Paris-based Dailymotion has stolen a march on YouTube in the quality stakes by adding HD video (announcement). HD videos uploaded by members of the site’s MotionMakers programme for creative contributors will be encoded in 720p format.  The site recommends a 1.6Mbps connection and a dual-core computer for viewers, though quality can be scaled down for lesser machines.

Vuze and Vimeo have offered HD video for a while. YouTube in November said it was testing higher-quality formats. On Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) TV, YouTube videos come in the higher-quality H.264 codec, which Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) incorporated in to Flash in August, but web HD remains problematic for a site with YouTube’s scale. As the web video experience comes closer to those swanky LCD screens, however, it may become a necessity.

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