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HTML <video> poster Attribute

The poster attribute on a <video> tag specifies the URL or path of an image which will be displayed before the video plays. This is called a poster image.

If not specified, the first frame from the video will be displayed.

Example

#

A poster attribute on a <video> element. A Playing Soon image is displayed while the video has not started yet.

<video poster="/img/html/playing-soon.png"
       width="320" height="240" controls>
  <source src="/media/movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <source src="/media/movie.ogg" type="video/ogg">
</video>

Using poster

The poster attribute specifies a poster image that displays while the video is loading or before it is started.

This attribute accepts the URL or path of the poster image.

Starting the video will permanently remove the poster image.

If no poster image is specified, the first frame of the video will be displayed instead, that is, if the video file is partially or completely preloaded.


Syntax

<video poster="URL" />

Values

#

Value Description
URL URL of the poster image.

Browser support

Here is when poster support started for each browser:

Chrome
4.0 Jan 2010
Firefox
3.6 Jan 2010
IE/Edge
9.0 Mar 2011
Opera
10.5 Mar 2010
Safari
3.1 Mar 2008

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Author: Jack Poorte
Published: Jun 20 2021
Last Reviewed: Sep 30 2023


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