HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5-1. Current browser support for video formats
Browser
H.264 (
.mp4
)
Ogg Theora (
.ogv
)
VP8 (
.webm
)
Chrome 6+
R
Y
Y
Firefox 3.6+
Y
Y
IE9+
Y
D
Opera 10.5+
Y
Y
Safari 5+
Y
In
Table 5-1
, R indicates “removed,” D indicates “download required,”
and Y indicates “yes (supported).” Note that Google removed support
for H.264 from the Chrome browser with version 11. IE9 supports VP8,
but only if the user installs the codec on Windows.
As you can see from
Table 5-1
, if you want to reach all of the latest browsers you need
to include
at least
the
.mp4
and
.ogv
formats. Briefly, the supported formats are:
.mp4
The container format for the proprietary H.264 codec that encodes video for a full
range of devices, including high definition.
.ogv
The free, open source container format for the open source Theora codec. Results
in lower quality than H.264.
.webm
Another open source container format, which is used by the new, royalty-free VP8
codec from Google.
Google pulled support for H.264 in Chrome (see
http://blog.chromium
.org/2011/01/html-video-codec-support-in-chrome.html
)
, while VP8 is
supported by Microsoft's IE9 with the installation of a decoder (see
http:
Why is there such a messy situation with video codecs? Intellectual property and
licensing fees are a large factor. Browser makers who want to use certain formats (and
therefore codecs) natively are subject to the intellectual property rights of the codecs
and formats.
Apple and Microsoft have paid the licensing fees to allow the H.264 video codec to play
natively in their respective browsers. The vendors that produce the Firefox and Opera
browsers, meanwhile, opt to support free, open source formats.
