Browser playback
Also known as: web playback, in-browser video
Video running in a tab rather than a native application, where the constraints are tighter and the supported formats are fewer.
Updated
What it means
A browser is a narrower player than a desktop application. It supports a short list of containers and codecs, and anything outside that list simply does not appear on the page. There is no codec to install.
The practical result is a two-format world. An MP4 with H.264 plays everywhere; almost everything else depends on which browser somebody opened and on which version of it they have.
It matters because it is the default. Most people watch a delivered video in a tab before they ever download it, so browser support decides the first impression entirely.
How it works in practice
H.264 in MP4 is the delivery answer. H.264 (AVC) is decoded by every browser and by hardware on every device, which is why it remains the safe choice long after better codecs existed.
Newer codecs need a fallback. AV1 and VP9 are more efficient and not universal, so a service offering them keeps an H.264 version for anybody whose browser declines the newer one.
Progressive delivery beats one large file. A video served so it can start before it has finished arriving is what makes a long clip watchable on a slow connection rather than a wait.
What to watch out for
HEVC is the recurring gap. HEVC support in browser is inconsistent enough that an H.265 file is a reliable way to show somebody a black rectangle. The file is fine and unplayable.
Phone browsers add their own rules. Autoplay, inline playback and audio are all restricted differently, and a video that works on a laptop can refuse to start on a phone in the same tab.
Hardware matters as much as the browser. Software decoding a 4K stream drains a battery and produces Stutter, where the same file with hardware support plays without any effort at all.
How RawClip handles it
Delivered results are encoded for exactly this: a widely supported codec in a common container, at a resolution that plays in a tab without preparation. The intent is that a link opens and plays rather than needing a download and an application first.