[whatwg] Possible alternative to specifying a codec for the video tag
We need a free video codec, but browser makers will not implement it in their browsers, due to alleged patent risks (which may or may not be real). What if we could transfer those patent risks away from the browser, and on to the content providers? Would that satisfy people? How could we do that? The codec is usually a relatively small download download compared to the video itself. If we could suggest a way for codecs to be provided alongside the videos by the content providers, this /may/ be a way forward. Hypothetically, you could do video by adding better binary file handling to Javascript, and painting on the canvas, but good performance is unlikely. However, now that Java is free, Java applets could provide a solution. There is already a free Ogg Vorbis/Theora java applet here: http://www.flumotion.net/cortado/ Java is available for all the major browsers and already installed on many small devices. We should structure things so that browsers that did have a native codec for the format can use it. Perhaps we should mandate the ability to unpack an ogg contained stream, play the vorbis audio, and pass the video to java. Maybe we can allow either Theora or Java, but you must have one. Robert (Jamie) Munro signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Re: [whatwg] Possible alternative to specifying a codec for the video tag
On 23/12/2007, Robert (Jamie) Munro [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How could we do that? The codec is usually a relatively small download download compared to the video itself. If we could suggest a way for codecs to be provided alongside the videos by the content providers, this /may/ be a way forward. Hypothetically, you could do video by adding better binary file handling to Javascript, and painting on the canvas, but good performance is unlikely. Arbitrary executable downloads didn't work out well with ActiveX, and Download codec to view this! is already a vector for malware. However, now that Java is free, Java applets could provide a solution. There is already a free Ogg Vorbis/Theora java applet here: http://www.flumotion.net/cortado/ Java is available for all the major browsers and already installed on many small devices. Wikimedia sites use this now. It's not a great solution (click, wait a minute with a hung browser application while Java loads), but it's a kludge we consider slightly better than nothing. As soon as Firefox 3 is out I strongly suspect we'll be putting Ogg Theora in a VIDEO element, with JavaScript trickery to allow stick-in-the-mud browsers like Safari to tell the reader how much they suck. Nokia and Apple can then decide whether they want to support the content or not. - s.
