Video canPlayType() Method

HTML DOM Video Object

Definition and Usage

canPlayType() Method checks if the browser can play the specified video type.

canPlayType() The method can return one of the following values:

  • "probably" - The browser is most likely to support this video type
  • "maybe" - The browser may support this video type
  • "" - (empty string) The browser does not support this video type

Example

Check if your browser can play different types of video:

var x = document.createElement("VIDEO");
isSupp = x.canPlayType(vidType+';codecs="'+codType+'"');

Try it yourself

Syntax

videoObject.canPlayType(type)

Parameter

Parameter Description
type

Define the video types (and optional codecs) to be tested.

Common values:

  • video/ogg
  • video/mp4
  • video/webm

Common values, including codecs:

  • video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"
  • video/mp4; codecs="avc1.4D401E, mp4a.40.2"
  • video/webm; codecs="vp8.0, vorbis"

Note:If the codec is included, this method can only return "probably".

Technical Details

Return value:

String values representing support levels. Possible return values:

  • "probably" - Most likely supported
  • "maybe" - May be supported
  • "" (empty string) - Not supported

Browser Support

Chrome Edge Firefox Safari Opera
Chrome Edge Firefox Safari Opera
Support 9.0 Support Support Support

HTML DOM Video Object