YouTube, after years of complaints over the size of its video player, expanded the size of its screen on Tuesday, adopting a widescreen format.

YouTube, after years of complaints over the size of its video player, expanded the size of its screen on Tuesday, adopting a widescreen format.

The Google-owned video-sharing site, which has also been experimenting recently with high-definition video, announced the change to a widescreen format in a posting on the YouTube blog overnight.

"Over the years we've heard a lot of feedback from you about what you'd like to change about YouTube, and the size of our video player is always top of mind," YouTube said.

"We're expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them," it added.

The switch to a widescreen format is the latest in a number of recent moves at YouTube, which was purchased by Google for 1.65 billion dollars in 2006 but has been unable so far to turn its massive popularity into profits.

It recently unveiled a feature called "theater view" which enhances its video screen by making it larger, centering it on pages and bordering it with virtual red curtains.

YouTube also recently announced that advertisers would be able to "sponsor" videos and bid on key words people use for searches on the site.

YouTube staged a "live" concert over the weekend and announced earlier this month that it would host some full-length television shows and films from famed Hollywood studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM).

YouTube has been facing competition from other video sites such as Hulu which feature a menu of full-length programming from NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Fox.

© 2008 AFP