

Why YouTube's HTML5 Player Sucks - ChrisMorrisCo
http://chrismorris.co/2012/02/08/why-youtubes-html5-player-sucks/

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droithomme
I have run into all the same problems, also I don't like the loss of full
screen video. HTML5 video is simply not an adequate replacement for Flash, end
of story.

I've found that many people who believe things work fine joined the HTML5 opt-
in trial, but don't realize that HTML5 only works on some videos and Flash is
still being used for others. Most videos seem to be only available in Flash
even with the trial enabled. Right clicking on the video reveals which it is
if there is any doubt.

A YouTube engineer discussed some of the issues a couple years back:
<http://apiblog.youtube.com/2010/06/flash-and-html5-tag.html>. At the time
Hulu had similar comments about HTML5 video capabilities:
<http://blog.hulu.com/2010/05/13/pardon-our-dust/>. A more recent post from a
few months ago by YouTube staff on the subject is here:
[http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/11/youtubes-
html5-play...](http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/11/youtubes-html5-player-
gets-better.html)

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
I agree. They've done such a good job in mimicking the look of the Flash
player than many in the HTML5 opt-in probably don't realise half the videos
they watch are presented in Flash.

Thanks for the links, very interesting reads. I agree that the HTML5 player
has vastly improved, but if the issues I'm experiencing with the player now
persist, I don't think that it's nearly ready to replace Flash - or, I don't
think they should.

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jinushaun
It's not a YouTube issue, but a browser issue. HTML5 video was rushed and
poorly implemented by the browser makers. I'm a Chrome user, so I can't speak
for the Firefox and IE experience, but this awful user experience is true
whenever I watch any HTML 5 video in Chrome. It's extremely frustrating,
especially when it's missing simple things like buffering, caching and
continuing download on pause. Give me Flash video any day.

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
You may be right, however, some people haven't experienced the caching issue
when using the same browser and version that I was using at the time of this
post (Chrome 17 just came out), which makes me wonder if the download
limitation was implemented by YouTube to conserve bandwidth should a user
click off the video early, thus saving YouTube from sending the entire video
to the user when they're not going to watch it.

Interestingly, my caching issue seems to have disappeared since updating to
Chrome 17. I need to do some more tests, though.

I think you're right, though, more likely to be browser issues more so than
YouTube issues.

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xpose2000
Interesting take. I've always experienced caching issues of the video buffer
not buffering correctly. This has happened ever since they introduced 1080
content. I generally only go to 720p if I ever want to actually finishing
watching the video.

It could be that their servers just cant keep up with the 1080p feed. It would
need a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it.

However, there is one great feature with their new player.

I have 3 monitors and when I fullscreen a video on one monitor, I can continue
watching it and click away and work on another monitor and it is still
maximized.

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
So you've had that caching issue with Flash as well? I'm wondering if it's
YouTube setting a limit to how much video can be downloaded in the case that
the user clicks off the video early, thus saving bandwidth. If it is, then I
simply won't be able to use YouTube HD anymore.

That's really good, re: multiple monitors. That's one thing that really bugged
me about Flash.

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decadentcactus
I'm not having these particular issues except for the timing one, but I'm
definitely not a fan of the HTML5 player (yet). I'd also like to use it but
it's just nowhere near as good.

Videos open and pause at 0, and no matter what I do I can't get them to play
unless I reload until I get the flash player. Seeking is pretty wonky. As well
a couple of weeks ago it used a different sound output than flash (Flash would
use what my music did, the headset, but the HTML5 player would try to use my
speakers, which were off. Seems to have improved now).

Just hoping it improves significantly in the future.

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
That's interesting. So you can use 1080p just fine? May I ask what download
rate you generally get when browsing YouTube?

I didn't have any issues with the sound, but my computers all have one sound
output apart from one which is connected to a sound system. I plug my headset
into the sound system, though, so I've never had an issue.

Seems people aren't getting a uniform experience at all =/.

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ChrisMorrisCo
I'd love to hear if anyone else is having these issues, because it's really
frustrating me.

~~~
CrazedGeek
I don't have the buffering issues on Firefox 10. Everything else happens
though. (The cursor not hiding can be avoided by moving it to the bottom-right
corner of the screen, which effectively hides it.)

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
I haven't tried on Windows, but on my Mac my dock is set on the right-hand
side of my screen. This means that if I move the mouse to the bottom-right or
top-right corner, the dock sometimes pops up if I'm not careful. I can't move
it to the other side either because the mouse hit's the wall, so to speak. I
think I just have to get used to it.

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ninjo
Is anyone else finding this guy's site lags when scrolling? In Chrome any time
the top banner is visible it lags. In Opera the whole page is unusable because
to take 3-4 seconds to scroll,

Is there just too much CSS?

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
Hmm, it might be that I've used two large background images plus transparency
on top of them. I may have to re-design. Sorry about that. It's still a work
in progress, actually, so if you change your browser width to below around
760px, the CSS should disappear.

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aslewofmice
It looks like they fixed the bug, but for about 3 days a week ago I couldn't
skip to different points in any video I've viewed in full screen without
Chrome crashing. It was enough to almost push me back to Firefox...

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
I'm still having some problems with the player, but I've updated to Chrome 17
and my caching issue seems to have gone away. Not sure what the cause was.

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julieturner
i hadn't noticed any issue other than the cursor not going away, but i'd trade
all of your gripes for the significantly decreased CPU usage (and heat output)
of the HTML5 player vs the Flash player.

~~~
ChrisMorrisCo
That's a good point. However, the downside to HTML5 is that if your computer
freezes for a moment, the video continues playing and you may have to rewind a
few moments. Flash tends to pause the video when a computer freezes.

I haven't noticed my computer overheat nearly as much as it did with Flash,
though, so that's great.

