Even if Flash isn't present on your computer, it's an easy in-place browser download, unlike, say, a QuickTime install. In this hostile environment, it's no wonder that YouTube elected to cut the gordian knot of video codecs: they chose Flash Video, which "just works" on most computers. It makes the current format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD look like a walk in the park. Imagine a poor user trying to view a RealVideo clip in this day and age. What version of QuickTime? What version of Windows Media? Which MPEG-4 implementation? And this is only a partial list of the popular codecs. ![]() It doesn't seem like such a large list, until you consider that there are dozens of variants for each codec. Here are a few of the more popular video codecs you're likely to encounter out in the wild: ![]() Just take a look at all the choices in Yahoo's web-based Media Helper:Īs the old saying goes, we love standards: that's why we have so many of them. It's even more of a problem on the web, where users can run any combination of operating system and browser. You'll have to find, download, and install the proper codec first. ![]() You must have the correct video codec installed, the same video codec that the clip was encoded with. Playing video on a computer has always been a crapshoot. Did YouTube Cut the Gordian Knot of Video Codecs?
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