Today DailyMotion announced HD video upload and playback and rival site Vimeo announced high definition transcoding last October. With online HD content emerging, though, one has to wonder what the benefit is in promoting this type of content and at what cost. We know that streaming video is a difficult business to be in because of the cost structure. So where does HD fit with all of this?

The bulk of online video is user generated content, and one part of the problem is that UGC is hard to monetize. The other part of the problem is that online video distribution is expensive. Storage costs for a large content library combined with bandwidth costs to deliver that content to an audience result in non-trivial expenses. Adding high definition videos with their increased file size and bandwidth requirements looks like a step in the wrong direction.

The key to making HD video work online is to upgrade the content. With more compelling content delivered in a high definition experience online video destinations should be able to better monetize their offering. But this is a big risk. It all supposes that users want HD content online now. And if these sites were struggling to get good content while they were streaming standard definition video it’s unclear how adding HD to mix fixes anything. I think for the time being the best bet would be to wait and see what the market demands. Also, it will be important to see what the experience of viewing online video becomes as experiences like Hulu and Joost evolve.

For now, YouTube is unlikely to lose significant traffic to Vimeo and DailyMotion due to demand for HD. Longer term, HD will almost certainly become a requirement for online video sites if they wish to keep pace with innovation. Several pieces need to fall into place to make HD online a commonplace reality. And the time for that development is likely measured in months or even years, so right now HD online just isn’t worth the risk.

Online video has been growing around the world and China is no exception. And while we’re all familiar with the likes of YouTube, etc. we probably have a lot less experience with sites like Tudou.com, 56.com and Youku.com. Sites like these are attracting over 100 million users to watch online video in China every day. With numbers like that, the government that brought you the Great Firewall of China is bound to take notice.

In an effort to regulate this growing phenomenon, the Chinese government has put forth new rules such that only state mandated media companies with the appropriate license may host online videos. Enforcement of this new rule is expected to begin shortly. The growth of online video as a media opportunity is likely to be constrained by this new regulation, but ultimately stopping the sharing of online videos is an impossible outcome.

More via the AP.

vTap will launch a new mobile search service on September 10. The service plans to only use metadata about the various videos to create its index and provide results. It sounds like the same progression that occurred in online video search is playing out in the mobile space as well.

Additional details can be found over at Marketing Pilgrim.

eMarketer has an interesting interview with Bart Feder, CEO of FeedRoom. Sounds like interesting competition in the premium content online video space is emerging. FeedRoom currently works with sites like The New York Times and BusinessWeek. This is a segment that Brightcove is very focused on.

One interesting twist with FeedRoom is that they don’t sell ads against any of the videos but allow the individual sites to do so. FeedRoom handles video delivery, video metrics and ad insertion, but not ad sales. FeedRoom also leaves content creation up to the individual clients.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005250

AT&T is offering LG’s new Trax handset which allows for video sharing and streaming. This device takes advantage of AT&T’s recently announced Video Share service. The Video Share service lets users share video during voice calls.

We previously covered the launch of the AT&T’s Video Share service in July:
AT&T Pushing Mobile Video Sharing

More handset options is a key indicator that device manufacturers see mobile video sharing and streaming as a growth segment.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201500204