Looks like Google has drawn a line in the sand on H.264 video. I was just looking at a review of 2010 internet statistics and it said that Google Chrome has 15% of the browser market, vs. 5% for Safari. It looks like these patent issues around H.264 and the search for an open-source solution could really be a big deal. Meanwhile I will just keep using H.264.

Why the Future of Online Video Is in Serious Trouble [OP-ED] (http://mashable.com/2011/01/14/google-h-264-column/)

The inability for both sides to compromise will almost certainly stifle the growth of innovation surrounding HTML5 video. Why would anybody invest time and money into a technology that will only work in some browsers, when Flash is guaranteed to work in all browsers (except Mobile Safari)?

Unless both sides find a way to compromise, the future of web video will continue to be in Adobe’s hands...
Very interesting piece - thanks for sharing it!

Above, a couple lines from the conclusion of the article.

I have to take issue with some of this opinion piece. It was Apple who closed the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch to flash video, and published their "justification" that flash video decoding was too processor intensive for their vision of mobile. In my opinion, Apple unilaterally decided that they could make more money by continuing to run a closed system, like much of their market strategy.

Therefore, "the future of web video" will not "continue to be in Adobe's hands", unless one excludes from consideration the Apple/iOS segment of the mobile market. And the mobile market is a huge driver, growing rapidly.

Battle lines are being drawn, yes, but I think it's between iOS and the rest of the world (as championed by Android). It's a mobile market play. The rest of the companies referred to as h.264 patent pool participants are interested bystanders, I think the real action is between Apple and Google.

Thanks for sharing this article. I've been trying to follow what is going on with codecs and internet browsers because I have encoded and posted a ton of video to our web site. This past summer I switched from encoding in Flash to H.264 because I assumed that HTML5 was going to support H.264 and not Flash and I didn't want to have to re-encode my inventory of video which is hundreds of hours and growing. I wish someone could explain how to "future proof" my videos so that I don't get caught by shifting standards.

I have to agree with you Alan. I think many of us are in the same boat.

For the time being, I'm putting my web vids on YouTube until I figure out a workable plan to self host or use another service that is better and that I can afford. While yes, I realize there are drawbaks to youtube (vs say Vimeo), my initial and main concern is remaining accessable to all computers & devices. Youtube is supported by pretty much everything right out of the box... so that is where I am for now.

And yes, I also dread the day when I may have to re-render countless numbers of projects for a new web standard.