What Is a WxH Prefix on YouTube?
YouTube, owned by Google, is a popular video sharing and embedding website with the ability to upload videos as well. There are specifications for video sizes on YouTube for viewing in either standard or high-definition format. Video sizes are also limited to 20 GB for uploading. The prefix "WxH" that can appear in a video URL stands for "width by height."
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Pixel Dimensions
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The "WxH" prefix applies to any YouTube video, regardless of its upload physical dimensions or its appearance on the YouTube website. Whatever the size of the upload, YouTube automatically adjusts it to fit the website screen. Pixel dimensions are determined by how many pixels are contained within the screen resolution. YouTube recommends a screen resolution of at least 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. This is smaller than the YouTube website full-screen videos.
Wide-Screen Format
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In November 2008, YouTube changed its video aspect ratio from a 4:3 ratio to a 16:9 ratio. All former videos in the 4:3 format are now presented in the pillarbox format. The 16:9 ratio is a wide-screen format, which directly affects the "WxH" prefix, since both the width and height measurements change from the former aspect ratio. The new 16:9 ratio also is the aspect ratio preferred for HD video viewing. The HD resolution is 1280 by 720 pixels.
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Embedding Videos
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One social networking aspect of YouTube is the ability to share a video directly from its video page. Share options are chosen and then the video HTML code can be embedded onto a website. There are four sizes available for embedding: 560 by 340, 640 by 385, 853 by 505 and 1280 by 745. For each size, the "WxH" width and height prefix numbers will change.
Uploading Video
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YouTube has changed the video uploader to a "drag and drop" style, rather than the former "click and upload" style. To increase the load limit, such as for uploading HD videos, the YouTube account must be verified. HD videos have a greater "WxH" prefix, larger width and height dimensions, and more clear resolutions, so YouTube users are limited as to how many can be uploaded to the account.
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References
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