To HD or Not to HD…?

Mujahideen Ryder brought up a good point on my MuslimMatters crosspost about the drawbacks of HD video. Something I happened to be thinking about just last night:

Sidenote: linking to HD videos is not a wise decision. Most PCs can’t handle HD streaming on YouTube, unless they wait at least 5-15 minutes depending on their connection. Then after that, the playback will be choppy if they don’t have a good graphics card.

Providing two links would be better. One for HD and one for regular quality.

I realized the same problem last week when I tried to watch one of my videos on a display MacBook at the Apple Store, and the playback was “choppy”; a sign that the graphics card was not suitable for HD (which is not good show for Apple, come to think of it).

The problem is that YouTube only provides two viewing options for HD resolution videos: normal quality, or HD. Normal quality looks like the piece had been filmed using a webcam from the late 90s. I.e., not good. HD is obviously the best option, but as MR pointed out, it is not widely accessible by the masses just yet.

So, should I forget HD for the short term?

Or should I upload two versions of my work: one in HD, and one in stand definition that can be viewed in “high quality” mode, which is the next best viewing option?

Will the latter strategy mess up my viewing stats?

How many people even care about HD right now?

Help!

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P.S., I am not sure if it makes a difference to use a different video host either… HD is HD, right? Plus I’d prefer to continue using YouTube as it has an established online community of users and subscribers, which means more exposure for my work, insha’Allah. Hmm…