How to watch Youtube videos (with h264 codec insead of VP9) in browsers?

[Stears555]

Hello!

How can I watch Youtube videos with HTML5 (with h264 codec insead of VP9) in browsers?

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Thank you for your reply!

[newpball]

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Well then your future is not going to be bright because soon Flash is going to be H.264 while HTML5 is going to be VP9.

If you want to view VP9 then your best bet is to use Google Chrome or a beta version of Firefox.

But beware with Firefox, they have been sitting on their butts for the last two years when it comes to media source extensions, it is far from stable.

Is there any reason you would like to avoid VP9?

[Stears555]

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Well then your future is not going to be bright because soon Flash is going to be H.264 while HTML5 is going to be VP9.

If you want to view VP9 then your best bet is to use Google Chrome or a beta version of Firefox.

But beware with Firefox, they have been sitting on their butts for the last two years when it comes to media source extensions, it is far from stable.

Is there any reason you would like to avoid VP9?

Because the VP9 is not better than H264

[newpball]

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Well then your future is not going to be bright because soon Flash is going to be H.264 while HTML5 is going to be VP9.

If you want to view VP9 then your best bet is to use Google Chrome or a beta version of Firefox.

But beware with Firefox, they have been sitting on their butts for the last two years when it comes to media source extensions, it is far from stable.

Is there any reason you would like to avoid VP9?

Because the VP9 is not better than H264

I suspect that VP9 on YouTube is here to stay!

If you really do not want to you could always download the H.264 version and play it locally.

[roma_turok]

Because the VP9 is not better than H264

VP9 video files 30% smaller in size from H264, because of that you have less buffering / waiting

[Stears555]

Because the VP9 is not better than H264

VP9 video files 30% smaller in size from H264, because of that you have less buffering / waiting

And the quality? Are there any PSNR information about the difference between youtube h264 and youtube vp9 videos?

[roma_turok]

From my quick test VP9 look better or same quality
You can download and check this video with Complete YouTube Saver add-on for Firefox
MP4 1080p 137MB and WebMV VP9 1080p 102MB
Play files in MPC-HC and save BMP image snapshot by File-> Save Image and compare

[roma_turok]

Screenshots comparisons
mouse out VP9, mouse over H264:
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/120458
http://www.screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/120457

[Detmek]

Hello!

How can I watch Youtube videos with HTML5 (with h264 codec insead of VP9) in browsers?

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Thank you for your reply!

1. You need the latest Firefox or Firefox based browser
2. Type about:config in address bar
3. Type mediasource in Search field

Set those values as below, if not set by default:

media.mediasource.enabled true
media.mediasource.mp4.enabled true
media.mediasource.webm.enabled false

[Stears555]

Hello!

How can I watch Youtube videos with HTML5 (with h264 codec insead of VP9) in browsers?

I would like to avoid the flash player platform.

Thank you for your reply!

1. You need the latest Firefox or Firefox based browser
2. Type about:config in address bar
3. Type mediasource in Search field

Set those values as below, if not set by default:

media.mediasource.enabled true
media.mediasource.mp4.enabled true
media.mediasource.webm.enabled false

It was the only rational and working answer.

Thank you!