10 best places to get HD content online
Have the HD experience online as well as on your TV
HD is fast becoming part and parcel of online video - sites such as YouTube often offer you the option of watching an HD stream, even if it's not enabled by default.
But aside from YouTube itself (which is, unsurprisingly) our first site, it can be difficult to know where to go for quality HD videos online. So we've gathered together nine more of the best HD online video services for you to explore.
If you're searching for something specific, don't forget that both Google and Bing offer video search features and often find what you're after straight away. It's also pretty easy to pick out the better quality versions, too.
1. YouTube
Having supported 720p videos for some time, the king of online video launched support for full 1080p last November – you can watch any footage in the highest quality depending on whether the source footage Many official trailers and teaser videos are now available in this highest resolution. Check out youtube.com/hd
2. Flickr
More famed for its still imagery, Flickr is also home to videos too. The site first started supporting video in April 2008 and some of the HD footage that has been uploaded is nothing short of spectacular – primarily because there's little of the rubbish you find on YouTube. Check out some of the best.
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3. Vimeo
YouTube competitor Vimeo has a dedicated HD channel at vimeo.com/hd – featuring the very best HD content uploaded to the site. The channel is moderated by Vimeo staff and is "home to the web's most creative and inspiring HD videos." Vimeo also has an HD video RSS feed.
4. Daily Motion
Like Vimeo, French site Daily Motion also has a dedicated HD channel you can visit. While it takes a bit of looking around for something decent to watch (and that's in English), there's certainly plenty of choice, hence why the site makes it into our list.
5. Yahoo HD Movie trailers
Yahoo Video isn't brilliant for HD, but Yahoo Movies certainly is. Here you'll find plenty of movie trailers in sparkling HD – there's also a handy list ordered by date, so you can see all the videos that have been recently uploaded.
6. Apple HD Movie Trailers
Through QuickTime, Apple somehow became one of the leading purveyors of movie trailers on the web and HD support has been present for some time. If you're into your movies, you should be a regular visitor to the Apple Trailers site.
7. Veoh HD
This video upload site has a dedicated HD channel sponsored by Samsung LED TVs. There are several sets of content available – not strictly useful, but interesting nonetheless. You can't share them either, which is somewhat irritating.
8. Metacafe
There's always plenty of interesting content at Metacafe and the site has supported HD content for some time. The HD channel is less of a channel and is just a tag in the video. The site used to pay producers for successful content, but stopped this practice in 2008.
9. CBS HD
The CBS HD channel offers a variety of 1080p HD clips of TV shows and interviews, although you have to sit through hugely irritating ads to get there.
10. BBC iPlayer
An obvious place for online video perhaps, but it's worth noting that many programmes shown on the BBC HD channel can now be viewed in stunning high quality on the web (providing you're in the UK). The content is at least 720p and is encoded at 3.2Mbps in H.264. You will burn your bandwidth though – the BBC says that BBC iPlayer HD uses about 1.5GB an hour and you'll also need a connection of at least 2Mbps.
Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.