YouTube Rolls Out HD Image Previews and Logoless Embedded Player

YouTube is rolling out a couple of new features that should come in handy for anyone that embeds videos on a regular basis and especially for larger sites or those that want their blogs or sites to be as clean as possible, HD preview images and the possibility of removing the YouTube button from the embedded player.

"It may be hard to imagine, but YouTube’s video preview images represent to many the ultimate deciding factor as to whether or not to watch a video," YouTube wrote.

"If a preview image looks interesting, it can mean the difference between someone pressing the play button," it added.

Of course, anyone that's serious about YouTube videos knows this already, people's attention span is very short and when confronted with an assault of options, preview images may be the only way to distinguish your videos in a bunch of search results or related videos.

But picking the right preview image doesn't matter much if they all seem of poorer quality than your video really is.

"Your videos’ preview images can appear lower in quality, and sometimes you don't want a logo in your player. So today we're rolling out new features for both situations: HD preview images and the option to remove the logo from your player," YouTube added.

Now, all videos uploaded with a resolution of at least 480p will get a HD preview image which will show up on the embedded player.

This way, your videos will look attractive anywhere they're used. Considering that many videos today are uploaded in HD quality, it seems like an obvious move.

All existing videos will also get the upgraded image preview and publishers now get to upload their own custom previews that can be up to 1920x1080 pixels large, meaning a full HD resolution.

The second change should be appreciated by larger publishers, companies and those that don't want too clutter their blogs with too much stuff, including other people's logos.

There is now the option of removing the YouTube button available in the embedded player, by simply adding "?modestbranding=1" to the URL in the embed code. This way, only a text link to YouTube will be added which will show up when viewers hover over the video, revealing its title and they "YouTube" text.