Video Playback just got a major upgrade

Watching and sharing videos on Lightbox is now faster, sharper, and smoother more than ever. We’ve completely overhauled how videos are streamed to visitors, and refined our video player to be even more delightful and useful.

The best video format for every device

Until now, videos on Lightbox were all delivered in a single format. It worked well because MP4 is so widely compatible, but it wasn’t always the most efficient. We can now deliver video using next-generation codecs — including H.265/HEVC, H.266/VVC, and AV1 — automatically selecting the best format that your device supports. The result is higher image quality, smaller files, and quicker playback, whether you’re on a desktop with a big display or streaming on your phone.

Streaming that feels instant and effortless

Video playback on Lightbox is now completely seamless thanks to adaptive bitrate streaming. Videos begin playing almost immediately, stay smooth throughout, and allow you to jump to any point in the timeline with virtually no delay. Everything feels faster and more responsive — it’s less like streaming and more like the video is already waiting for you.

Still beautifully minimal, but much more useful

The Lightbox video player retains its minimal, distraction-free design, but we’ve made a number of small improvements to make it even more useful. The layout is clearer and feels more responsive. When you scrub through a video, you’ll now see a thumbnail preview of each moment, making it easy to navigate to the right spot. The current time and total duration are always visible, which makes collaboration and client feedback much simpler. And while the controls still fade away when you don’t need them, they now do so more gracefully, staying out of the way while keeping everything just a keystroke away for power users.

These upgrades are live now and apply to all new videos that are uploaded.