Ready to 
No common video codec for HTML5
Matt Lincoln Russell
July 1, 2009 4:47 PM ET in Tech
The goal was to have a single video codec present in every major browser. This would allow web developers to include <video> elements without worrying about plugins or browser compatability. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that will happen, with browser makers split between H.264 and Ogg Theora.
The quick version: Apple won’t use Ogg Theora because of hardware comparability and patent exposure, Opera won’t use H.264 because of cost, and Mozilla won’t use H.264 because of licensing restrictions. Microsoft won’t use H.264 for the same reason as Mozilla, but also hasn’t commented on supporting <video> at all. Google will support both Theora and H.264 in Chrome, but Chromium won’t have the latter because of licensing. Also, Theora isn’t up to snuff for YouTube’s volume.
Ian Hickson, reasonably, says that forcing Theora into the HTML5 spec won’t convince Apple to get on board, and all the others will do it anyway. Therefore, no codec will be officially specified in HTML5. The hope is that over time, one of the two formats will become the de facto standard.
Sigh.
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