Playback error
A playback error is any failure the video player reports while trying to load or play a video, from a missing file or expired token to an unsupported codec or a DRM license refusal. Each error carries a code, a short message and technical context so engineers can trace the cause.
Why it matters
Errors are the most direct way to lose a viewer: the video simply does not play. A bad player release, expired certificate or misconfigured DRM can affect thousands of viewers within minutes. Fast detection by code, device and browser limits the damage and the support tickets. Teams using FastPix Video Data can trace an error spike to one release, browser or DRM type, because it captures 56 dimensions per session, including player version.
How it works
- The player hits a problem, such as a missing file, network failure, unsupported format or DRM refusal.
- It raises an error event with a code and a short message.
- The analytics SDK attaches the error to the view, along with device, browser and video details.
- Errors are grouped by code and dimension so teams can see which one is spreading.
What are the most common video playback errors?
The most common playback errors are network failures, unsupported formats or codecs, decode failures, expired or invalid access tokens and DRM license errors. In web browsers, the standard media errors cover four cases: the fetch was aborted, a network error occurred, decoding failed, or the source is not supported. Players add their own codes for streaming and DRM problems.
How do I fix a video that won't play?
Start by reading the error code and message, then check which devices and browsers are affected. Errors on one browser usually mean a format or codec problem. Errors everywhere after a release point to the player or the video URL. Errors only on protected content suggest an expired token, certificate or DRM license.
Where it's used
OTT services and video platforms break errors down by code, device and browser to catch a bad player release or an expired certificate within minutes instead of days.
Where it usually goes wrong, and how FastPix handles it
Error counts without context tell teams something broke but not where, so they spend hours reproducing problems that only affect one browser, device or player version.
Error code, message and context are stored for each view in FastPix Video Data, and any view with an error is flagged. Errors can be broken down by device, browser, player version and other dimensions. That turns hours of reproducing a bug into a direct look at the affected release, so fewer viewers and support tickets are hit.
By the numbers
- The HTML media standard defines four MediaError codes that browsers report: aborted (1), network (2), decode (3) and source not supported (4). (MediaError: code property (MDN))
