Most people will buy a pint of Guinness to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Or at a stretch go for one of those silly big hats or perhaps an Irish rugby jersey.
But Google has gone all out for its Irish celebrations - snapping up Dublin-based image processing specialist Green Parrot Pictures in a move to improving the quality of videos available on YouTube.
Green Parrot Pictures is a 6-year-old company whose digital video technology has been used on some big Hollywood blockbusters including Lord of the Rings, X-Men and Spiderman.
Speaking via the YouTube blog, Jeremy Doig, director of Google Video Technology said:
"At YouTube, we see 35 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute from people all over the world. Some videos are beautifully shot by professionals or aspiring filmmakers using the very latest in HD cameras and equipment. But some of YouTube’s most popular or moving videos are shot using low-quality mobile phones and video cameras.
"[Green Parrot's] technology helps make videos look better while at the same time using less bandwidth and improving playback speed."
A statement on Green Parrot Pictures' website reads: "We're excited to join Google, where we will apply our expertise to improve the online video experience for hundreds of millions of users worldwide on many different products, platforms and services."
