YouTube XL: Designed for viewing on HDTVs
Between game consoles and home theater PCs, there's more and more viewing of YouTube clips on large-screen TVs all the time. In response, Google has just created the new YouTube XL interface for watching videos on HDTVs.
The design approach to YouTube XL is simple: Bigger interface controls and fewer options. As the above screen grab shows, it eschews the site's normal top navigation and user comments below. It also turns the playback controls into an overlay instead of having more permanent buttons cluttering the interface. YouTube XL offers a "continuous play" feature, which allows you to consecutively play all the videos associated with a topic your search for. Those of you with Android-base smartphones can even control YouTube XL from your couch with the Gmote app. Of course, watching YouTube's ever-expanding number of HD videos will prove more satisfying on a big screen than low-res clips.
What do you think of the YouTube XL interface? Do you watch YouTube videos on your HDTV? Let us know in the TalkBack section.