Re: Blurry canvases: You are spotting the classic HTML5 Canvas high-DPI issue. It happens because the canvas backing store pixels don't map 1:1 to CSS pixels on high-density displays (like Retina screens). I likely need to scale the canvas drawing context by window.devicePixelRatio to fix that sharpness. Good catch. EDIT: Made the change.

Re: Performance: That is an interesting thought. Since the calculation only triggers when you visit (or resize) the video player, there is definitely a CPU spike. My guess is they chose this approach to have a "plug and play" rendering logic that adapts perfectly to the client's specific device width and pixel density, rather than generating thousands of static image variations on the server.

Re: Gangnam Style: Ah, Google+! That explains why I couldn't find the original source. Thanks for the correction. EDIT: Added the correction.

You are spot on about the cycle, though. I suspect that once everything is perfectly round and polished, the only way to stand out will be to go sharp again.

It’s often surprising how "intuitive" or elegant solutions can seem once you peel back the layers, isn't it? That simplicity is part of the beauty of good engineering!

I actually wasn't familiar with Josh Comeau’s work before this, but I just looked him up and... wow. To be mentioned in the same breath (let alone "arguably better") is a massive compliment. I’ll definitely be diving into his archives now.

I like this style of writing as well, but I think this article overdoes it, to the point that it became somewhat irritating to read.

The part where I particularly feel this way is when the author spends two whole paragraphs discussing why YouTube (or its developers) chose to sample by "100" segments, to the extent that the author even asks, "If you work at YouTube and know the answer, please let me know. I am genuinely curious." Which, for lack of better words, I found ridiculous.