Google has several announcements but among them Google I/O keynote is WebM,a new open-source, royalty-free video format based around the VP8 codec intended for use with HTML5 video.
The WebM project’s goal is to develop “a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone.” The project has the backing of Google, Mozilla, Opera, and numerous other companies. If it catches, on, it could settle the rift that currently exists with HTML5 video support, thus speeding up HTML5 adoption.
The WebM project’s goal is to develop “a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone.” The project has the backing of Google, Mozilla, Opera, and numerous other companies. If it catches, on, it could settle the rift that currently exists with HTML5 video support, thus speeding up HTML5 adoption. Currently, there are two competing formats being used for video embedded using HTML5: H.264 and Ogg Theora.Safari, Chrome, and other browsers support H.264 video, as will the upcoming Internet Explorer 9. On the other hand. Mozilla Firefox supports only Ogg Theora video.
Mozilla cites licensing concerns with H.264 as its justification for going with the free Ogg Theora format. On the other hand, some have raised concerns over Ogg Theora’s quality; at least one comparison shows that using H.264 may result in higher quality streaming video.WebM may bring some sanity to the situation.
