youtube widescreen video, enabled!

Twitter It!

Remember this morning when I reported about widescreen on youtube?

picture-8

Well I said that after I deleted my cookies, it went all back to normal 4:3…

Good thing I use a Macbook though… thanks to time machine, I got those cookies back, and after while of trial and error and woxxy as tester, I found out the secret to widescreen YouTube…!

This just works for Opera, as it is the only browser where you can edit cookies. (If you use another browser, skip this part and read further down about how to do it with javascript!)

  • Menu > Tools > Advanced > Cookies…
  • Use the search field to find youtube cookies.
  • Select VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, and replace the code (value field) with “O0pMCBlwgBI” (without the quotes).
  • Now load a YouTube page and… voila! If all worked out, you should have gotten widescreen video :P, test with this video

    picture-16

    EDIT: Thanks Milo for the hint with javascript, this is also a good solution, albeit your code does not work properly on some browsers.

  • Go to youtube.com
  • Paste the following code into the address bar and hit enter
  • javascript:void(document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=O0pMCBlwgBI; expires=9/9/2009 09:09:09; domain=youtube.com")
  • Load a youtube video, such as this nice HD video.
  • HINT: This is platform and browser independent. The screenshots show Opera on MAC OS X, but it could just as well be Internet Explorer on Windows XP. As long as you have a way to modify the cookies (for example, using the javascript injection), it will work.

    About the Author

    guorbatschow

    THAT'S NO MOON!

    18 Responses to “youtube widescreen video, enabled!”

    1. to do it with firefox:

      first download this to edit cookies:
      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/573

      go to tools > cookie editor

      then just follow the rest of guor’s instructions. the field you want to edit though is “Content”

      [Reply]

    2. :D

      I suspected that there is a plugin for firefox, but Im not too familiar with FF.

      [Reply]

    3. What’s the English name of the anime in the linked video?

      [Reply]

    4. the anime in the linked video would be toradora!

      lookie lookie: http://toradorafan.com/

      [Reply]

    5. Thank you very much! Looks good!

      [Reply]

    6. Very cool! A simple way to activate this in any browser is to open youtube.com and simply paste this in the Address bar:
      javascript:void(document.cookie = ‘VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=O0pMCBlwgBI’)

      [Reply]

    7. How do I undo the widescreen effect? Thanks!

      [Reply]

    8. Just delete the cookies.

      [Reply]

    9. How do I do it through firefox? When I uncheck the bars for cookies, then I can’t even stay logged in youtube. Please get back to me soon!

      [Reply]

    10. go to youtube.com and paste this into your address bar
      javascript:void(document.cookie=”VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=0iMn0ol3HH; expires=9/9/2009 09:09:09; domain=youtube.com”)

      [Reply]

    11. Hi, I believe the wide screen option is for the new 720P videos that are being introduced.
      http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/20/youtube-experimenting-with-720p-hd-video/

      [Reply]

    12. embedding in widescreen format is not new. this guide just shows how to do it without embedding. it works also on non-HD videos.

      [Reply]

    13. I pasted this into the address bar: javascript:void(document.cookie=”VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=0iMn0ol3HH; expires=9/9/2009 09:09:09; domain=youtube.com”)

      But its still coming in widescreen =/
      Sorry to keep on bugging you about this!

      [Reply]

    14. Never mind about the whole widescreen issue! Thanks!

      [Reply]

    15. Yea thats because the widescreen feature is now default in youtube. I’ll try to find out how to go back to 4:3 :P

      [Reply]

    16. Is there any possible way to go back to the original? This looks really dumb. On firefox, at least.

      [Reply]

    17. A guide for embedding widescreen video based on YouTube’s recent changes is available here:

      http://danielmcormond.com/2008/11/25/how-to-embed-widescreen-youtube-video/

      [Reply]

    18. Your blog is very interresting for me, i will come back here..

      [Reply]

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