Enough About HTML5 Video Already!

My latest column at Streaming Media Magazine.

Here’s the teaser:

HTML5 video appeals to “tree-hugging, sandal-wearing standards lovers,” says Jan Ozer, and he’s sick of hearing about it.

Here’s the lead:

I was speaking recently with a new consulting client from the U.K. It was a typical job: The client was starting a video-centric instructional site and wanted help configuring his H.264 presets. We chatted for a bit, and then he told me that the folks building the site recommended an HTML5 player with Flash fallback. I responded, “That’s like teaching your kids German first and then English, just in case the kid they meet at lunch doesn’t speak German.”

He asked what I meant and I explained. Only about half of all browsers are HTML5-compatible at this point, and the largest share—Firefox and soon Chrome—don’t or won’t play H.264 video. In fact, only about 10% of all browsers (Internet Explorer 9 and Safari) will play H.264 in the short term to midterm. So your primary player will address about 10% of the users, while your fall-back player will address the other 90%. 

For the rest, click here (it’s a fun one).

About Jan Ozer

Avatar photo
I help companies train new technical hires in streaming media-related positions; I also help companies optimize their codec selections and encoding stacks and evaluate new encoders and codecs. I am a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, writing about codecs and encoding tools. I have written multiple authoritative books on video encoding, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video (https://amzn.to/3kV6R1j) and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg: In Thirty Minutes or Less (https://amzn.to/3ZJih7e). I have multiple courses relating to streaming media production, all available at https://bit.ly/slc_courses. I currently work as www.netint.com as a Senior Director in Marketing.

Check Also

Take the Bitmovin Video Developer Survey

Contribute to the one of the most valuable sources of industry data by completing the …

Speech-to-text In Premiere Pro – Fast, Easy, Accurate, and Free

This video tutorial teaches you how to convert speech-to-text in Premiere Pro. I’ve been using …

Streaming Media 101: Training for App & Player Development/Testing Professionals

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *