Embedded FLV video players: Flowplayer and JW Player

Over the past several months, I have worked with both Flowplayer and JW Player as embedded FLV video players.

Why wouldn’t you just upload your videos to YouTube and use their embedded player? That’s a pretty fair question, as I think YouTube provides:

  • An excellent player that your users are already familiar with
  • A variety of options to control the appearance (e.g. you can disable related videos)
  • High-availability bandwidth

Of course there are several drawbacks:

  • Limits on length and file size
  • Critical infrastructure is no longer in your control
  • Their logo appears on your site
  • Progressive download only (no streaming)

Let’s take a look at both Flowplayer and JW Player:
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