Here's what I'm getting at: there is software that can drill down and find out the direct link for a video clip, without having to load up all the Youtube folderol. For example, for Firefox, the name of that software is Download Helper.
Let's take a look at a high-quality Youtube HD clip. I chose the Glacier National Park by veeerzes, because it has full 1080 HD which results in a very high definition picture (though the compression is visible at times in the form of occasional blocky artifacts). The video is located at
. After I start the playback, I open the Settings options in the lower right-hand corner of the video frame and select 1080 HD.
Once the stream has switched over to 1080 HD, I take a look at my real-time Bandwidth Meter. It shows streaming that occurs in pulses, not a constant feed. These pulses normally run at about 30,000 kbps or 30 mbps (I'm on the 50/25 tier). Someone earlier in this thread termed this D-A-S-H playback, I believe. Despite the constant interruptions of the stream as a result of this behavior, the clip plays smoothly without interruption or buffering (I'm in Manhattan, zip 10022, in case the Verizon FIOS/Youtube problem varies depending on location).
Now I take a look at the Download Helper to see the direct link for the 1080 version of the clip. The direct link for the 1080 version is located at »r4---sn-8xgp1vo-xfgz.goo ··· CFAC5CA1 .
So I close the tab playing the clip through Youtube, open a new tab, and paste the link above instead.
THIS time, the clip plays with a solid unbroken stream, running again at an average of 30 mbps (which means the entire clip will probably be downloaded long before the clip has finished playing). And again, there are no problems, no buffering, no interruptions, no instability, just very fast and constant playback. After playing for two minutes, I can see from the progress bar at the bottom that over half of the clip has now been loaded.
Here's what I'm thinking: Might this be another way to bypass the occasional Youtube/Verizon problems?
I read an outdated research paper that these college kids did, on how YouTube distributes its watchable content, and what methods / algorithms are in use for selecting & viewing that content. It was so complex I couldn't really follow it. Its interesting that pasting that link right into the browser results in better performance. I've got that Download Helper on my system - i'll try this method...