2010Legal / Business Practices forum
Embedding video reels on websites with optimal quality and load speed in 2010
16 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
What the thread found
- Flash video at 600-800 kbps bitrate for standard definition or 1.5 mbps for 720p HD provides good quality with acceptable load times.
- Device detection via JavaScript allows serving different video formats to different platforms, such as Flash for computers and H.264 m4v files for iPhones and iPads.
- QuickTime reference files can automatically select video quality based on device and connection speed.
- H.264 compression produces sharp results even at small frame sizes like 240x176 pixels, enabling fast loading without significant quality loss.
- Horizontal compression artifacts in motion-heavy footage can result from insufficient bitrate or encoding settings.
- Internet Explorer on Windows had compatibility issues with embedded QuickTime files, requiring them to be downloaded rather than streamed.
- Load times vary significantly by browser and operating system, with Firefox and Safari typically performing better than Internet Explorer for streaming video.
Depends on
- Discussion occurred in 2010, when mobile device capabilities and web video standards were substantially different from today.
- The QuickTime reference file approach mentioned lacks implementation details.
- One user reported persistent horizontal artifacts with Flash encoding at 48 mps despite troubleshooting attempts, suggesting the issue may be codec-specific or difficult to resolve.
- Testing was limited to a small sample of devices and browsers, not comprehensive across all platforms in use at the time.
- The suggestion to use YouTube was rejected by the original poster due to quality concerns, so comparative performance data was not gathered.