YouTube Video Qualities

This entry is just a note for me, but maybe you'll find this useful.
Credit to www.net.chanun.com for this tips.

fmt=5 - default YouTube setting.
- Sound: Mono, 22KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 320×240
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: FLV/MP3
- Video Download Format: FLV

fmt=13
- Sound: Mono, 8KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 176×144
- Video Output Format: 3GP
- Sound Output Format: H263/SAMR
- Video Download Format: 3GP

fmt=17
- Sound: Mono, 22KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 176×144
- Video Output Format: 3GP
- Sound Output Format: MPEG4/AAC
- Video Download Format: 3GP

fmt=0 - fmt 5/0 looks the same, but they must be slightly different.
- Sound: Mono, 22KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 320×240
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: FLV/MP3
- Video Download Format: FLV

fmt=6
- Sound: Mono, 44KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 480×360
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: FLV/MP3
- Video Download Format: FLV

fmt=34
- Sound: Stereo, 22KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 320×240
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: H264/AAC
- Video Download Format: FLV

fmt=35
- Sound: Stereo, 44KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 640×480
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: H264/AAC
- Video Download Format: FLV

fmt=18 (HQ)
- Sound: Stereo, 44KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 480×360
- Video Output Format: FLV
- Sound Output Format: H264/AAC
- Video Download Format: MP4

fmt=22 (HD)
- Sound: Stereo, 44KHz
- Max Best Resolution: 1280×720
- Video Output Format: MP4
- Sound Output Format: H264/AAC
- Video Download Format: MP4

YouTube’s three highest quality formats are 18/22 and 35

The Highest Quality video’s is obviously HD and use: fmt=22, if the video is actually HD you would see a red HD symbol appear on the flash player next to the button for fullscreen.

The second best quality is: fmt=35, third best is: fmt=18, these are considered to be HQ, High Quality, however this on some videos is not actually true it seems to make fmt=18 better than fmt=35.

On HQ, you would see a red HQ instead of the red HD.

How to use this?

1 - Just add &fmt= at the end of the video URL to watch the best quality. Commonly fmt=18.
For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0-OxK7Hyz4&fmt=18

But remember that although you add fmt=22, the video will not be a HD if original file uploaded isn't a HD.

2 - If you use DownloadHelper, a plugin for FireFox to download videos, check the Tag for the qualities available to download.


Additional Notes:
What is HD and HQ? HD means High Definition and HQ means High Quality. For a rough idea, High Definition means the resolution is bigger (1280x720), and High Quality depends on some factors like bitrates and others. Google to understand more.

I guess that's all for now.
Thanx.