Ogg formats in HTML5: Difference between revisions

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The [[HTML5]] draft specification adds <code>video</code> and <code>audio</code> [[HTML element|elements]] for '''embedding video and audio in HTML documents'''. The specification had formerly recommended support for playback of '''[[Theora]] video and [[Vorbis]] audio encapsulated in [[Ogg]] [[Container format (digital)|containers]]''' to provide for easier distribution of audio and video over the internet by using [[open standard]]s, but the recommendation was soon after dropped.

==Motivation==

{{SectionOriginal ORresearch section|date=January 2012}}

Because some visitors and publishers choose not to take part in the use of [[proprietary software]], web content has been made available through [[open standard]]s in order to reach these users. As multimedia is already mainstream on the web through proprietary data formats (such as [[Windows Media Video]] and [[MPEG-4 Part 14|MP4]]) and browser [[Plug-in (computing)|plugin]]s (such as [[Adobe Flash Player]]), developers{{Who|date=January 2018}} had hoped Theora and Vorbis would become part of the HTML5 specification.<ref>{{cite web

| title = Ogg Theora, H.264 and the HTML 5 Browser Squabble | date = 6 July 2009

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Users affiliated with the free software movement claimed the following advantages:

* The potential for universal adoption of Theora and Vorbis, no matter the computer or the user, would ease "codec hell" by eliminating an unnecessary amount of codecs required to view and publish videos to a select few.{{factcitation needed|date=January 2012}}

* Browser plugins needed to accommodate the many different codecs would then become a thing of the past:

** Browsers could handle the playback of Theora and Vorbis and allow the user to customize the manner in which that was done.

** Bugs and exploits in obsolete versions of those plugins would affect the user less, as they are phased out; the loss of multiple attack vectors would happen once browser plugins were ultimately removed.{{factcitation needed|date=January 2012}}

** The HTML5-conformant player, not having to be coded for compatibility with different browsers, could make bugs and exploits easier to find during browser development, and any exploits found would only be able to target that one browser.{{clarifymeclarify|date=January 2012}}

* [[Free software]] encoders would compete with rival proprietary encoders, increasing encoder quality through competition.{{factcitation needed|date=January 2012}}

* Embedding of multimedia by the use of clear and straightforward <code>video</code> and <code>audio</code> elements would require less effort than mastering the [[HTML element#Images and objects|<code>object</code>]] element or learning [[ActionScript]] as required by Adobe Flash.{{factcitation needed|date=January 2012}}

[[Chief technical officer|CTO]] at [[Opera Software]], [[Håkon Wium Lie]] explained in a Google tech talk entitled "The <video> element" the proposal of Theora as the video format for HTML5:<ref>{{cite web |title=Håkon Wium Lie on the video element in HTML 5 |url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5545573096553082541&ei=LV6hSaz0JpbA2AKh4OyPDg&hl=un |access-date=2009-02-22 |publisher=Google Video |date=2007-03-29}}</ref>

{{quoteblockquote|I believe very strongly, that we need to agree on some kind of baseline video format if [the video element] is going to succeed. [...] We want a freely implementable open standard to hold the content we put out. That's why we developed the [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]] image format. [...] PNG [...] came late to the party. Therefore I think it's important that from the beginning we think about this.}}

After the presentation, Lie was asked whether [[Opera (browser)|Opera]] will support other formats than Ogg:

{{quoteblockquote|My opinion is that browsers shouldn't support other codecs, at least not in the beginning, until we have established a baseline format. [...] We don't want to contaminate <video> with other formats.}}

==Support==

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}}</ref> replacing the reference to Theora and Vorbis with a placeholder:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://html5.org/tools/web-apps-tracker?from=1142&to=1143 |title=(X)HTML5 Tracking |publisher=[[HTML5]].org |access-date=2009-06-23}}</ref>

{{quoteblockquote|It would be helpful for interoperability if all browsers could support the same codecs. However, there are no known codecs that satisfy all the current players: we need a codec that is known to not require per-unit or per-distributor licensing, that is compatible with the open source development model, that is of sufficient quality as to be usable, and that is not an additional submarine patent risk for large companies. This is an ongoing issue and this section will be updated once more information is available.<ref>{{cite mailing list |url=http://lists.whatwg.org/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/2007-December/013152.html |title=&#91;whatwg&#93; Removal of Ogg is *preposterous* |publisher=Lists.whatwg.org |date=11 December 2007 |access-date=2009-08-25 |mailing-list=[[WHATWG]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821163038/http://lists.whatwg.org/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/2007-December/013152.html |archive-date=2008-08-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

The removal of the Ogg formats from the specification made it completely file format neutral, like previous versions of HTML. The decision was criticized by a number of [[Web developer]]s. A follow-up discussion also occurred on the W3C questions and answers blog.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/QA/2007/12/when_will_html_5_support_soone.html |title=When will HTML 5 support &lt;video&gt;? Sooner if you help |last=Connolly |first=Dan |date=December 18, 2007 |publisher=[[W3C]] |access-date=2009-06-23}}</ref>

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{{As of|2010|May}}, HTML5 video is not currently as widespread as Flash videos, though of recent rollouts of experimental HTML5-based video players on websites, DailyMotion is so far the only one to use Ogg Theora and Vorbis formats,<ref>{{cite web |title=Watch Video…without Flash |publisher=Dailymotion |date=2009-05-27 |url=http://blog.dailymotion.com/index.php/2009/05/27/watch-videowithout-flash/ |access-date=2010-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822205946/http://blog.dailymotion.com/index.php/2009/05/27/watch-videowithout-flash/ |archive-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which suggests an increasing early interest in adopting HTML5 video.

"[[WebRTC]] Audio Codec and Processing Requirements" Internet standard drafts, published in 2011-20132011–2013, require free formats, including [[Opus (audio codec)|Opus]], which was developed, among others, by programmers associated with [[Xiph.Org Foundation]] (the maintainer of [[Ogg]]).<ref>{{Cite document|url=http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-rtcweb-audio-03|title = WebRTC Audio Codec and Processing Requirements|last1 = Valin|first1 = Jean-Marc|last2 = Bran|first2 = Cary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://wiki.xiph.org/OpusFAQ | title=OpusFAQ - XiphWiki }}</ref><!-- does WebRTC use Opus in Ogg? -->

==See also==