Simple: Can HTML5 Play a .mpd Manifest File Through Its Video Tag?

Question

I have a Movie_Manifest.mpd file that is made up of 5 .webm video streams (consisting of different sizes and bps) and 1 audio file. The question I'm asking is: can it be played through a "simple" HTML5 video tag?

I've tried this and it doesn't work:

<video controls>
  <source src = "Movie_Manifest.mpd"/>
</video>

Well it works, but it chooses the lowest quality video stream and the output is laggy. I would like it to have adaptive bit streaming. You might think, "Do you think your bandwidth is just that slow?" Yeah, my bandwidth is slow, but not that slow. And besides, when I run that low quality webm file on its own, it runs smooth.

So to reiterate:

1) Can I use a "simple" HTML5 video tag for adaptive bit streaming?

Or

2) Do I have to use an open source media player (that the video tag would be accessing through a javascript)?

Thanks and happy streaming

Answer 1

Not all browsers and mobile devices natively support MPEG-DASH ( .mpd), DASH is natively supported in Chrome (including Android 4.0+), Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 8.1, and many SmartTVs.

To answer your questions:

1) To ensure that your encoded video can stream in all environments, make sure to embed relevant client players in your application, you can find more information about Adaptive bitrate streaming here - http://cloudinary.com/documentation/video_manipulation_and_delivery#adaptive_bitrate_streaming_hls_and_mpeg_dash

2) Here is a list of open source HTML5 video players.

Answer 2

no. video tag can not play mpd, and will not do adaptative bitrate. You must write that yourself, or use a free, or commercial implementation