HTML Audio and Video

HTML Audio

An audio file is used to store audio data on various data, such as a computer system, mp3 players, and mobile phones.

To store an audio data, you need to convert it into a digital format. The process of converting audio data into a digital file is called encoding of the raw audio data. It involves taking samples of audio data and storing them in a compressed format to reduce the file size.

An audio player decodes these compressed sample files to make the audio waves audible. The process of converting a digital file into the audio data is known as decoding. A codec is performs the encoding and decoding of the raw audio data.

List of Commonly Used Audio File Formats

The table given below lists commonly used audio file formats:

Format	File Extension	Description
MIDI	.mid .midi	MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). Main format for all electronic music devices like synthesizers and PC sound cards. MIDI files do not contain sound, but digital notes that can be played by electronics. Plays well on all computers and music hardware, but not in web browsers
WMA	.wma	WMA (Windows Media Audio). Developed by Microsoft. Commonly used in music players. Plays well on Windows computers, but not in web browsers
RealAudio	.rm .ram	RealAudio. Developed by Real Media to allow streaming of audio with low bandwidths. Does not play in web browsers
WAV	.wav	WAV. Developed by IBM and Microsoft. Plays well on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems. Supported by HTML5
AAC	.aac	AAC (Advanced Audio Coding). Developed by Apple as the default format for iTunes. Plays well on Apple computers, but not in web browsers
MP3	.mp3	MP3 files are actually the sound part of MPEG files. MP3 is the most popular format for music players. Combines good compression (small files) with high quality. Supported by all browsers
Ogg	.ogg	Ogg. Developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. Supported by HTML5
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

HTML <audio> tag

To play an audio file in HTML, use the <audio> tag.

Let's look at the following example, to know how to embed audio files into your web page.

<audio controls>
  <source src="songs.ogg" type="audio/ogg">
  <source src="songs.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
Your browser does not support the audio tag.
</audio>

HTML Audio Working

The controls attribute adds audio controls, like play, pause, and volume.

Text between the <audio> and </audio> tags will display in browsers that do not support the <audio> tag.

Multiple <source> tags can link to different audio files. The browser will use the first recognized format.

HTML Video

A video file is a collection of images that is displayed in a sequence representing scenes in motion.

Similar to the audio file system, video files are also encoded or decoded using the various video codecs, such as DivX and QuickTime.

List of Commonly Used Video File Formats

The table given below lists commonly used video file formats.

Format	File	Description
MPEG	.mpg .mpeg	MPEG. Developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group. The first popular video format on the web. Used to be supported by all browsers, but it is not supported in HTML5 (See MP4)
MPEG-4 or MP4	.mp4	MP4. Developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group. Based on QuickTime. Commonly used in newer video cameras and TV hardware. Supported by all HTML5 browsers. Recommended by YouTube
AVI	.avi	AVI (Audio Video Interleave). Developed by Microsoft. Commonly used in video cameras and TV hardware. Plays well on Windows computers, but not in web browsers
QuickTime	.mov	QuickTime. Developed by Apple. Commonly used in video cameras and TV hardware. Plays well on Apple computers, but not in web browsers. (See MP4)
Flash	.swf .flv	Flash. Developed by Macromedia. Often requires an extra component (plug-in) to play in web browsers
RealVideo	.rm .ram	RealVideo. Developed by Real Media to allow video streaming with low bandwidths. It is still used for online video and Internet TV, but does not play in web browsers
WMV	.wmv	WMV (Windows Media Video). Developed by Microsoft. Commonly used in video cameras and TV hardware. Plays well on Windows computers, but not in web browsers
WebM	.webm	WebM. Developed by the web giants, Mozilla, Opera, Adobe, and Google. Supported by HTML5
Ogg	.ogg	Theora Ogg. Developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. Supported by HTML5

HTML <video> tag

To show a video in HTML, use the <video> tag. Let's look at the following example, to know how to embed video into your webpage.

<video width="320" height="240" controls>
  <source src="song.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <source src="song.ogg" type="video/ogg">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>

HTML Video Working

The controls attribute adds video controls, like play, pause, and volume.

It is a good idea to always include width and height attributes. If height and width are not set, the browser does not know the size of the video. The effect will be that the page will change (or flicker) while the video loads.

Text between the <video> and </video> tags will only display in browsers that do not support the <video> tag.

Multiple <source> tags can link to different video files. The browser will use the first recognized format.

HTML <video> Autoplay

To start a video automatically use the autoplay attribute.

Let's look at the following example, to know hot to embed video and set to autoplay when web page loads.

<video width="320" height="240" autoplay>
  <source src="songs.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <source src="songs.ogg" type="video/ogg">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>

HTML Online Test

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