YouTube will do higher quality, not HD

YouTube is planning to upgrade the quality of its videos within the next three months, but it will not be high-definition video.

The social video company has been testing higher quality video, but it does not want to alienate its traditional users with long load times. YouTube provides content to everyone, co-founder Steve Chen said at the NewTeeVee conference.

Other sites had incorrectly reported that Chen was referring to high definition. One of the moderators of the panel at the NewTeeVee Conference where he revealed his upcoming plans for YouTube cleared the air.

"What I got out of [Chen's] comments was that YouTube's first priority is making sure everyone, everywhere, on any device, could view every video on the site. Steve actually said himself, as the commenters above are saying, that HD really doesn't make sense for the short, silly clips that are YouTube's bread and butter," Liz Gannes wrote to AlleyInsider.

This is not to say that HD is off YouTube's radar -- as it is -- but like many other content providers it just does not make sense for the site at this time. As Dan Frommer wrote for AlleyInsider, much of the content on the site currently on the site would not be viable for HD since it is not shot, edited, or uploaded in the format.

Other video sites are already providing video in HD, such as Vimeo. In fact, the site's founder Jakob Lodwick used YouTube's announcement to take a shot at the company.

"YouTube is an illicit organization built upon a self-destructive philosophy," he said. "If you are a creator, these guys do not give a [expletive] about you, neither as a person nor as a demographic."