The simplest way to make a Web browser handle documents of types it normally doesn't know of, is to make it start an external program to view the document. There are a couple of drawbacks to this: First, the feeling of integration is lacking. The helper program shows up in a window of it's own, making it difficult to combine the document contents with other information. Also, the look and feel of the separate application may not match that of the browser. Secondly, the user will have to install the helper application, including setting up the browser to call it for appropriate document types. For novice users, this may incur problems, as may the task of identifying and retrieving the application.
The problem of integration may be solved to a certain extent by specifying protocols for how external applications may use a subwindow of the browser. Ideally, the protocol should include some negotiation of the proper window size.
The benefit of using external helper applications, is that one may use highly specialized, already existing programs.
The rest of this chapter will discuss methods for integrating video within the browser window.