Adding Video to an HTML Document 355VideoAdding Video to an HTML DocumentWeb Design in a Nutshell, eMatter EditionStreamworks (Xing Technology)
Streamworks’ claim to fame is it is the only format based entirely on the industry-
standard MPEG specification, offering MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, Layer-3 audio. This
format uses a lossy compression capable of extremely high compression rates
while maintaining excellent quality.
Despite the magic of MPEG, the high data rate required to deliver CD-quality
audio and TV-quality video makes Streamworks most appropriate to intranet and
extranet applications, such as training or distance learning. It is possible to encode
a Streamworks file for delivery over 28.8 kbps connections, but Streamworks is
aiming at high-bandwidth delivery of 250 kbps and up.
For more information, visit the Xing Technology web site athttp://www.xingtech.com/.
Streaming Video Summary
Table 20-1 lists information for popular streaming audio technolgies. Because
these technologies change so rapidly, I encourage you to visit the web pages listed
for up-to-date information about the various software packages and their
capabilities.
Adding Video to an HTML Document
This section looks at the ways video files can be linked to or embedded within an
HTML document.
With a Simple Link
Video files can be linked to HTML documents using the standard link tag around a
string of text or a graphic as follows:
<A HREF="video.mov"> Check out the video (1.3MB)</A>When the user clicks on the link, the browser looks at the file type (as defined in
the filename suffix) and launches a player application to play the movie. Which
player it uses depends on how that user has the browser configured, so it is out of
the control of the web page designer.
In most cases, the movie will open in a separate window with start and stop
controls. Be aware that if the browser is configured to use a plug-in for the speci-
fied file type, the movie may load in the browser window, replacing the original
web page.
If you are linking to a file that will need to be downloaded before it can be
played, it is a good idea to print the size of the file so the user can make the deci-
sion whether to start the download.
If you are linking to a streaming format, you may need to link to a reference file
(such as a.rammetafile for RealVideo) instead of to the actual video file. (Refer-
ence files are discussed in more detail in Chapter 19.) Carefully follow the
vendor’s instructions for adding their streaming media to your page.