YouTube Gets Its Lights Put Out, Tacky Curtains And Super HD

The new lights out and theater modes for YouTube may already be old hat for sites like Hulu, but it’s not like YouTube really has to do anything anymore. The one stop stupid video shop has gotten by just fine on grainy vids. There are two new options for watching your YouTube videos: lights out, which dims the whole screen except the video; and theater mode, which blows the screen up and puts odd 1990’s Geocities style design theater curtains up on either side of the video.

Right now the options are only available on feature length content, but it’ll likely make its way down to those funny cat videos. Even better is the option to watch YouTube in Super HD. Just remember to hit the universal play button at the top of the page or else you’ll be watching a 24 style patchwork quilt of videos.

It’s easy to make fun of YouTube’s late coming to this party, especially considering how huge the company is. But then I remember internet video in the late 90’s and am blown away by how impressive even the grainiest video on YouTube can be. What a technical marvel. And now you can turn down the lights.