I always used to put Youtube links in this format to force them to playback in HD:
But the hd=1 doesnt work anymore, does anyone know what I can do to force this now?? I've found some hints on google but they all don't seem to work...
Assuming you want to embed a video at HD in a webpage, you can do it with Javascript. Look at the source of this page to see an example that you can copy. If you search some of the terms in there like "event.target.setPlaybackQuality" you'll find more info.
It seems that Youtube has changed the playback to adjust the quality setting according to the size and resolution of the window where the video is played.
Try to start in a small window and you get the 360 - then just make that window a little larger and you get 480 etc. until you reach the uploaded HD quality.
IMHO this is really not good since it looks like this auto-setting mostly results in a resolution at least one step lower than we want.
I think that doesnt even work, because on my computer in Firefox, it is defaulted at 360 and remains 360 even when I go fullscreen....
My computer by the way is a fast i7 with 16 Gb of RAM and a 500Mbps internet connection...
Oh hang on...wait a minute...I am beginning to see the evil plan of Google, Chrome is the only browser that actually supports this new 'feature' ...
The scumbags must have done this to move people into using google chrome I think! :(