«

Below is the post and replies I put up on a HTML newsgroup.
I hope it is of use to you.

I also found this website which could be useful

http://html5video.org/

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original post

I want to view streaming MP4 videos in Firefox browser from a website
set up by a friend.

Is there a way of doing this -- like a plugin for firefox ???

Maurice Helwig

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Since you mention html5 in the subject, I think you will have to
provide a url for the page and hope the page does not use php server
side script which can not be viewed on your client computer. If the
page uses the new html5 code for video, a html5 capable browser, of
which recent Firefox browsers are, should work. However various html5
capable browsers have different built in house players, and surprise,
surprise, browser providers can not agree on a single type of video
format to support in their house browser. Thus to support video in
html5 with a house browser, one must provide the video in at least 3
formats, and then the html5 video code can be fairly easily set up to
select the video format needed for the html5 capable browser used. To
stream properly on some browsers, a mp4 video must be "hinted". The
most simple way to hint the mp4 video is to use the pay version of
Apple's QuickTime player which will hint the mp4 and convert it to
Apples .mov . Thus the video needs to be provided in mp4, .mov, and
ogg formats. In that way the correct video format for house players on
different browsers will be selected automatically.

Another complication is that html5 capable browsers will also support
video using conventional media players that must be installed on your
computer. This is why seeing the source code of the page is so
important.

I suggest that you view the page on IE9, if available. IE9 uses a
html5 house player that supports mp4 if of the right flavor. Next view
the page on Firefox. If Firefox works, an ogg type video likely has
been provided. If Firefox does not work, an ogg type of video likely
has not been provided for the Firefox browser.

If you can not provide the page url, I suggest you contact your friend
and suggest that he/she provide ogg and .mov support in the html5 code
so the page can be viewed on most html5 capable browsers (and your
friend may become an ex-friend . If the page will not play on
Firefox, and if there are not errors in the html5 code, I know of no
plug-ins you can download that will help. If the html5 uses
conventional video player code, which it can, the required player must
of course be downloaded to the computer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Thanks for the reply.
You have given me a bit to digest
The website in question is http://promiseboxvideo.com/
This friend of mine is setting up a website to put Video of church
sermons on. The page is experimental at the moment. and He is using MP4
video files only which come through on IE9 OK but not on Firefox which I
use all the time.
I gather that he would have to have possibly three files of different
formats on his server to cater for most of the browsers plus the
appropriate code in his web page. I do not think that he is prepared to
do this at the moment, but may have to eventually.

I will send your reply on to him

Maurice Helwig
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for the page url. Using Firefox 14.0.1 on a Windows Vista 64-
bit OS, I get the message:"No video with supported format and
MIME type found". Viewing the top of the source code, you find the
DOCTYPE for html5. Looking at the video portion of the source code you
get:

<video center width="780" height="570" controls="controls"
autoplay="autoplay">
<source src="MP4D/V0084 - Noel Braddock - Nehemiah 1-3 - St Clair
EPCC 29-4-07 - 24m17s.mp4" type="video/mp4" /target="_blank>
</video>

Thus this page is html5 using a house html5 player for browsers that
use a house html5 video format of mp4.

Now go to my page at http://www.cwdjr.net/video7/RoscoeGreetings.php
and click on the button for html5. The last I checked, html5 was
working for recent versions of Firefox, IE9, Safari for Windows,
Chrome, Opera, and Flock. The video source code used is:

<video width = "640" height = "640" controls="controls"
autoplay="autoplay">
<source src = "Roscoe.ogv" type="video/ogg" />
<source src = "RoscoeH.mov" type="video/quicktime" />
<source src= "Roscoe.mp4" type = "video/mp4" />
<p style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000"><strong>HTML5 video
element is not supported on your browser. You must update to IE9 beta
if using an IE browser. Only Vista and Windows7 can be updated to IE9-
beta. If you are on a Windows XP OS, the latest versions of many other
browsers will support the html5 video element including Firefox,
Opera, Safari for Windows, Flock, SeaMonkey, and Chrome. Also older
valid video code is supported in html5 in addition to &lt;video&gt;. </
strong></p>
</video>

Note that IE9 beta is now replaced by the stable version IE9.

Thus adding html5 video support for the various house players of
different browsers does not add much complexity to the html5 code.
However you need the video in 3 formats. Depending on media programs
you have, it can be fairly easy to convert the mp4 video to .ogg
and .mov .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
I would agree on three formats, but not video/quicktime.

1. video/webm

2. video/ogg

3. video/mp4

I think that webm is playable in more browsers then the other two.

IE 9 requires codec download
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/webmmf/

IF I were to use only one, it would be video/webm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course you can add webm to the list and keep the other three I
include also. This page is more than a year old, except for a few
revisions, and that is very old for a rapidly moving target such as
html5. When written, a mp4 would play on Safari for Windows, but only
after complete download. If you use Apple's pay version of the QT
player to hint the mp4 video to stream, it also converts the mp4 to
Apple's .mov. That is the reason for including support for .mov. Apple
in the meantime may have provided support for streaming a mp4
directly. Still including .mov support may not be a bad idea to
support some older browsers. IE9 is the first IE browser to include
extensive html5 support of media using a house player, and many still
have older IE browsers.

> IE 9 requires codec download
> https://tools.google.com/dlpage/webmmf/
>
> IF I were to use only one, it would be video/webm.

If I could use only one, I would use flash which can be included on an
html5 page also. Of course then the client computer must have flash
installed. It is likely that most computers now have flash installed
because it is required to properly view many very important major
commercial sites. People who uninstall flash, for whatever reason,
often re-install again soon when they find that many commercial sites
they wish to use no longer work properly without flash. Html5 is now
gaining more traction for media presentation using a "house" player,
and some time in the future it may become the norm. If we look back in
time, Real was very popular. Then Microsoft formats at one time were
the streaming king. Then flash evolved from an ad-related crude form
that was more simple to use than dhtml to a format that will now
support even up to blu-ray standard HD video. I am a very poor
prophet, so I will not even try to guess what will happen in the
future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~

On 24/08/2012 1:07 PM, Maurice Helwig wrote:
> Below is the post and replies I put up on a HTML newsgroup.
> I hope it is of use to you.
>
> I also found this website which could be useful
>
> http://html5video.org/
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Original post
>
> I want to view streaming MP4 videos in Firefox browser from a website
> set up by a friend.
>
> Is there a way of doing this -- like a plugin for firefox ???
>
> Maurice Helwig
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
> Since you mention html5 in the subject, I think you will have to
> provide a url for the page and hope the page does not use php server
> side script which can not be viewed on your client computer. If the
> page uses the new html5 code for video, a html5 capable browser, of
> which recent Firefox browsers are, should work. However various html5
> capable browsers have different built in house players, and surprise,
> surprise, browser providers can not agree on a single type of video
> format to support in their house browser. Thus to support video in
> html5 with a house browser, one must provide the video in at least 3
> formats, and then the html5 video code can be fairly easily set up to
> select the video format needed for the html5 capable browser used. To
> stream properly on some browsers, a mp4 video must be "hinted". The
> most simple way to hint the mp4 video is to use the pay version of
> Apple's QuickTime player which will hint the mp4 and convert it to
> Apples .mov . Thus the video needs to be provided in mp4, .mov, and
> ogg formats. In that way the correct video format for house players on
> different browsers will be selected automatically.
>
> Another complication is that html5 capable browsers will also support
> video using conventional media players that must be installed on your
> computer. This is why seeing the source code of the page is so
> important.
>
> I suggest that you view the page on IE9, if available. IE9 uses a
> html5 house player that supports mp4 if of the right flavor. Next view
> the page on Firefox. If Firefox works, an ogg type video likely has
> been provided. If Firefox does not work, an ogg type of video likely
> has not been provided for the Firefox browser.
>
> If you can not provide the page url, I suggest you contact your friend
> and suggest that he/she provide ogg and .mov support in the html5 code
> so the page can be viewed on most html5 capable browsers (and your
> friend may become an ex-friend . If the page will not play on
> Firefox, and if there are not errors in the html5 code, I know of no
> plug-ins you can download that will help. If the html5 uses
> conventional video player code, which it can, the required player must
> of course be downloaded to the computer.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
> Thanks for the reply.
> You have given me a bit to digest
> The website in question is http://promiseboxvideo.com/
> This friend of mine is setting up a website to put Video of church
> sermons on. The page is experimental at the moment. and He is using MP4
> video files only which come through on IE9 OK but not on Firefox which I
> use all the time.
> I gather that he would have to have possibly three files of different
> formats on his server to cater for most of the browsers plus the
> appropriate code in his web page. I do not think that he is prepared to
> do this at the moment, but may have to eventually.
>
> I will send your reply on to him
>
> Maurice Helwig
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
> Thanks for the page url. Using Firefox 14.0.1 on a Windows Vista 64-
> bit OS, I get the message:"No video with supported format and
> MIME type found". Viewing the top of the source code, you find the
> DOCTYPE for html5. Looking at the video portion of the source code you
> get:
>
> <video center width="780" height="570" controls="controls"
> autoplay="autoplay">
> <source src="MP4D/V0084 - Noel Braddock - Nehemiah 1-3 - St Clair
> EPCC 29-4-07 - 24m17s.mp4" type="video/mp4" /target="_blank>
> </video>
>
> Thus this page is html5 using a house html5 player for browsers that
> use a house html5 video format of mp4.
>
> Now go to my page at http://www.cwdjr.net/video7/RoscoeGreetings.php
> and click on the button for html5. The last I checked, html5 was
> working for recent versions of Firefox, IE9, Safari for Windows,
> Chrome, Opera, and Flock. The video source code used is:
>
> <video width = "640" height = "640" controls="controls"
> autoplay="autoplay">
> <source src = "Roscoe.ogv" type="video/ogg" />
> <source src = "RoscoeH.mov" type="video/quicktime" />
> <source src= "Roscoe.mp4" type = "video/mp4" />
> <p style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000"><strong>HTML5 video
> element is not supported on your browser. You must update to IE9 beta
> if using an IE browser. Only Vista and Windows7 can be updated to IE9-
> beta. If you are on a Windows XP OS, the latest versions of many other
> browsers will support the html5 video element including Firefox,
> Opera, Safari for Windows, Flock, SeaMonkey, and Chrome. Also older
> valid video code is supported in html5 in addition to &lt;video&gt;. </
> strong></p>
> </video>
>
> Note that IE9 beta is now replaced by the stable version IE9.
>
> Thus adding html5 video support for the various house players of
> different browsers does not add much complexity to the html5 code.
> However you need the video in 3 formats. Depending on media programs
> you have, it can be fairly easy to convert the mp4 video to .ogg
> and .mov .
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
> I would agree on three formats, but not video/quicktime.
>
> 1. video/webm
>
> 2. video/ogg
>
> 3. video/mp4
>
> I think that webm is playable in more browsers then the other two.
>
> IE 9 requires codec download
> https://tools.google.com/dlpage/webmmf/
>
> IF I were to use only one, it would be video/webm.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Of course you can add webm to the list and keep the other three I
> include also. This page is more than a year old, except for a few
> revisions, and that is very old for a rapidly moving target such as
> html5. When written, a mp4 would play on Safari for Windows, but only
> after complete download. If you use Apple's pay version of the QT
> player to hint the mp4 video to stream, it also converts the mp4 to
> Apple's .mov. That is the reason for including support for .mov. Apple
> in the meantime may have provided support for streaming a mp4
> directly. Still including .mov support may not be a bad idea to
> support some older browsers. IE9 is the first IE browser to include
> extensive html5 support of media using a house player, and many still
> have older IE browsers.
>
> > IE 9 requires codec download
> > https://tools.google.com/dlpage/webmmf/
> >
> > IF I were to use only one, it would be video/webm.
>
> If I could use only one, I would use flash which can be included on an
> html5 page also. Of course then the client computer must have flash
> installed. It is likely that most computers now have flash installed
> because it is required to properly view many very important major
> commercial sites. People who uninstall flash, for whatever reason,
> often re-install again soon when they find that many commercial sites
> they wish to use no longer work properly without flash. Html5 is now
> gaining more traction for media presentation using a "house" player,
> and some time in the future it may become the norm. If we look back in
> time, Real was very popular. Then Microsoft formats at one time were
> the streaming king. Then flash evolved from an ad-related crude form
> that was more simple to use than dhtml to a format that will now
> support even up to blu-ray standard HD video. I am a very poor
> prophet, so I will not even try to guess what will happen in the
> future.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~


My apologies for this mistake ---
I seem to have posted this summary instead of sending it to my friend
for whom it was intended

Maurice Helwig