A video QR code stores an ordinary YouTube URL. Scan it and the phone opens the video in the app or the mobile browser. It is a direct way to connect printed material to moving content - a recipe card that shows the technique, a product box with a setup tutorial, a museum label with an oral history, a poster with a campaign film, a textbook with a worked example.
Use the short youtu.be link for a single video: it is much shorter than the full watch URL, so the resulting code is less dense and scans faster from a distance. For a channel or playlist, use the canonical channel or playlist URL and strip tracking parameters such as timestamps and campaign tags unless they are essential.
Think about context before printing. Someone scanning a code in a shop may have mobile data but no headphones; a muted autoplay preview, a caption or a short line like '2-min setup video' sets the expectation. And as always, keep dark-on-light contrast and an unbroken quiet zone, then test the scan on a real phone before a print run.