How does the internet work (videos)?

[ChrisGreaves]

Forum?
So I'm watching a YouTube video and decide to switch to Full Screen.
My laptop must now send about four times as many pixels to the monitor, compared to when the video played in a window about 4"x3".

Does the laptop receive the same number of pixels/bytes down the line from YouTube?
Or can the laptop browser send a signal to YouTube "I'll need the full screen" or "I'll only need enough bytes for the 4"x3" window"?

That is, can the laptop/browser reduce data flow down the line according to the window size chosen by the user?
Thanks, Chris

[StuartR]

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/change ... nd-laptop/

[HansV]

I think Youtube selects a resolution depending on the connection speed, and leaves it to the local device to display it at the requested size.
When I click the Settings gear and click on Quality:

S2573.png

[ChrisGreaves]

I think Youtube selects a resolution depending on the connection speed, and leaves it to the local device to display it at the requested size. When I click the Settings gear and click on Quality:

Thanks you Hans and Stuart. It took me several minutes searching Settings for "resolution" and "quality" to no avail, before I remembered the gear wheel which I use for setting speed of replay.

So initially the rate of pixels is set automatically between the browser and YouTube. Mine was set to Auto.

I tested by pulling up a Seinfeld episode and using 1080 and then 144. I am ashamed to admit that I know several Seinfeld episodes by heart, so a grainy image is OK there, as it would be if I am working in some other application and have Alt+Tabbed the browser behind the application. Stuart's reference suggests a low-resolution for a video that is basically instrumental - we need only the Audio track there, right?

I unloaded then re-loaded the browser and found that for YouTube videos the quality setting stuck, which is good news.

Then I made the mistake of falling (grin) for Steve Mould's You can't hide the batteries when it's transparent! perpetual motion simulator. That allows me tor ramp up to a very fine detail.

Untitled.png

and out here on the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula basically stops the video altogether but leaves the audio running. Which is frustrating.

I can see that I shall need to spend a lot more time on YouTube exploring the "quality" feature. So be it.

"Stuttering" playback is sometimes an issue, so I think that when the d/l speed drops, I might be able to complete a video by quickly dropping the quality for that video.
Thanks again, Chris