I was reading html5 video tutorial which suggested to use some player for html5 <video> tag such as JW player, Projektor, videojs, etc.

I know even if I don't use a player such as these, a player is drawn (in supported browsers) when using <video> tag.

So what exactly is difference between or pros and cons of third party player (for example videojs player) over native html5 player ?

I was reading html5 video tutorial which suggested to use some player for html5 <video> tag such as JW player, Projektor, videojs, etc.

I know even if I don't use a player such as these, a player is drawn (in supported browsers) when using <video> tag.

So what exactly is difference between or pros and cons of third party player (for example videojs player) over native html5 player ?

• javascript
• css
• html

3 Answers 3

The promise of HTML5 video at least to me, is avoiding all this horrible Flash setup and Javascript, and making the browser do all the heavy lifting.

Unfortunately using something simple like:

<video controls src="http://static.natalian/2012-01-18/MVI_0123.ogg" />

Is not enough. You are missing features like hooking into the fullscreen API which is different across browsers and hence you probably need to rely on these 3rd party libraries to take away the pain.

One obvious one is that you'll have more control over how it looks--you'll be able to have it match your site's design.

Also, it makes sure your site looks consistent in different browsers.

The only reason I could think of is UI consistency across browsers. Every browser implements their video player differently so something like JW Player makes it look and feel the same.