Examining the HTML 5 Video Codec Debate

Ars Technica has a great breakdown of the codec debate for the HTML 5 video element. Support for the new video element seems to be split into two main camps, Ogg Theora and H.264, and the inability to find a solution has HTML 5 spec editor Ian Hickson throwing in the towel. "Hickson outlined the positions of each major browser vendor and explained how the present impasse will influence the HTML 5 standard. Apple and Google favor H.264 while Mozilla and Opera favor Ogg Theora. Google intends to ship its browser with support for both codecs, which means that Apple is the only vendor that will not be supporting Ogg. 'After an inordinate amount of discussions, both in public and privately, on the situation regarding codecs for and in HTML5, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that there is no suitable codec that all vendors are willing to implement and ship,' Hickson wrote. 'I have therefore removed the two subsections in the HTML5 spec in which codecs would have been required, and have instead left the matter undefined.'"

Seriously? Lolcats?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ars Technica has a great breakdown

Oh, I totally agree. The best articles always insert two lolcats into their page so that we get a better idea of what's going on.

Did I miss something or is it still 2006?

an alternate solution:

[martas]

apple, go fuck yourself.

</flamebait>

Re:Major browser vendors

[Aphoxema]

It doesn't have to be an exhaustive list, it just has to have a few big names in support to mitigate the toppling effects of change.

Because Mozilla are obviously the good guys because they're the ones I like, personally, Apple and Google need to cave into the will of the commons. The commons, of course, being myself.

Re:irrelevant

[Anonymous Coward]

"Except IE, which doesn't support, and has not announced plans to support, anything."

Including HTML.

Re:why does the codec have to be in the spec?

[Java Pimp]

Because people shouldn't have to be prompted to install codecs in order to view in-browser videos.

Yeah really! Every time I go to certain sites I get a prompt to install a new codec to see this hot video... And each time I do that my homepage changes to something not quite safe for work... I wouldn't mind so much if they'd quit messin with my homepage... sheesh!

Re:MPEG-LA licensing is a fucking bitch

[David Gerard]

Scum Sucking Syphillitic Pus-Drinking Rotting Corpse Devouring Worm Infested Defecation Eaters' Anti-Defamation League on line two for you. They're upset at being compared to patent trolls or MPEG-LA, and are demanding you upgrade their status to "like child rapists."

Re:Apple and Xiph

[arose]

but reality is that H.264 is a higher quality-per-bandwidth codec

...for high bitrates.

It's cute that sites like Wikipedia insist on using formats like Theora, but the industry players have committed to H.264, and H.264 is going to be the standard

Don't tell us about it, tell to the CEOs of the Mozilla Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation, Redhat, Opera and so on that they are not "industry players". Also don't forget to tell W3C that the real industry players changed their standard to include a patent ridden nightmare, they will be interested to hear that.