We all know that Youtube had introduced the option of uploading High Quality Videos and also given the option of viewing these Videos in the High Quality Version. Now, out of the millions of videos out there,

only a few have the option shown on the video page itself which reads : Watch in High Quality. Now the HQ version definitely take longer time to buffer. But here’s how you can even watch those videos in HQ where the “Watch in High Quality Link” is not available. Here’s the hack: Just add &fmt=18 at the end of the URL of the Video (i.e. The Youtube link in the address bar of your browser), and the video which will be shown will be the HQ version.

Now, some videos do show a significant difference in the Quality of the Sound as well as the Video Quality. But for some, the Video remains as compressed as the Low-Q version. But one thing’s for sure. The audio bitrate of the HQ version is definitely much better. So that’s it: Just by adding &fmt=18 at the end of the Video Link, you can watch the HQ version of the video. (It is advisable to opt for the HQ version only if you have a fast broadband connection, else you might just be spending ages for the video to even start buffering).

e.g. Here’s the original Low-Q version of Paul Pott’s on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and here’s the HQ version. The Video doesn’t show much of a significant increase in quality here, but the audio is definitely much better.

Second example: Here you will watch a smudged, compressed Low-Q version of Paul Potts’ Hello Message. And then, here the sharper,a bit pixelised, but definitely Higher-Q version. Not only did the audio quality increased, but there is an evident increase in the Video Quality as well.

And how to download them. Although there are many Firefox extensions to do the same, here I’ll suggest a one-stop solution. Just visit KeepVid.com. It has a very green address bar. Just paste the URL of your Youtube video you wish to download and hit the Download button on the right. You’ll be given two links. One is of the Low-Q version (which is in FLV), and the other is the High-Q version (which is in MP4 playable on your PMPs,iPods etc.). So there you have it, you have learnt to view your Youtube Videos in High-Q and now how to download them as well. Now thank me. C’mon, be a bit generous to the services