Opera Software's position paper for Video on the Web
Opera Software believes that video should be treated as a
first-class citizen on the web, along with text and images. We have
submitted a proposal for the <video> element in HTML5,
and we have released
experimental builds of Opera that support <video>
natively in SVG and HTML5.
Further, we believe the following to be requisites for granting
video citizenship on the web:
- The <video> element should be part of the HTML5 and SVG
specifications. It must be specified so that it provides a range of
functionality for video on the web. In HTML5, for example, it must
be possible to add a video clip without having to make use of
scripting. In the other end of the range, it should be possible to
build a rich video player through DOM interfaces. In SVG, it must
be possible to add filters and other graphic effects to video.
- A common baseline video format must be identified. Without a
baseline format, interoperability will suffer and authors may be
forced to continue using proprietary solutions for video content.
The format should be RF to ensure that it can be freely used by
software vendors and video content providers. Opera's experimental
implementation uses the Ogg Theora format,
as does Mozilla. We believe Ogg Theora to be a good technical
solution that balances compression ratios with computational
requirements.
- W3C should recommend a baseline video format for use in their
specifications. This approach is necessary to ensure
interoperability. Identifying a suitable baseline video format
should be W3C's first goal in the field of video.
- Pragmatic solutions for improving accessibility of video should
be developed.