[whatwg] <video> element feedback

[Eric Carlson]

On Mar 24, 2007, at 12:44 AM, Michael Dale wrote:

> Eric Carlson wrote:
>>    Yes, the UA needs the offset/chunking table in order to  
>> calculate a file offset for a time, but this is efficient in the  
>> case of container formats in which the table is stored together  
>> with other information that's needed to play the file. This is not  
>> the case for all container formats, of course.
>>
>>  The UA would first use byte range requests to download the header.  
>> If the information is stored somewhere other than the beginning of  
>> the file, it may take several byterange requests to find it, but  
>> this is not much less efficient with ISO-derived or RIFF type  
>> formats. Once is has the headers, it will able to calculate the  
>> offset for any time in the file and it can request and play the  
>> media for *any* time range in the file.
>>
>>  This scheme has the added benefit of not requiring the header to  
>> be downloaded again if the user requests another time range in the  
>> same file.
> There is no reason why both methods can't be supported.

   Absolutely, each method has strengths and weaknesses.

eric