No 'happy medium' w/videos?

Question

No 'happy medium' w/videos?

Is there a way to achieve a 'happy medium' when it comes to having to choose between a small yet clear video versus a full-screen but inferior one? Are there any apps or extensions that allow one to choose 'medium' size(s) when using Safari or Firefox or Opera? I have a 5 Mbps DSL connection, plenty of RAM, a zippy iMac, not much else running, etc...

Sure, there are times when full-screen comes in fine but many other times I have to revert (via esc key) to a sardine can sized view.

Thanks in Advance,

Michael

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), iMac8,1 - 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo/4 GB

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 1:13 PM

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Answer 1

ds store

Level 7

30,855 points

Apr 27, 2012 2:16 PM in response to Michael Murphy3

The happy medium is a 20+ mb/s download speed, not 5 mb/s.

Larger screen video has more pixels to transmit, thus the need for faster Internet download speeds.

You can trade time for quality, instead of streaming you can wait and download the whole full screen video first, then watch it later.

Not all sites allow this as people will steal the content, and if your on 5 mb/s, you usually have a monthly bandwidth cap set by your ISP.

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Answer 2

Apr 27, 2012 3:50 PM in response to Michael Murphy3

You *do* understand that many times, the only thing $RANDOM_SITE is serving is a lower resolution copy of a video, right? Blow that up, and it's going to pixelate, no matter how fast your machine or internet connection are.

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Answer 3

ds store

Level 7

30,855 points

Apr 27, 2012 5:10 PM in response to Marc Wilson

True, if the site is only serving a small image then one could have 10000 mb/s and it won't matter.

Usually sites test your download speed and send the appropriate sized content, if you can find a way around this and download direclty then you perhaps can get the full screen image.

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Answer 4

Apr 28, 2012 8:38 AM in response to Marc Wilson

Absolutely, Marc... I realize that and I thank you.

I'm locked in @ 5 Mbps... I rent in the middle of nowhere (also known as rural Oklahoma). Thus, my options are quite limited. 5 Mbps for $19.99/mo. for the next year; at least for now.

Since ds store kindly set me straight, I'm diligently working on the alternative method that he suggested of downloading video files in their entirety; that is, if & when a website allows me to do that.

If a developer came out w/something that allowed users like myself w/capped bandwidth to select... say a 1/2 or a 2/3rds view; well, I would think that there's money to be made, no?

Otherwise, I know that there has to be a way to accomplish this, albeit using Snow Leopard.

Thanks 😀

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