Google this week added support for HTML5 playback of videos in its own Chrome browser as well as Safari from Apple. The new feature allows users to watch video without the longstanding Internet standard: Adobe Flash.
YouTube’s HTML5 support is offered through a beta opt-in program and is currently only available with browsers that support both HTML5 and H.264 video encoding.
This limits the beta to Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari browsers. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is also supported if Google’s Chrome Frame is installed.
The HTML5 player fully replaces the Flash player for most videos on the site, but some limitations do exist. Videos with advertisements are currently not supported, and will play instead in the Flash player. Fullscreen playback is also not yet supported.