The video format struggle on the web continues, and the three +contenders seem to be Ogg Theora, H.264 and WebM. Most video sites +seem to use H.264, while others use Ogg Theora. Interestingly enough, +the comments I see give me the feeling that a lot of people believe +H.264 is the most supported video format in browsers, but according to +the Wikipedia article on +HTML5 video, +this is not true. Check out the nice table of supprted formats in +different browsers there. The format supported by most browsers is +Ogg Theora, supported by released versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google +Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Konqueror, Epiphany, Origyn Web Browser and +BOLT browser, while not supported by Internet Explorer nor Safari. +The runner up is WebM supported by released versions of Google Chrome +Chromium Opera and Origyn Web Browser, and test versions of Mozilla +Firefox. H.264 is supported by released versions of Safari, Origyn +Web Browser and BOLT browser, and the test version of Internet +Explorer. Those wanting Ogg Theora support in Internet Explorer and +Safari can install plugins to get it.
+ +To me, the simple conclusion from this is that to reach most users +without any extra software installed, one uses Ogg Theora with the +HTML5 video tag. Of course to reach all those without a browser +handling HTML5, one need fallback mechanisms. In +NUUG, we provide first fallback to a +plugin capable of playing MPEG1 video, and those without such support +we have a second fallback to the Cartado java applet playing Ogg +Theora. This seem to work quite well, as can be seen in an example +from last week.
+ +The reason Ogg Theora is the most supported format, and H.264 is +the least supported is simple. Implementing and using H.264 +require royalty payment to MPEG-LA, and the terms of use from MPEG-LA +are incompatible with free software licensing. If you believed H.264 +was without royalties and license terms, check out +"H.264 â Not The Kind Of +Free That Matters" by Simon Phipps.
+ +A incomplete list of sites providing video in Ogg Theora is +available from +the +Xiph.org wiki, if you want to have a look. I'm not aware of a +similar list for WebM nor H.264.
+ +