Member Avatar for ggeoff

Hi

It seems that my video files are not working or are distorted (loss of aspect ratio or width) when viewed in Firefox and also Safari (who want to charge for a plugin). Chrome under XP Pro only shows about a quarter of the video but the right scale and aspect ratio.

I need users to be able to play video files without the hassle of downloading or enabling a plugin or being restricted to one browser. My neighbour has suggested that it's getting worse as due to the EU Microsoft may no longer include Windows Media Player with its OS. I should be able to convert WMF format to another more universal format. What format would be best?

Thanks

Geoff

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As hinted, the practical route is to stop relying on Windows Media playback in the browser and deliver files in modern, web-native formats. An H.264 video in an MP4 container is the most compatible baseline across desktop and mobile; add a WebM (VP8/VP9) fallback for browsers that prefer open codecs. Embed both with the HTML5 <video> element so browsers pick what they support and no plugin is needed. (caniuse.com)

The distortion described by (wrong aspect ratio, only part of the frame visible) is usually an encoding or pixel-aspect issue rather than a browser bug. Many WMV/ASF files are anamorphic (non‑square pixels) or use uncommon pixel formats; CSS sizing can also clip or stretch the displayed frame. Inspect the original with MediaInfo or ffprobe for stored width/height and SAR/DAR, then transcode to square pixels and a web-friendly codec. Example ffmpeg command that fixes SAR, converts to H.264+AAC and forces a broadly compatible pixel format:

ffmpeg -i input.wmv -vf "setsar=1,scale=1280:720" -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -preset medium -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

Using setsar=1 makes pixels square so the display aspect ratio is correct; -pix_fmt yuv420p improves playback on older devices. (openwebsite.github.io)

Final delivery notes: serve correct MIME types (video/mp4, video/webm), enable HTTP byte-range responses so seeking and progressive playback work, and include multiple <source> entries plus a simple fallback link or small HTML5 player (video.js) if consistent controls are required. After conversion, plugin prompts in Safari or missing frames in Chrome/XP should disappear; if not, re-check the file’s metadata and any CSS rules affecting the video element. (developer.mozilla.org)

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Member Avatar for mattskills

Mp4 is the web standard these days as it is cross browser and cross platform compatible . And for embedding mp4 videos you can use jwplayer (which can be downloaded for free from jwplayer.com and uploaded to your website ) which again will work across all browsers and operating systems including mobile

Member Avatar for ggeoff

Thanks mattskills. Unless anyone has anything else to add you seemed to have solved this question.

Geoff

Edited by ggeoff because: typo
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