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.
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>
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.
<video poster="URL" />
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| URL | URL of the poster image. |
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 |
Back to <video>
