HTMLMediaElement: canPlayType() method

{{APIRef("HTML DOM")}} 

The {{domxref("HTMLMediaElement")}}  method canPlayType() reports how likely it is that the current browser will be able to play media of a given MIME type.

Syntax

canPlayType(type)

Parameters

• type
  • : A string specifying the MIME type of the media and (optionally) a codecs parameter containing a comma-separated list of the supported codecs.

Return value

A string indicating how likely it is that the media can be played. The string will be one of the following values:

• "" (empty string)
  • : The media cannot be played on the current device.
• probably
  • : The media is probably playable on this device.
• maybe
  • : There is not enough information to determine whether the media can play (until playback is actually attempted).

Examples

let obj = document.createElement("video");
console.log(obj.canPlayType("video/mp4")); // "maybe"

Specifications

{{Specifications}} 

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}} 

See also

• {{domxref("HTMLMediaElement")}} : Interface used to define the HTMLMediaElement.canPlayType() method
• {{domxref("MediaCapabilities")}} 
• Handling media support issues in web content
• Media type and format guide
• Codecs in common media types