Any way to play an .mkv file in the browser?

Question

Im building an admin interface for a site, and it would be a great benefit if I could play mkv files in the browser, instead of downloading and then playing them. This doesn't have to be a mainstream technology, since only 3 people will be using the interface.

Solution

VLC Media Player can install a plugin for Mozilla, so you can actually play everything VLC can play, but in your browser. Check out the documentation on this plugin:

VLC can also be embedded in a web browser ! For the moment, this function is only available with Mozilla under GNU/Linux. An experimental plugin is also available for Mac OS X and Microsft Windows.

Comments

[fretje]

Won't the plugin still download the file first and then play it? Or does the file actually get streamed to the client (although I think you would need something on the server for that to work)?

[akira]

the content of the file has to be streamed to the decoder ALWAYS. if that decoder is vlc or flash doesnt matter. and i think the problem this time is more the 'download the file, save it somewhere, hit the right icon to finally play it' than the transport of the content (intranet maybe?).

[user11955]

This works.... kind of. Its not very reliable, and it freezes after a few seconds, when playing high def files especially. But I guess it will have to do.