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  1. Member
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    I have a slow broadband connection so the 360p and 720p YouTube videos load very slowly. The YouTube flash player only allows me to choose 360p and 720p. How can I have YouTube videos in lower quality than 360p?, like non-hd 480x360? There used to be a string you enter at the end of the video url but i can't find it. Also, is there a way to always play YouTube videos in lower quality like a greasemonkey script for firefox?
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  2. Member
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    I might be wrong, but I thought You Tube plays the lowest resolution by default, and GreaseMonkey allows you to pick higher resolution(s), if available.
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  3. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by CSULB71 View Post
    I might be wrong, but I thought You Tube plays the lowest resolution by default, and GreaseMonkey allows you to pick higher resolution(s), if available.
    Unless the link explicitly sets the playback quality to something higher, it does play back the lowest quality by default. I suspect, however, that the lowest quality is not a low as it used to be. Certainly older clips still look horrible and have lower resolution, but newer material doesn't seem to be encoded at the the old rates and resolutions because, well, they were crap.

    Bottom line, if your connection isn't fast enough to play the clips back smoothly, press pause, and get a coffee while it buffers.
    Read my blog here.
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  4. &fmt=18 is generally lower quality than the default 360p version. The lowest quality is &fmt=5 (flv1/mp3, 350 kbps).
    A script for &fmt=18 http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/24980
    Last edited by k.; 25th Mar 2010 at 19:25.
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  5. Member
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    The lowest quality is &fmt=5
    Seems to work - didn't know about that trick. I tried it on the video below. File size is about half the 360P version. That measn there are now five versions of some videos?

    If you upload the video in the correct format, you can get five versions of a video 360P/480P/720P-HD, 1280P-HD, like this video HERE. And apparently a fifth version using the tag above.

    I've always assumed that youtube throttles downloading of all their videos. For me, they always start downloading fast, then throttle back after about 25%.
    Last edited by tworegon; 25th Mar 2010 at 20:18.
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  6. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Create an account, and set this as your preference.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
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  7. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    Tried the &fmt=5 extension on one of my 720p clips and it works, but the quality is unwatchable. I was a mess of moving artifacts with with the occassional video pixel thrown into the mix.
    Read my blog here.
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  8. They probably keep the &fmt=5 version for users with older versions of adobe flash player that don't support h264/aac.
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  9. Video Playback Quality

    -I have a slow connection. Never play higher-quality video.
    -Choose my video quality dynamically based on the current connection speed.
    If you register in YouTube and login you get the above options in your account set up. Chose never play higher quality video.
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  10. You have to do nothing, absolutely nothing to watch YouTube videos in low quality.

    Quality is relative term depends how one defines it.

    One has barely to do anything to watch YouTube videos in low quality coz it is of almost 1/10 of original quality.

    Original or at least 1/2 (50%) of original quality YouTube probably never gonna afford the bandwidth without ripping off their advertisers.
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