We will reconsider this once support has been added. Note: Firefox currently uses OpenH264 only for WebRTC and not for the tag, because OpenH264 does not yet support the high profile format frequently used for streaming video. And while OpenH264 is not truly open, at least it is the most open widely used video codec. We will continue to work on fully open codecs and alternatives to H.264 (such as Daala), but for the time being we think that OpenH264 is a significant victory for the open Web because it allows any Internet-connected application to use the most popular video format. Here is how Jonathan Rosenberg, Cisco’s Chief Technology Officer for Collaboration, described today’s milestone: “Cisco is excited to see OpenH264 become available to Firefox users, who will then benefit from interoperability with the millions of video communications devices in production that support H.264”. OpenH264 H.264 baseline profile encoding and decoding x265 An encoder based on the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) standard. Other Internet-connected applications can rely on it as well. x264 is not a codec (encoder/decoder) it is just an encoder (it cannot decode video).

Cisco has published the source code of OpenH264 on Github and Mozilla and Cisco have established a process by which the binary is verified as having been built from the publicly available source, thereby enhancing the transparency and trustworthiness of the system. It is released under the terms of the Simplified BSD License. Instead, Cisco has agreed to distribute OpenH264, a free H.264 codec plugin that Firefox downloads directly from Cisco. OpenH264 is a free software library for real-time encoding and decoding video streams in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. We want anyone to be able to distribute Firefox without paying the MPEG LA. Because H.264 implementations are subject to a royalty bearing patent license and Mozilla is an open source project, we are unable to ship H.264 in Firefox directly. The way we have structured support for H.264 with Cisco is quite interesting and noteworthy. Firefox users are best served if we offer a video codec in WebRTC that maximises interoperability, and since much existing telecommunication infrastructure uses H.264 we think this step makes sense. Mozilla continues to support the VP8 video format, but we feel that VP8 has failed to gain sufficient adoption to replace H.264. Unfortunately, no royalty-free codec has managed to get enough adoption to become a serious competitor to H.264. Mozilla has always been an advocate for an open Web without proprietary controls and technologies. Today in collaboration with Cisco we are shipping support for H.264 in our WebRTC implementation. The Web is an open ecosystem, generally free of proprietary control and technologies- except for video.

Openh264 video codec