Why Does My YouTube Look Fuzzy?
Some YouTube videos are fuzzy because they were poor quality to begin with. Streaming quality depends on the speed of your Internet connection, the quality setting on the video and the original source. "360p" is the default setting, which downloads the fastest by sacrificing quality. YouTube makes it easy to increase video quality if your connection can handle it, but this option is not available for all videos.
Other People Are Reading
-
Playback Quality
-
If all of your YouTube videos look fuzzy, they are probably streaming at the 360p or even 240p quality option. To play in higher quality by default, click on your username, and then "Settings." Click "Playback Setup" and click "Always Play Higher-quality Video When It's Available." If you don't have this option, click "Always Choose the Best Option for Me" and "Always Play HD When switching to Full screen."
Full Screen Mode
-
If your connection is so slow you can only watch YouTube with the lowest setting, using full screen mode makes it worse. YouTube automatically switches to High Definition if you have this option enabled in your account settings. Many videos are uploaded in 240p or 360p, so no HD option is available. Once you click the full screen button, the video stretches to cover the majority of the screen. This is similar to blowing up a photo; the more you expand it, the blurrier it gets. Press the "Escape" key to exit full screen.
-
Camera Shake
-
Hold the camera steady if you upload videos. This reduces camera shake, the slight movement caused by recording with a hand-held camera. When the video is compressed, poorer quality is the result because more data per frame is being tracked. Use a tripod, if possible, and keep it shielded in windy weather. Lean against a wall or set the camera on something solid, if you don't have access to a tripod.
Video Source
-
Use the original, untouched video whenever possible. YouTube converts all compatible videos to the flash format, and each time the video is re-encoded it loses detail. If the video came from an online source, it was probably already compressed to save bandwidth. Keep the aspect ratio the same, and if it is widescreen, a 1280x720 resolution is ideal.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Creatas/Creatas/Getty Images
