Embedding WMP to play .mpg files cross browser

Question

Hi all,

I'm setting up a website which ultimately displays videos. The video files are all .mpg and requirements prevent me from converting these to another format such as flv. So far I have been playing around with Windows Media Player but have found that it doesn't play nice with non IE browsers. The problem which arises is that although the video will play, it doesn't shrink itself to fit in the WMP container and so only the top corner is visible. This problem goes away if I download the np-mswmp plugin for Firefox however it is a manual install and I'd rather not leave it to the user. Once the Firefox plugin is installed, Chrome also plays the files correctly but I doubt that the average user would ever think to do this.

Is there a better way to embed .mpg files into a web page, an alternative player which doesn't require file conversion? I have had a play with Quicktime but it only ever shows a Q with a question mark imposed over it, even when I associate Quicktime with .mpeg files. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

James

Answer 1

I'm sorry to say there isn't a good way to do cross-browser video without being able to force your users to install something. That is why every video site uses flash, since it's the nearest thing to a standard - but of course flash has some gaps in coverage, the most significant being iPhones.

Windows Media Player has only about 70% penetration and Internet Explorer somewhat less. By going this route you will end up with 1 in 3 users unable to view your videos.

Either bite the bullet and move to Flash as a video player or just give your users a download link. A download link is a very easy way to support almost every user, if you can do that.