HTML 5: Video Overview

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Overview

By 2015 HTML5 should be the standard for video and audio playback.

• Each browser has its own unique video player. So, the look and feel will be browser specific. However, all browsers should work the same way.
• Audio and video elements share the same parent. So the Video element contains all of the audio element components/features. Audio is effectively a subset of video.
• All "current" browsers support HTML5 video and audio. This means that, as of March 2011, just over half (53%) of all web users have access to HTML5 video and audio.
• HTML5 is the only practical way to play web audio and video on iOS devices.
• Not all browsers support all formats.
  • H.264. Ogg, and WebM are the commonly supported video formats. Ogg being the most commonly used.
  • MP3, AAC (MP4, .m4a), Ogg, and Wave are the commonly supported audio formats. AAC and Ogg are the only formats needed to support all browsers.
• Apple's devices have built-in hardware for H.264 decoding.
• Similar problems arise with audio.
• Important: HTML5 browsers DO NOT fallback if they are not provided with a video source they support. This means that it is important to provide MP4, WebM and OGG sources, to provide maximum compatibility among HTML5 browsers.

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