Twitter Improves Video Playback to Provide a Better Viewing Experience

A brief but essential update: Twitter has updated its video display process to provide a better playback performance.

So, what does this mean in terms of application? You know how when tweeted videos start playing in-stream, they become pixelated back to Commodore 64 times? With Twitter's new formatting process now operating to give a better, smoother video viewing experience, this shouldn't happen anymore, or at least it should happen a lot less.

Nothing really has changed in terms of technical specifications; Twitter's current video upload specifications are:

• Minimum resolution: 32 x 32

• Maximum resolution: 1920 x 1200 (and 1200 x 1900)

• Aspect ratios: 1:2.39 - 2.39:1 range (inclusive)

• Maximum frame rate: 40 fps

• Maximum bitrate: 25 Mbps

For video advertisements, Twitter also mentions:

“1200 x 1200 pixels is recommended for 1:1 aspect ratio. 1920 x 1080 pixels is recommended for 16:9 aspect ratio. Larger videos will be better optimized for when users click to expand videos.”

These requirements are unaffected by this update, but Twitter's back-end processing will now be better prepared to guarantee that your videos look their best whenever they are viewed in-stream.

As a result, your tweeted videos will no longer appear as if seen through a dirty window on a rainy day, which is a welcome change for everyone.