14 DAY TRIAL // HTML5 video got a big boost a couple of weeks ago when both YouTube and Vimeo introduced support for the feature, to a certain degree. While the move was heralded as a big win for the proposed HTML5 standard, most people still couldn’t take advantage of the features. The issue is the choice of video codecs the two sites made, both opting for the somewhat free but proprietary h.264. The big issue is that Mozilla has no plans to support the format, opting instead to put its weight behind Theora, an open-source alternative citing several issues with h.264. Now, MPEG LA, the group responsible for licensing h.264, has announced that it is extending the current license, which allows sites that don't charge for the videos to use the codec for free.
The move was clearly meant to put to rest some of the concerns over how long the codec would remain free, as the previous license was set to expire at the end of 2010. It clearly gives most sites using it or planning to employ it in the future some peace of mind, but Mozilla isn't convinced and its concerns stand.
There are two main adversaries in the HTML5 'codec war.' On the one hand, there is h.264, a proprietary format that is currently liberally licensed. It offers a good balance between quality and bandwidth consumption, making it the format of choice for most websites. Both YouTube and Vimeo use it in the newly launched HTML5-based players.
On the other hand, there is the open-source and patent-free (though this is disputed by Apple) Theora codec. The problem with it is that it's not quite on par with h.264, despite what some open-source advocates might have you believe, and, so far, from the big video sites, only Dailymotion employs it.
When all is said and done, why should this be of any concern to the users? Well, because Firefox, the most popular browser to implement HTML5 features, doesn't support h.264. The reasons are discussed at length here, but the gist of it is Mozilla wants the entire software stack to be open-source in any country in the world. Opera is taking the same approach.
On the other side of the spectrum, Apple Safari only supports h.264 amongst concerns that Theora may not be as open as it would seem. The codec is based on On2's VP3 codec that was open-sourced a few years back. Apple, though, believes that it could still be the target of unknown patents and, as such, doesn't risk a lawsuit by implementing it. Of course, the fact that the company actually holds some patents used by the h.264 codec and is a partner of the MPEG LA might also have something to do with it.
Finally, Google Chome supports both codecs. The license extension by the MPEG LA may have calmed some concerns, but Mozilla is unconvinced. "Regarding that MPEG LA announce: it's good they did it, but they sort of had to. But it's like 5 more years of free to lock you in 4ever," Mozilla CEO John Lilly tweeted. The move was certainly a welcomed one, but it didn't really solve anything, so the issue is still at an impasse.