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> I vastly prefer offline media players to browser-based tools Why don't browsers provide some way to play local video files, for example by typing "file:///c:

> I vastly prefer offline media players to browser-based tools Why don't browsers provide some way to play local video files, for example by typing "file:///c:/my_video.flv" into the address bar. After all, the browser certainly includes the ability to play the video being downloaded off the web. If you try "file:///c:/my_video.flv" with Firefox, it opens a dialog box offering to pass the video file to whatever external media players you have installed. In what seems inconsistent to me, "file:///c:/my_notes.txt" and "file:///c:/my_pic.jpg" will be rendered correctly by Firefox -- it won't offer to open an external text editor or photo viewer. Why is video different?

viart 12y ago
Chromium browser let's you do this. It is how I stream my videos over chromecast. It also let's you browse your filesystem.
- shutupalready 12y ago
  I tried Google Chrome (v29 on Windows, fwiw), and it behaves just like Firefox; i.e., it'll render local text or image files but won't play local videos. I didn't try Chromium.
  - viart 12y ago
    I'm using Chromium Version 38. It works for most videos but I have had some the audio did not work for.
  - zants 12y ago
    You're right that FLVs don't work (it'll simply "re-download" the video). However, MP4s and WEBMs work fine (probably several other formats as well).
kuschku 12y ago
Works perfectly for me in Firefox: http://i.imgur.com/iCdmZhF.png http://i.imgur.com/iCdmZhF.png
drummer32 12y ago
Browsers don't natively handle .flv files, they hand off the file to the flash plugin. If you try that with files the browser can handle (.mp4 videos, .mp3 music, .png images, etc.) you'll see that it works fine.