Following the widescreen format adoption for all of its videos last week, YouTube has finally added the long overdue option to watch videos in high definition, without the need for any URL hacks that is. Although there's been no official statement from the company yet, it appears that on any uploaded videos with a suitably high-resolution users will see a new option to "watch in HD."
The difference is quite noticeable - you can get a taste of YouTube in HD by watching this MSI Wind review. The move will inevitably translate into higher bandwidth costs for Google, but it also paves the way for more professional content on the site, where advertisers will ultimately put their brands and money next to. Unfortunately there's currently no easy way to see all the HD videos available on YouTube, nor are there options to embed HD videos on external sites or to automatically have the HD version play in your browser.