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HTML5 Video

Published Date: 26 December 2022

What is HTML5 Video?

HTML5 video is a video specification introduced by its creators for showing video on the web. It intended to replace the Adobe Flash plugin, which was the erstwhile standard used for playing videos.

While HTML5 was earlier met with challenges on release, today, it is the most widely used playback technology supported by most web browsers.

  • Unmatched security: Since the HTML5 video player runs directly on the browser, you don't need additional plugins or downloads—which eliminates the risk of hacking and unauthorized access to your website content.
  • Live streaming: A key advantage of the HTML5 video player is that it is compatible with HLS delivery—which boosts the accessibility of live streaming across different devices and platforms.
  • Highly customizable: HTML5 video player offers umpteen customization options such as autoplay, video aspect ratio, style, controls, etc.

HTML5 Video Features

  • Autoplay: It allows you to autoplay a video when it is loaded.
  • Loop: It lets you repeat a video once it's over
  • Aspect ratio: It lets you decide the size of the video
  • Muted: You can play the video muted by default if you so decide
  • Seek: You can play, pause, forward, and rewind the video as needed.
  • Style: You can customize the color and appearance of the video player to match your branding.

Uses of HTM5 Video

  • HTML5 is used by video websites like Vimeo, YouTube, etc
  • Netflix and Facebook also switched to HTML5 from Flash
  • It is the only format supported across browsers like Safari and Chrome. Firefox since Flash phased out.


Related Terms

Video Quality

In simple terms, video quality is the characteristic of a video that determines how clear, crisp, and detailed the video transmitted to the viewer is.

Video Watermark

A video watermark is a digital copyright tool used to identify the video's copyright owner or prevent illegal distribution.

1:1

1:1 is a commonly used aspect ratio in videography. It produces videos that are a perfect square; the width and height of the video image are the same.

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