blog/The_video_format_most_supported_in_web_browsers_.html

   1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   2           "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
   3 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr">
   4   <head>
   5     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
   6     <title>Petter Reinholdtsen: The video format most supported in web browsers?</title>
   7     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/style.css" />
   8     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/vim.css" />
   9   </head>
  10   <body>
  11     <div class="title">
  12  <h1>
  13      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  14
  15  </h1>
  16
  17 </div>
  18
  19
  20     <div class="entry">
  21       <div class="title">The video format most supported in web browsers?</div>
  22       <div class="date">16th January 2011</div>
  23       <div class="body"><p>The video format struggle on the web continues, and the three
  24 contenders seem to be Ogg Theora, H.264 and WebM.  Most video sites
  25 seem to use H.264, while others use Ogg Theora.  Interestingly enough,
  26 the comments I see give me the feeling that a lot of people believe
  27 H.264 is the most supported video format in browsers, but according to
  28 the Wikipedia article on
  29 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">HTML5 video</a>,
  30 this is not true.  Check out the nice table of supprted formats in
  31 different browsers there.  The format supported by most browsers is
  32 Ogg Theora, supported by released versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google
  33 Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Konqueror, Epiphany, Origyn Web Browser and
  34 BOLT browser, while not supported by Internet Explorer nor Safari.
  35 The runner up is WebM supported by released versions of Google Chrome
  36 Chromium Opera and Origyn Web Browser, and test versions of Mozilla
  37 Firefox.  H.264 is supported by released versions of Safari, Origyn
  38 Web Browser and BOLT browser, and the test version of Internet
  39 Explorer.  Those wanting Ogg Theora support in Internet Explorer and
  40 Safari can install plugins to get it.</p>
  41
  42 <p>To me, the simple conclusion from this is that to reach most users
  43 without any extra software installed, one uses Ogg Theora with the
  44 HTML5 video tag.   Of course to reach all those without a browser
  45 handling HTML5, one need fallback mechanisms.  In
  46 <a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>, we provide first fallback to a
  47 plugin capable of playing MPEG1 video, and those without such support
  48 we have a second fallback to the Cortado java applet playing Ogg
  49 Theora.  This seem to work quite well, as can be seen in an <a
  50 href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20110111-semantic-web/">example
  51 from last week</a>.</p>
  52
  53 <p>The reason Ogg Theora is the most supported format, and H.264 is
  54 the least supported is simple.  Implementing and using H.264
  55 require royalty payment to MPEG-LA, and the terms of use from MPEG-LA
  56 are incompatible with free software licensing.  If you believed H.264
  57 was without royalties and license terms, check out
  58 "<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
  59 Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps.</p>
  60
  61 <p>A incomplete list of sites providing video in Ogg Theora is
  62 available from
  63 <a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/List_of_Theora_videos">the
  64 Xiph.org wiki</a>, if you want to have a look.  I'm not aware of a
  65 similar list for WebM nor H.264.</p>
  66
  67 <p>Update 2011-01-16 09:40: A question from Tollef on IRC made me
  68 realise that I failed to make it clear enough this text is about the
  69 &lt;video&gt; tag support in browsers and not the video support
  70 provided by external plugins like the Flash plugins.</p>
  71 </div>
  72
  73       <div class="tags">Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video</a>.</div>
  74
  75
  76     </div>
  77
  78
  79
  80
  81     <div id="sidebar">
  82
  83
  84
  85 <h2>Archive</h2>
  86 <ul>
  87
  88 <li>2013
  89 <ul>
  90
  91 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2013/01/">January (6)</a></li>
  92
  93 </ul></li>
  94
  95 <li>2012
  96 <ul>
  97
  98 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
  99
 100 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
 101
 102 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
 103
 104 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
 105
 106 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
 107
 108 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
 109
 110 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
 111
 112 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 113
 114 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
 115
 116 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
 117
 118 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
 119
 120 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 121
 122 </ul></li>
 123
 124 <li>2011
 125 <ul>
 126
 127 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
 128
 129 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
 130
 131 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
 132
 133 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
 134
 135 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
 136
 137 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
 138
 139 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
 140
 141 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 142
 143 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
 144
 145 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 146
 147 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 148
 149 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
 150
 151 </ul></li>
 152
 153 <li>2010
 154 <ul>
 155
 156 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
 157
 158 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
 159
 160 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
 161
 162 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
 163
 164 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 165
 166 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
 167
 168 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
 169
 170 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
 171
 172 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
 173
 174 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
 175
 176 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
 177
 178 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
 179
 180 </ul></li>
 181
 182 <li>2009
 183 <ul>
 184
 185 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
 186
 187 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
 188
 189 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
 190
 191 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
 192
 193 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 194
 195 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
 196
 197 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
 198
 199 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
 200
 201 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
 202
 203 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 204
 205 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 206
 207 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
 208
 209 </ul></li>
 210
 211 <li>2008
 212 <ul>
 213
 214 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
 215
 216 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 217
 218 </ul></li>
 219
 220 </ul>
 221
 222
 223
 224 <h2>Tags</h2>
 225 <ul>
 226
 227  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
 228
 229  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
 230
 231  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
 232
 233  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bankid">bankid (4)</a></li>
 234
 235  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (5)</a></li>
 236
 237  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
 238
 239  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
 240
 241  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (64)</a></li>
 242
 243  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (118)</a></li>
 244
 245  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (9)</a></li>
 246
 247  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (7)</a></li>
 248
 249  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
 250
 251  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (170)</a></li>
 252
 253  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (21)</a></li>
 254
 255  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
 256
 257  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (10)</a></li>
 258
 259  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (9)</a></li>
 260
 261  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (32)</a></li>
 262
 263  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (17)</a></li>
 264
 265  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
 266
 267  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (6)</a></li>
 268
 269  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
 270
 271  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (25)</a></li>
 272
 273  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (219)</a></li>
 274
 275  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (148)</a></li>
 276
 277  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (6)</a></li>
 278
 279  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
 280
 281  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (41)</a></li>
 282
 283  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (61)</a></li>
 284
 285  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
 286
 287  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
 288
 289  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
 290
 291  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (6)</a></li>
 292
 293  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
 294
 295  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
 296
 297  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
 298
 299  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (28)</a></li>
 300
 301  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
 302
 303  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
 304
 305  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (39)</a></li>
 306
 307  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
 308
 309  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (5)</a></li>
 310
 311  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (12)</a></li>
 312
 313  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (1)</a></li>
 314
 315  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
 316
 317  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (35)</a></li>
 318
 319  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
 320
 321  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (26)</a></li>
 322
 323 </ul>
 324
 325
 326     </div>
 327     <p style="text-align: right">
 328  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.4</a>
 329 </p>
 330
 331   </body>
 332 </html>