leap to a widescreen player!


For as long as I have been in production, I have been a huge video player geek. One of my MOs at CNET News.com was to get a better video player for the site, because I really felt it affects the viewer experience. You can have video gold, but in a horrid player, it will never get the chance it deserves.

I have seen other sites have great players, like Revision3, Mevio, Hulu, and CNET TV. I also love how everyone is allowing HD uploads, including one of my faves, Vimeo. Let's hope this upping of the bar at YouTube inspires every video provider to step it up. The only thing I am wondering is if embedding in widescreen is possible. I don't think you can yet, but would be a great added feature.

In any case, congratulations YouTube on your new super snazzy video player!