HTML5 is a language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web, and is a core technology of the Internet originally proposed by Opera Software.
What is HTML5 video?
One of the great advantages of HTML5 is <video> tag. HTML5 <video> tag is a new element introduced in the HTML5 draft specification to display videos online, such as movie clips or other video streams. It is now supported by all major browsers (in IE: from version 9)
However, if your browser doesn’t support HTML5 <video>, any text between the <video> and </video> tags will be displayed. For example:
As you see, the code supports three formats, mp4, ogg and webm; “your browser does not support the video tag” is the test to be shown on the webpage if your browser doesn’t support it.
Meanwhile, there are optional attributes relating about HTML5 <video>:
How many formats supported by HTML5 <video>?
HTML5 is a huge and complicated standard; it is now in draft status. The current HTML5 draft specification doesn’t specify which video formats browsers should support due to lack of agreement; but there are mainly three formats considered by HTML5 Working Group: OGG Theora, MP4/H.264 and VP8/WebM; there are the ones that supported by major browsers.
OGG/Theora:
We should know something about its creator at first—Xiph. Org Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that produces free multimedia formats and software tools. It focuses on the OGG family of formats. OGG is a free and open container format which is not subjected to any restrictions associated with copyright. It provides efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia. Theora is a free lossy video compression format, released to public by On2 Technologies. It is a variable-bit rate, DCT-based video compression scheme which provides a lossy video layer in OGG multimedia framework.
OGG Theora was the first format recommended as the standard HTML5 video format; but as Nokia and Apple opposed the decision in WWW Consortium with their concern about “unknown patents that might affect it”, the controversy over the use of OGG in HTML5 began. On December 10, 2007, the HTML 5 specification was updated, replacing the reference to Theora with a placeholder, which received fierce debate in the community.
H.264/MPEG-4:
H.264/MPEG-4 is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video. H.264 and MPEG-4 are jointly maintained so that they have identical technical content. However, it is patent-encumbered; except in particular cases, users of H.264 have to pay licensing fees to the MPEG LA, a group of patent holders including Microsoft and Apple. As a result, it has not been considered as a required codec.
VP8/WebM:
WebM is an audio-video format designed to provide royalty-free, open video compression for use with HTML5 video. It consists of VP8 video and Vorbis audio streams. The project’s development is sponsored by Google. Google’s acquisition of On2 in 2010 resulted in its acquisition of the VP8 video format by Google; It also started WebM, which combines the non-standardized (but open source) VP8 video codec with Vorbis audio in a Matroska container. After the launch of WebM, Mozilla and Opera have called for the inclusion of VP8 in HTML.
Browser supports:
Check the following chart to see the formats supported by major browsers.
For video providers (both enterprise and individual), which format to choose?
Since there is no final conclusion about HTML5 video format, and visitors use different browsers to watch videos, video providers have to make balance between different formats. As a matter of fact, it is not a question of choose, but a question of conversion. Your videos can be played on different browsers as long as you convert video to required formats. Sothink Video Converter 3.5 helpsyou to complete the task. Version 3.5 supports HTML5 videos conversion with high definition and top speed, including all the three formats mentioned above. It converts movies, records, TV shows, teaching lessons and any video format you can imagine, the converted videos can be played on PC, tablets and any mobile devices as long as it is HTML5 <video> supported. It only takes three steps: import, convert and export.
This is a converted YouTube video, enjoy!
You are welcome to check for more awesome functions of Sothink Video Converter 3.5 and download to convert HTML5 videos. Intend to your smart assistant when you are about to create HTML5 web sites or make HTML5 video blog.
Original post: http://www.sothinkmedia.com/blog/the-things-you-need-to-know-about-html5-video-formats/
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Mar.6,2012



























