Encoding.com Offers HTML5 Preset Options for Ogg Theora, WebM VP8 on H.264

Encoding.com, one of the coolest places to do quick transcoding of video online, or online video for that matter, have just announced several new presets aimed at the HTML5 video market. This should make things easier for everyone using the service and wanting to support HTMl5 and the mess that is the codec situation at present.

So Encoding.com have expanded their video format library to include WebM and Ogg Theora.  That means they now cover all formats usable in HTML5 and are certainly set for the future as I doubt there will be more codecs introduced any time on. They already had H.264 encoding. The new presets make it quick and easy to transcode your videos to be usable by all HTML5 browsers and mobile devices including Apple iOS devices as well as Android, Blackberry and more.

SEE ALSO: Get Rolling With WebM Video - VP8 Encoding Tools for WebM

We're all too familiar with the lack of a single codec for HTML5 at present. So by including them all Encoding.com seems to be hedging their bets and making sure that there's no reason not to use them. You can certainly encode for just about every platform there now. Both the Ogg Theora and the new WebM presets use the Vorbis Audio codec as one might expect.

"While the new HTML5 standard provides exciting new features for presenting content on the Internet, its inherent openness for multiple video and audio codecs, and lack of unified standards across browsers, also adds complexity for content providers," said Jeff Malkin, Encoding.com president. "Encoding.com's simple presets for all popular formats, and the ability to generate multiple encodes from a single API call, enables content providers to focus on their core competencies while we ensure their videos can be consumed on any browser.”

It's nice to see a major player just cover it all at once instead of trying to throw their support behind a single codec. However, it also helps to continue the muddled situation. Then again, considering that they already support the major codecs which are not freely available, this was obviously just a move to offer wider services to their user base and prevent any other similar service from cutting into their market share. I doubt their decision had anything really to do with open standards, licensing fees or all of those other things that the rest of us are worried about. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, business is business after all. Besides, they must already pay hefty licensing fees for all the other codecs, they might as well include the totally free ones, right?

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