02-18-2010
Try our new HTML5 player! on Vimeo
For those of your who like your video in HTML5 you will be happy to know that Vimeo has started to beta test it, and you can try it out now… assuming you you fall into the 25% that has the right browser and are viewing one that is compatible.
What are the benefits?
- The player loads right away — no more spinning butterfly thingy
- You can jump anywhere in the video, without having to wait for it to buffer
- Smoother, less jumpy playback (hopefully)
Some drawbacks:
- It’s a beta test — it might be buggy!
- It only works for about 25% of you: you must be running the latest versions of Safari, Chrome, or IE with Chrome Frame installed.
- It cannot go full screen. Unfortunately this is a limitation of the browsers right now. We are working on adding at least full-window support in the next day or so.
- It only works on Vimeo.com right now, embed code will still be Flash.
- “Only” 90% of videos uploaded in the last year will work in the new player. All told, about 35% of all videos will still require the standard Flash player. In this case, Vimeo will automatically switch for you. It should just always work.
Here is one for a video that works, just look for the ‘Switch to HTML5 player’ link below the video