HTML5 24-Hour Trainer

Chapter 25. Inserting Video

The rise of online video has had a significant impact on the Web. Video has transitioned from the jerky, postage-stamp size and tinny-sounding implementation of just a few years back to full-screen, high-definition quality, complete with an immersive soundtrack. With the inclusion of a <video> tag in HTML5, video on the Web is bound to continue to expand and become even more ubiquitous. In this lesson, you learn all about the different video formats, the most common way to show video via a plug-in, and how to apply the new plug-in free approach in HTML5.

WORKING WITH VIDEO TYPES

Online video is among the most complex topics facing the web designer today. As with audio, a great number of incompatible formats are available — and they keep coming. Moreover, the very nature of video, which can combine both sight and sound, requires a sophisticated packaging system that can deliver synchronized video and audio tracks in a compressed file.

To handle multiple tracks required by most videos, video container formats were developed. Among the most popular container formats are:

• .flv: Developed by Adobe for use in its Flash Player plug-in, the .flv (and related .f4v) formats enjoy wide-spread use on the Web in sites including YouTube, Hulu, Google Video, and others.

• .mp4: A video compression format developed by the Motion Pictures Expert Group – LA, often used in conjunction with Apple's QuickTime Player.

• .ogg: A container format developed by the Xiph open source foundation ...