The HTMLMediaElement.canPlayType() method determines whether the specified media type can be played back.
Note: This feature is not available in Web Workers.
Syntax
str = audioOrVideo.canPlayType(mediaType);
Parameters
- mediaType
- A
DOMStringcontaining the MIME type of the media.
Return value
A String. Possible values are:
'probably': The specified media type appears to be playable.'maybe': Cannot tell if the media type is playable without playing it.''(empty string): The specified media type definitely cannot be played.
Note: Previously canPlayType('video/webm') returned 'probably'. Starting with Gecko 28 (Firefox 28 / Thunderbird 28 / SeaMonkey 2.25 / Firefox OS 1.3), it returns 'maybe'. (bug 884275)
Example
var obj = document.createElement('video');
console.log(obj.canPlayType('video/mp4')); // "maybe"
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of 'HTMLMediaElement.canplaytype' in that specification. |
Living Standard | No change from HTML5 |
| HTML5 The definition of 'HTMLMediaElement.canplaytype' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | 3.5 (1.9.1) [1] | 9 | ? | ? |
| Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | Firefox OS (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | ? | (Yes) | (Yes) |
[1] The NETWORK_LOADED state was removed to align with the HTML spec in Gecko 2.0 (Firefox 4 / Thunderbird 3.3 / SeaMonkey 2.1).
See also
- The interface defining it,
HTMLMediaElement.