HTML5 Video Summit Agenda

Susan Panico, Senior Director, PlayStation Network

The leading web browsers, along with the myriad devices that use them to access video, are ready, willing, and able to standardize on HTML5 for video playback, if only the industry would reach consensus on the specifics. The problem is that opposing sides have drawn battle lines over which video and audio codecs should be used to enable automatic playback via HTML5. This session will demystify the complexities of HTML5, H.264, WebM, and how they're all tied together.

Learn the technological fundamentals behind encoding both H.264 and WebM formats for playback with the HTML5 <video> tag. Learn the basics of H.264 and WebM encoding and how to produce it for HTML5 distribution. In addition, see how the various H.264 and WebM encoding tools compare in regard to performance, quality, and features.

This session brings four leading companies—Adobe, Unicorn Media, Kaltura, and Brightcove—to the table for an interactive Q&A with the audience.  In addition to questions being addressed in person, this session will be broadcast as a Streaming Media Live Web Event, bringing in hundreds of minds from around the world to join in the discussion.

This live coding session will demonstrate how to develop from scratch your own interface for HTML5 video, including embedding a video using HTML5, building custom controls using the JavaScript API, fallback strategies for older browsers and devices, and fixing known playback bugs on the iPhone and Android. By the end of the session you should feel comfortable adding HTML5 video to your own site.

Microsoft Media Platform is a complete set of technologies for digital media encoding, protection, delivery, and playback. In this session we will explore the role of HTML5 in the Microsoft Media Platform: encoding HTML5-compatible media content using Expression Encoder; delivering media to HTML5 browsers over HTTP networks using IIS Media Services; playing back video and audio in Internet Explorer with full utilization of hardware-accelerated decoding; building HTML5 player applications using the MMP Player Framework; and finally, leveraging the intuitiveness and simplicity of HTML5 to build rich media apps for Windows 8.

This seminar starts by detailing the playback specs for all iDevices, old and new. Then, it shares the strategies used by prominent iTunes publishers to serve the complete range of installed iDevices. Next, the seminar switches to cellular wireless delivery, with a technical description of Apple's HTTP Live Streaming, including recommendations for the number of streams and Apple's encoding parameters. The seminar concludes with a review of encoding options for HTTP Live Streaming and techniques for serving multiple target platforms such as Flash and iDevices with one set of encoded H.264 files.

With major media sites such as YouTube, The New York Times, Flickr, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Vimeo now offering HTML5 video players, and Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera web browsers rapidly adding HTML5 features, it’s time to consider what HTML5 offers in comparison to competing proprietary technologies such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Sun’s JavaFX. What are the implications for your business? What tools are available for effectively using HTML5 multimedia elements? What are the trade-offs? This session looks at the current state of the market and discusses how you can expect HTML5 video to impact your business.

While many publishers have yet to fully embrace HTML5 video, plenty of leading media companies and small publishers alike have made the transition. This session will present three publishers who have successfully deployed HTML5 video, and they’ll talk about the challenges they faced during the transition and share what they’ve learned along the way.

Matthew Strauss, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Comcast Interactive Media

Flash is dead. Long live HTML5. Or not? There has been a lot of misinformation spread by advocates of both standards and plug-ins. In this session, you will learn the benefits and disadvantages to deploying online video with HTML5, Adobe Flash Player, and Microsoft Silverlight. Topics include codec decisions (AVC/H.264, WebM/VP8, and others), licensing, and deployment scenarios (progressive download, adaptive HTTP streaming, and more).

Based on the VP8 codec, Google's WebM is an open, royalty-free media format designed specifically with HTML5 delivery in mind. Since its introduction in 2010, it's been a key component of HTML5, and Google has been a major player in the entire HTML5 initiative. In this session, representatives from Google will update you on the latest developments with the format itself as well as adoption and its place in the HTML5 ecosystem.

While most discussion has been on the <video> tag, there are many other HTML5 features useful for both in scalable HTML5 video players as well as advanced web applications. This session will take a look at HTML5 platform developments and practical application of HTML5 components including feature detection, geolocation, local storage, offline content, cross domain communication, and others.

HTML5 today is akin to where Flash was in 2002 — it isn’t very useful for providing a very feature-rich playback experience, nor does it offer much in the way of UI, playlists, thumbnails, promotional tools, monetization, and DRM or content protection. This forward-looking session looks at what needs to happen in order to make the entire HTML5 video experience truly compelling to publishers, users, and advertisers.