Video Tag Dropped From HTML 5 Standards : Blame Apple

**Indyan** · 07-07-09, 05:59 PM

The much hyped video tag has been dropped from HTML 5 standards specification due to lack of agreement between major browser vendors. While Opera and Firefox were enthusiastic about the implementation of the video tag, Apple was vehemently against it.

The proposed video tag (<video> </video>) envisioned to free Videos from their dependence on plugins. Any video enclosed between video tag would be played as a native element (e.g. images) by the browser. The only pre-condition being that the videos must be encoded in a chosen format. The frontrunner was royalty-free Ogg Theora codec with the patented H.264 codec being the other contender.

Opera was the first to actively promote the video tag. They released an experimental build that supported the video tag as far back as April, 2007. Recently (and more famously) Mozilla Firefox also included support for Video tag in Firefox 3.5. Google Chrome also included video support and bundled Ogg Theora as well as H.264.

Apple on the other hand refused to implement Ogg Theora due to lack of a hardware decoder. Hadware Decoder ensures reduced stress on the CPU and can make a big difference on mobile devices like the iPhone. Ofcourse there is also a clear case of conflict of interest. If Ogg Theora is accepted and the <video /> codec becomes a standard then Apple stands to loose as Quicktime video format would loose its importance.

**YoGi-Sama** · 07-07-09, 06:03 PM

That is actually a one sided argument.... It doesn't speak about short-comings of current <video> tag and codec implementation...

Read this : AppleInsider | Ogg Theora, H.264 and the HTML 5 Browser Squabble

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Pundits are roasting Apple over a scuffle raised by Mozilla and Opera to define the free Ogg Theora video codec as the official way to present video on the web in the new HTML 5 specification. The problem: HTML isn't supposed to define content codecs, and even if it were, Ogg Theora, commercially abandoned nearly a decade ago, doesn't have what it takes to deliver video on the increasingly mobile web.

While the tech media has largely portrayed the disagreement as either a huge roadblock for HTML 5 or a war between free software advocates and big corporations, the reality is that specifications like HTML 5 are not intended to enforce political views but rather to foster interoperability. At issue is the video format specified in the new HTML 5, a situation that is new because the HTML specification has never defined a simple system for embedding video in the same way that web developers can place ordinary graphics within their pages.

**Checksum** · 07-07-09, 08:23 PM

AFAIK its not been dropped yet. Its been removed from the draft till a definite conclusion on the codec debate is reached. Anyway it'll take at least 3 years for the draft to be finalized, before which some codec will be chosen.