# HTML5 video support

Does this browser support HTML5 video? Almost certainly. Here's what that answer leaves out.

## Does this browser support HTML5 video?

Almost certainly. Every current browser supports the `<video>` element. However, codec and streaming support still varies:

Every current browser supports the HTML5 video element, MP4 with H.264, and Media Source Extensions. Native HLS playback is limited to Safari and a few mobile browsers. The interactive table on the HTML version of this page reports the visiting browser's results.

## Why isn’t HTML5 video enough?

The native `<video>` tag is enough for a short clip that plays without controls. Once viewers control playback, the gaps show up quickly.

- **Adaptive streaming.** HLS plays natively in Safari and in a few mobile browsers. DASH plays natively nowhere. Everywhere else needs a JavaScript playback engine on top of Media Source Extensions, and a way to swap engines when the source changes.
- **Consistent controls.** Chrome, Safari, and Firefox each draw their own controls. You can hide them, but you can’t restyle or rearrange them.
- **Captions, quality, speed, and chapters.** The browser gives you no menu to pick text tracks, no quality selector, no playback speed control, and no chapter markers.
- **Accessibility.** Keyboard shortcuts, focus management, screen reader labels, and reduced-motion preferences are on you the moment you replace the native controls.
- **Everything else.** Thumbnail previews, live stream UI, AirPlay and Chromecast, error recovery, playback analytics, and sources like YouTube, Vimeo, or Mux each need their own wiring.

Video.js ships each of those as a component, so you take the ones you need and keep the rest of the web platform. Read more: [Why Video.js?](https://videojs.org/docs/guides/why-videojs)

## Get started with Video.js

Here’s a basic video player you can build with Video.js:

**index.html**

```html
<script type="module" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@videojs/cdn@10.0.0-rc.4/video.js"></script>

<video-player>
  <video-skin>
    <video src="/video.mp4" playsinline></video>
  </video-skin>
</video-player>
```

**MyPlayer.tsx**

```tsx
import '@videojs/react/video/skin.css';
import { Video, VideoPlayer, VideoSkin } from '@videojs/react/video';

export function MyPlayer({ src }: { src: string }) {
  return (
    <VideoPlayer>
      <VideoSkin>
        <Video src={src} playsInline />
      </VideoSkin>
    </VideoPlayer>
  );
}
```

If you want to dive deeper, get started with our [installation guide](https://videojs.org/docs/guides/installation), which will guide you through generating a snippet that fits your use case.

Video.js 8 remains documented at [legacy.videojs.org](https://legacy.videojs.org). If you’re looking to upgrade to newer versions, start with [Migrate from Video.js 8](https://videojs.org/docs/guides/migrate-from-video-js-8).

## For AI agents

Every page on this site is available as markdown, this one included.

- `https://videojs.org/llms.txt` indexes the documentation.
- Append `.md` to any documentation URL, including this one, to get its markdown.
- Send `Accept: text/markdown` when fetching a documentation URL and you’ll get markdown back.

- [Build with AI](https://videojs.org/docs/guides/build-with-ai): How to give AI tools the context they need to build Video.js players alongside you

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All documentation: https://videojs.org/llms.txt