Several years ago I worked on a research project for a major U.S. newspaper. One outcome was this: not everybody wanted to pay for the whole paper. They’d rather spend a quarter for Sports than 50 cents for everything.

The same can be said about cable TV. Not everybody wants 500 channels. Not everybody wants to subscribe to a series of premium channels when all they want is one.

SyncTV is seeking to break the current business model where single programs can be bought at iTunes or Amazon Unbox for $2 or streamed for free from ad-supported network sites. SyncTV will allow people to subscribe to a specific channel and download any program from it.

The service, which will cost $2-$4 per channel a month, will be offered in “home-theater quality” (DVD quality) with some programming in high-definition. SyncTV brings a la carte programming to the masses, where viewers pay only for the channels they want to watch. (FAQ.)

That rejoicing you hear. It’s all the video geeks I know reacting to the news that their favorite Website for video sharing, the venerable YouTube, is testing high-quality video streaming that may debut to the public in February.

Loud cheering. High-fiving. Chest-thumping.

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen confirmed at the NewTeeVee conference yesterday that high-quality video streams are coming soon, telling cnet that these vids will be available to everybody within three months.

Chen said YouTube is testing a player that detects the speed of the viewer’s Internet connection and serves up higher-quality video if the user wants it.

NewTeeVee Live co-hosts Om Malik and Liz Gannes hosted a brief chat with YouTube co-founder and wunderkid Steve Chen.

On the key to YouTube’s success, Chen stressed the idea of YouTube as a platform where the focus is creating a simple experience so users can put whatever content they want on the site and get help from YouTube in syndicating it. Which sounds straightforward enough. Except when you consider one of the other topics Chen fielded: how to handle concerns about copyright infringement.

Chen talked about a two-pronged approach that includes using digital fingerprinting technology to try and identify unauthorized clips, as well as a monetization strategy that entices content owners (think Viacom) to allow their clips to be posted on the site. Legally.

In terms of what’s next for YouTube, Chen talked about a future with easier tools for sharing content and better video quality, especially on cellphones.

NewTeeVee Live host Om Malik moderated a self-described “geeky” roundtable to address what he sees as one of the biggest questions in the online video market: What is the implication on network infrastructure?

The panelists, execs from Cisco, Akamai, Level 3, Verizon and Maven Networks, generally agreed that video is pushing the envelope. Though they all seemed confident in the industry’s ability to rise to the challenge.

Grant van Rooyen of backbone provider Level 3, in particular, seemed more than happy to make upgrades to the network to support broadband video, HD and whatever else might come next. His company has already earmarked in excess of $600 million in network upgrades this year alone.

So, while it’s not the first time that Malik has pondered whether or not the back-end infrastructure is up to the task of supporting continued online innovation on the Web, today’s panelists at least think the Net can take it.

[Ed. Network infrastructure vendors may be confident of the technology’s ability to support Internet TV, but some ISPs are telling a different story.]

At NewTeeVee Live, a panel of venture capitalists that have backed online video startups like Veoh and Heavy.com talked about funding for the nascent market. Depending on who was talking, the outlook for VC investments varied from treacherous to less treacherous.

Entertainment-lawyer-turned-VC Dennis Miller of Spark Capital warned that there are already investors who are becoming “roadkill” and there will be more roadkill ahead. George Zachary of Charles River Ventures generally agreed that there aren’t a lot of Google-like opportunities in video now that will pay mega-dividends to early investors. Instead, Zachary thinks the money isn’t in the content but in the social networks that are built around content.

At NewTeeVee Live, the subject of copyright came up in a roundtable about “crossover hits” between the Internet and TV, and an MTV executive boldly went where other content owners have been hesitant to go before.

Ty Ahmad-Taylor, vice president of product development at MTV Networks, said he thinks the best antidote to piracy is making your content widely available. Apparently, not everyone at MTV’s parent company Viacom shares that exact view, since Viacom’s filed a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube.