+Title: The video format most supported in web browsers?
+Tags: english, nuug, standard, video
+Date: 2011-01-16 00:15
+
+<p>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
+<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video">HTML5 video</a>,
+this is not true. 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.</p>
+
+<p>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
+<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>, 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 <a
+href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20110111-semantic-web/">example
+from last week</a>.</p>
+
+<p>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
+"<a href="http://webmink.com/essays/h-264/">H.264 – Not The Kind Of
+Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps.</p>
+
+<p>A incomplete list of sites providing video in Ogg Theora is
+available from
+<a href="http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/List_of_Theora_videos">the
+Xiph.org wiki</a>, if you want to have a look. I'm not aware of a
+similar list for WebM nor H.264.</p>