HTMLMediaElement.playbackRate

The HTMLMediaElement.playbackRate property sets the rate at which the media is being played back. This is used to implement user controls for fast forward, slow motion, and so forth. The normal playback rate is multiplied by this value to obtain the current rate, so a value of 1.0 indicates normal speed.

If playbackRate is negative, the media is played backwards.

The audio is muted when the media plays backwards or if the fast forward or slow motion is outside a useful range (for example, Gecko mutes the sound outside the range 0.25 to 5.0).

The pitch of the audio is corrected by default and is the same for every speed. Some browsers implement the non-standard preservespitch property to control this.

Syntax

var dSpeed = video.playbackRate;
audio.playbackRate = 1.0;

Value

A double. 1.0 is "normal speed," values lower than 1.0 make the media play slower than normal, higher values make it play faster.

Example

var obj = document.createElement('video');
console.log(obj.playbackRate); // 1

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'HTMLMediaElement.playbackRate' in that specification.
Living Standard No change from HTML5
HTML5
The definition of 'HTMLMediaElement.playbackRate' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
playbackRate property (Yes) (Yes) 20.0 (20.0) 9 ? ?
Feature Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) Firefox OS (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
defaultPlaybackRate property (Yes) (Yes) 20.0 (20.0) (Yes) ? ? ?

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: erikadoyle, markg
 Last updated by: erikadoyle,