Youtube 60 Frames Per Second Videos – What does this mean for Gamers?

Youtube now supports 60 Frames per second (FPS) during playback which means for gamers specifically, their gameplay uploads recorded at this speed will be viewable as intended. Apparently, this option only works with Chrome browsers although reports suggest Safari also works. For regular HD footage content,the boost in frames will have little impact unless recording things like fast moving scenes or sports, so this is very much Youtube listening to the wants of gamers who make up a large portion of what’s uploaded to the massive and ever growing social media sharing platform. Until now, Youtube’s playback has been capped at around 30 frames per second or less depending on the source material, with anything recorded above 30 being scaled back down to 30 or less.

The differences in how smooth gameplay looks especially when the in-game camera (such as in first person shooters) moves at pace is very noticeable when comparing 60 FPS against 30, and therefore means this is welcome news for those able to record at 60 FPS. Standard popular capture devices such as the Elgato Game Capture can only record at a maximum 30 FPS, so anyone wishing to take advantage of this will need to upgrade to their newest model the Elgato HD 60 for example and it’s a given the source material has to be rendered at 60 FPS so videos captured at 30 FPS won’t be miraculously bumped up to 60. It has to also be noted that 60 frames per second gaming is very common to the PC platform, however games consoles such as the Xbox One and PS4 are not uniformly presenting 60 frames per second in all games. Take a look at this list which showcases the resolutions and frame rates of Xbox One and PS4 games. As for last gen systems such as the Xbox 360 and PS3, it’s likely most games are outputting below 60 FPS but there is a growing list of confirmed games that support 60 FPS.

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In the mean time, take a look at this latest Mortal Kombat video which offers true 60 fps playback and for comparison the well publicized Titanfall 60 FPS video. Remember to set the output to a minimum of 720p. In this video, you’ll actually see the option under settings to select “720p60” or “1080p60”. This option is only visible on videos which have been uploaded at 60 FPS, any other video will still display the standard “720/1080p” option.

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.