Video on the internet has been getting better and better in quality over the years. Naturally, people want to see more of such videos, or even full-length films. As a result, using video in web design allows visitors to experience the magic of cinematography, feel interactivity, and immerse themselves in the project’s atmosphere. Moreover, if the video has a short storyline, loads quickly, and isn’t too long, people often rewatch it—and sometimes even save it locally. The magic of video helps grab the user’s attention and keep them on a website much longer than a static image would. Although, with “living” photos and the parallax effect , that’s still debatable.
But if we look at the work of both well-known and lesser-known web designers who incorporate video into website design, we’ll notice they often use very high-quality footage. It’s rare, yes. Sometimes it's offered only as a separate download. But still—they create and use it. So why? And is it really necessary?
High resolutions
High resolution is a must for video in web design. Footage on 1080p monitors looks sharper and more beautiful, and visitors enjoy watching it. Think of how many times you’ve opened a video on YouTube and immediately switched from 360p to 720 or 1080. Nobody wants to see blurry, pixelated "mush." And while most users now have 1080p screens, videos are already being produced in 4K. In fact, even flagship smartphones can record in that resolution.
So what’s the secret and the point?
All you need to know about 4K video: it’s footage with incredibly, incredibly good quality. A clear example: Zion National Park. Autumn. Watch it in 1080p, pause at a scene, then switch to 2160p (4K). You’ll immediately see how much sharper the image becomes—even on a still frame. It’s stunningly beautiful. And yes—it’s almost four times bigger than regular Full HD.
High resolution means more pixels horizontally, which means more detail. UHDTV 4K is already the standard for digital cinema and computer graphics, and it's the highest resolution available on the consumer market today. Yes, YouTube supports it, and many companies now produce content in 4K—just search “4K” on the platform.
Full HD and higher video in web design
As we’ve said many times, video usage in web design has been one of the strongest trends over recent years. It has completely changed how we perceive modern websites—replacing static and sometimes boring images. Video can tell a story, and visitors enjoy watching a narrative unfold. They’re intrigued by the mystery and anticipation: “what happens next?” Parallax effects work in the same way—you always wonder, “will something else show up?”
Whether it's a standard video or modern 4K footage, web designers use video for headers, backgrounds, or thematic blocks.
Blizzard uses a header video to showcase a 30-second preview of their latest game expansion in Full HD format.
The project Storq uses video to display a stylish collection of maternity clothing. If you open the video separately, you'll see it's actually in quite high resolution. Since it's used in a small section, the visual quality appears excellent. But the site layout adapts to the browser window, so the video also resizes.
The website of the video studio Oxen Made also uses lots of video—as background and info blocks. Users are invited to watch a video in a separate view, where they can see breathtaking 4K detail by adjusting the quality settings.
An interesting case is the site Coffee Times Coffee. In the first background video, the footage is clearly not top quality. Understandable. But scroll down, and the company showcases a step-by-step process of coffee bean preparation. This educational video is available in 1080p.
The independent film company Das Department, which produces feature films, TV content, and commercials, also showcases a large collection of project videos. If your screen resolution is high, the player adapts accordingly—even up to 4K. You can also watch the featured video in 4K by clicking the play icon.
Metalloinvest presents its achievements and areas of activity through a series of educational videos, each about four minutes long and available in 1080p.
Similarly, Full HD, 4K, and even 2K video is used in projects like Doubleeight, Standard Films, Gbr Design, The Beekman. Initially, a lower-resolution video loads in the browser, and higher-quality playback only appears in fullscreen or on large displays.
Video Formats
When opening a site, you can’t immediately tell what video quality is used. Most browsers display a medium version, and depending on screen resolution and internet speed, a higher-quality file may be loaded. But if you inspect the page’s code (via right-click), an interesting detail is revealed.
In addition to using WEBP format as a duplicate for JPG images (as we discussed earlier in this article), a similar duplication happens for video files. The formats used are MP4 and WEBM.
What is this format, and why use it?
It’s similar to WebP, but for video. Created by Google around 2010, it’s designed to replace standards like H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC. Today, it's supported by all major browsers—even Internet Explorer. Its main benefit: it reduces video file size significantly, which is critical since videos can be large in both duration and file size.
For example, the video from Storq is provided in two formats. The MP4 version is nearly 5 MB, while the WEBM is only 3 MB. That’s nearly half the size—with no visible loss in quality.
From Creation to Implementation
As tempting as it is to use 4K or even 1080p video in web design, creating it yourself isn’t always feasible. Often—nearly impossible. It helps if the client has footage to provide, just like with images. If not…
There are tons of free video libraries online, offering 4K clips across various themes and durations. These are reviewed by moderators, so finding anything inappropriate is unlikely.
iStock offers a collection of high-resolution videos, B-rolls (used to mask cuts), and raw footage. These can be downloaded, edited, and used on websites—covering nearly every topic.
Videvo is a massive library of HD and 4K stock videos, animated graphics, green screen assets, and more. It’s free, but don’t forget to filter by resolution from 720p to 4K.
Videezy – another great source of large and detailed video clips, also freely available.
VideoBlocks offers a rich selection of clips and B-rolls, though registration is required to download.
Pitfalls
We’ve discussed how good high-resolution video looks on websites—but why is 4K rarely used in practice by web designers? The reason is that 4K UHDTV files are much larger than their 1080p or 720p counterparts. In fact, many websites use less than 720p and stretch it, compromising quality but improving performance.
Another issue is creation. A website and video will only feel natural and attractive if they match thematically. But finding a free or even paid video that fits can be hard and time-consuming. If the client's footage is 720p, you can’t magically turn it into 1080p quality—just like resizing a small image ruins clarity.
Another challenge is layout planning. The width of a video player changes between Full HD and 4K. So if text overlays a bright part of a 1080p video, that same area may be dark in 4K, requiring repositioning. Designers must account for this.
That’s why 4K is rarely embedded directly, but it is supported, uploaded to the server, or made available separately.
Why and what for?
Sooner or later, most users will have 2K/4K displays and TVs. Website designs will have to adapt. If 4K content is already included and accounted for in the CSS layout, it will load automatically—bringing richer visuals to the site.
Conclusion
What does the future hold? 4K UHDTV and 2K QHD will eventually become mainstream, just like 720p and 1080p once did. Even higher resolutions might appear, though not necessarily for consumers—physical space in homes and offices is limited.
In any case, using high-resolution video in web design signals a designer's taste and embrace of innovation. Whether they load full 4K or scale it down to 720p is up to them. Thanks to multiple video formats, optimal file sizes are easier to achieve.
So yes—another element that’s not quite as easy to implement as it seems.