JW Player V4 Overview
What is the JW Player?
The JW Player is an open-source embeddable media player for web sites, supporting many commonly-used audio and video formats. The player is easy to configure, customize and extend.
This document refers to the older JW Player V4 for Flash. For information on the current player, including support for HTML5, please see the JW Player V5 Overview.
Major Features:
- Skinnable graphics, giving publishers the ability to customize the player's look and feel
- A flexible JavaScript API, providing an interface for developers to create rich interactions with the player
- Support for Flash Plugins, allowing for deeper player customizations
- Support for streaming video protocols (RTMP and HTTP pseudo-streaming)
- Support for multiple XML Playlist formats such as mRSS and XSPF.
- For RTMP streaming, automated bitrate switching logic provides users with the optimal video size for their bandwidth and screen size.
For more information on player features, see Configuration Options.
Supported Audio and Video Formats
The JW Player can play all video and audio formats supported by Flash, including:
- FLV / F4V
- H.264 / MP4
- MP3
- AAC
A full list of file formats supported in the V4 player can be found here.
Skins
The player's default look-and-feel can be altered by using a skin. A number of skins are available for download in our AddOns library (search for skins labeld "JW4").
For an in-depth look at the V4 player skinning model, see JW Player V4 Skinning.
Plugins
The JW Player includes support for Flash plugins which extend the functionality of the player. These plugins are hosted by LongTail Video, and can added into a player simply by setting a few configuration options. A full list of available plugins is available in our AddOns library.
Developers who wish to start building plugins should see the Building Flash Plugins document on our developer site.