HTML Multimedia
Some of the multimedia on the web are sound, music, videos, movies, and animations.
What is Multimedia?
Multimedia is available in many different formats. It can be defined as almost anything which one can hear or see.
Examples: Pictures, sound, music, videos, records, films, animations, and more.
Web pages consists of multimedia elements belonging to different types and formats.
In this chapter you will be learning about the different multimedia formats.
Browser Support
The first web browsers was having support for text only, which was also limited to a single font and a single color.
Later browsers were developed to support for colors and fonts. They also supported for pictures!
The support for various multimedia like sounds, animations, and videos are handled in a different manner by different browsers. Different types and formats are supported, and some formats require extra helper programs (plug-ins) to work.
Hopefully, all the defects will become history. HTML5 multimedia is promising a bright future for multimedia.
Multimedia Formats
Multimedia elements (like sounds or videos) are getting stored as media files.
The most easy and common way to find or discover the type of a file, is to have a look at the extension of the file. When a browser locate the file extension .htm or .html, it will handle the file as an HTML file. The .xml extension is used for indicating an XML file, and the .css extension is used to indicate a style sheet file. Images are recognized using extensions like .gif, .png and .jpg.
Multimedia files also tend to have their own extensions, formats and like: .swf, .wav, .mp3, .mp4, .mpg, .wmv, and .avi.
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MP4 is known to be the new format for video on the internet. MP4 format is being recommended by YouTube. Flash Players support MP4 too. HTML5 is also supported by MP4. |
| Format | File | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MPEG | .mpg .mpeg |
MPEG. It was developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group. known to be the first popular video format on the web. It was supported by all browsers, but it is being supported by HTML5 (See MP4). |
| AVI | .avi | AVI (Audio Video Interleave). It is developed by Microsoft. They are commonly used in video cameras, video recorders and TV hardware. They play well on Windows computers, but not in web browsers. |
| WMV | .wmv | WMV (Windows Media Video). It is developed by Microsoft. They are commonly used in video cameras/TV hardware. They plays really well on Windows computers, but not as expected in web browsers. |
| QuickTime | .mov | QuickTime. It is developed by Apple. They are commonly used in video cameras and TV hardware. They are playing well on Apple computers, but not as expected in web browsers. (See MP4) |
| RealVideo | .rm .ram |
RealVideo. It is developed by Real Media for allowing video streaming with low bandwidths. It is still made available for online video and Internet TV, but does not play well in web browsers. |
| Flash | .swf .flv |
Flash. It is developed by Macromedia. It mostly requires an extra component or plug-in for playing in web browsers. |
| Ogg | .ogg | Theora Ogg. It is developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. Supported by HTML5. |
| WebM | .webm | WebM. It is developed by the web giants such as Mozilla, Opera, Adobe, and Google. They are supported by HTML5. |
| MPEG-4 or MP4 |
.mp4 | MP4. It is developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group which is based on QuickTime. They are commonly used in newer video cameras and TV hardware. supported by all HTML5 browsers. Recommended by YouTube. |
The formats - MP4, WebM, and Ogg video are supported according to the newest HTML5 standard.
Sound Formats
MP3 is known as the newest format for compressed recorded music. The term MP3 has become popular and synonymous with digital music.
If your website is handling and streaming recorded music, MP3 is the best choice available.
| Format | File | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MIDI | .mid .midi |
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). Considered as the main format for all electronic music devices like synthesizers and PC sound cards. MIDI files is not containing any sound, but they are digital notes that can be recognised and played by electronics. They tend to plays well on all computers and music hardware, but not playing well in web browsers. |
| RealAudio | .rm .ram |
RealAudio. It is developed by Real Media which allows streaming of audio with low bandwidths. It does not play in web browsers. |
| WMA | .wma | WMA (Windows Media Audio). It is developed by Microsoft. They are commonly used in music players. They play well on Windows computers, but not seem to play in web browsers. |
| AAC | .aac | AAC (Advanced Audio Coding). It is developed by Apple as the default format for iTunes. It plays well on Apple computers, but not in web browsers. |
| WAV | .wav | WAV. It is developed by IBM and Microsoft. It is known to plays well on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems. They are supported by HTML5. |
| Ogg | .ogg | Ogg. They are developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. It is supported by HTML5. |
| MP3 | .mp3 | MP3 files are known to be the sound part of MPEG files. MP3 is also known as the most popular format for music players. It combines good compression (small files) with high quality. It is supported by all browsers. |
| MP4 | .mp4 | MP4 is a video format, but can also be used for audio. MP4 video is the upcoming video format on the internet. This leads to automatic support for MP4 audio by all browsers. |
The following sound formats such as MP3, WAV, and Ogg audio are supported by the newest HTML5 standard.