The Top 5 Video Streaming Websites
Online web streaming is one of the most popular Internet activities. Whether you want to watch video from across the world, news recaps, TV shows, tutorials, or funny videos, you’re guaranteed to find something you like at one of the top five video streaming websites.
The most popular video streaming website, YouTube has thousands of videos on nearly every topic imaginable, all user submitted and free to watch. The videos are currently offered in widescreen format, though most videos upload retain the original 4:3 aspect ratio. In addition to widescreen, videos can now be uploaded and viewed in high quality.
Videos on Youtube are often short homemade movies, but many record labels are now releasing low-quality versions of their most popular music videos on the website. If you’re looking for a recap of the latest sports game, news cast, or speech, Youtube is your best option.
Pros: Youtube offers 16:9 aspect ratio, high quality video playback, support for nearly every video format, a large audience for your videos, the ability to embed videos on a blog or website, video reply feature, customizable personal video page, the ability to limit video access.
Cons: While the website is wildly popular, it does have a few problems. There is an excess of spam comments, a video limit of 100MB, and only standard-quality videos can be embedded on blogs or websites.
Vimeo is a sophisticated, free video sharing website. Basic users are allowed to upload up to 500MB of video content per week, or pay for an account to upload more. Vimeo attracts a wide array of video artists, and is often used to upload short movies, skits, and portfolios. The website supports full HD streaming and widescreen format, as well as a wide array of video codec support, making it the ideal location to watch and share high-quality and HD personal videos.
Pros: Vimeo has an easy-to-navigate interface, the ability to create and moderate video groups, high definition video support, up to 1GB video uploads for premium accounts, community forums, and an artistic user base.
Cons: Because Vimeo is so frequently used to upload large movie files, it can take over an hour to convert a single video.
Metacafe rocketed to popularity with their page view money earning system. Many videos on the website are duplicates from YouTube, but in addition to that content, there is a wide array of video tutorials on many subjects, including DIY hacks, magic, and science experiments. If you’re interested in making money off your video’s page views, Metacafe is the ideal website to use.
Pros: Metacafe has a popular pageview payment system, which allows users to be compensated for their videos. In addition, videos can be downloaded with a link under the video or embedded on blogs or websites. The website has many high-quality tutorials.
Cons: Metacafe increased it’s video resolution, and many of the videos are now pixelated due to up-sampling. Many videos are clones from Youtube.
The first website to legally offer a wide array of free TV shows, Hulu was founded by NBC and offers dozens of free TV series, both current and off-air broadcasts. Some of the TV shows offered includes: The Simpsons, Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Office. Unfortunately, Fox and some other broadcasters have pulled some free shows from the list forcing you to upgrade to a paid version.
In addition to offering TV shows, Hulu also has a catalog of movies available to watch, including such popular shows as: Spy Game, Liar Liar, Ghostbusters, Men in Black, and The Karate Kid.
Pros: Hulu videos can be viewed in 360p for slower Internet connections. Popular clips are available for recent and popular TV shows and movies. New series are available, with new episodes appearing up to a week after aired on cable. The website is completely free. Videos can be purchased and downloaded. A personal queue can be created for favorite content.
Cons: Videos can no longer be embedded in blogs and on websites, high definition video streaming is not available for most videos, and ads are displayed three or more times per video. Website is available to US residents only.
Veoh is a video content website, but has made a name for itself by partnering with different companies to offer TV shows for free. Offering TV shows not available from Hulu, you can watch popular shows such as: The Big Bang Theory, Friends, According to Jim, CSI, and Everwood.
In addition to a large supply of free TV shows, Veoh also offers user submitted content, including animations, home videos, and funny clips.
Pros: Videos stream in higher quality resolution. The original video files can be downloaded and saved to a hard drive for later viewing. User submitted content can be embedded in blogs and websites, shared directly with friends, and saved to a personal favorites list.
Cons: Commercial videos are only available for users located within the US.
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