Vimeo Unleashes 1080p Videos for 'Plus' Subscribers

In a world where YouTube dominates online video in a very clear fashion, other players are trying to corner niches of the market which they hope will prove lucrative. Hulu does this with professional content from major TV broadcasters. Vimeo on the other hand is aiming at the budding film makers and artists which want a place to showcase their work away from the unwashed masses on YouTube. The site takes pride in its exclusivity and it has plenty of reason to do so. At the end of the day it still has to make money, so it's now trying to make its paid accounts more alluring by enabling 1080p videos and several mobile options.

"We want to provide our users with the best possible tools to share their videos," Andrew Pile, vice president of Product and Development for Vimeo, said in a statement. "We believe the creator should choose how people view their content, which is why we are offering both 1080p streaming and mobile viewing options that Vimeo Plus members can select when uploading their video."

The first part of the announcement should please both aspiring artists wanting to showcase their work at the highest quality possible, but also subscribers to Vimeo Plus which now get a couple of new perks to justify the $60 a year fee. With the full 1080p resolution, the highest available at this point in the consumer market, the videos should look crisp and clear on even the latest high-end HDTVs.

Vimeo says it hasn't enabled the feature earlier as it wasn't sure that the users would have hardware capable of playing back video at 1080p smoothly. Apparently, this isn't a problem anymore, but for now only paying members will be able to enjoy the full resolution. YouTube has recently introduced 1080p playback and uploading for all its users which undoubtedly had a role to play in the decision.

The other big announcement is the new mobile features. Vimeo has just recently introduced iPhone and Android friendly formats for a small part of the videos. At first, just the videos in the "Staff Picks" and HD video showcases categories have been converted enabling mobile users to view them in a native format. Now, Vimeo is announcing that it is broadening the feature and will enable Vimeo Plus members to convert their videos into mobile formats as well.