YouTube now offering widescreen embeds

Just short of two weeks after first offering widescreen video, YouTube has rolled out widescreen embeddable videos, with a new standard search feature.

The new embeds deliver a 16:9 ratio for widescreen vidoes, allowing sites to show a full widescreen video without black above or below the video. Notably each embed now includes a YouTube search box; either a handy feature or annoying depending on your perspective.

The new embeds are not retrospective, so existing embeds retain the 4:3 aspect ratio.

I noted on Twitter 2 weeks ago how that I was disapponted that YouTube didn’t role out widescreen embeds with the general widescreen rollout; most video producers or uploaders like having the option of widescreen, but having it on site and not via embed seemed a little unfair. Guess the tail was slow in wagging.

Here’s an example of a widescreen YouTube embed from our Livestation iPhone post: