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Reverse Image Search for HTML5 Video

Captain! is a free browser extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox that enables you to run reserve image searches for HTML5 video frames.

Reverse image searches are quite useful, not only if you want to find out if someone copied your images without permission, but also to find out more about an image.

Take a wallpaper depicting a famous painting for instance. If name and tags don't reveal the painting's title or its artist, then you can run a reverse image search to find out about it.

Reverse Image searches using videos involved a lengthy process up until now. You had to play the video, capture a screenshot of the scene you are interested in, visit one of the reverse image search engines, and use controls on the service's page to have it analyzed by the service in question.

Reverse Image Search for HTML5 Videos

reverse image search html5 video

Captain! simplifies this, at least for streaming HTML5 videos that you play in Firefox, Google Chrome, or compatible web browsers.

The extension adds controls to HTML5 videos that you can make use of to run a reverse image search for the selected video frame.

A quick test on popular sites such as YouTube and Vimeo revealed that it worked fine on those sites in both supported browsers.

Basically, what you do is pause the video at the position that you are interested in. Right-click afterwards, select the extension's entry, then "search for this on", and then one of the five supported reverse image search engines.

The extension supports Google Images, TinEye, iqdb, iqdb3D and SauceNAO currently. Depending on the video source, the frame may either be uploaded directly to the service, or you are informed that the video format could not be processed and that you need to save and upload it manually.

You are redirected to the service afterwards to get results right away, or save the frame manually and use the controls on the reverse image search site to upload the image.

One difference between the Chrome and Firefox extension is that the Chrome version supports automatic uploads while the Firefox version does not.

You may use Captain! to save frames of HTML5 videos as well. It is another option displayed by the extension's menu.

A click on the icon of the extension displays three preferences:

  1. Set when the extension's menu is displayed (on video and image right-clicks, or only one one of them).
  2. Save image frames automatically to the default download folder, or prompt whenever a frame is saved instead.
  3. Display an alternative context menu. This option is useful if a site prevents the default context menu from showing up.

You can download and install Captain! on Firefox AMO or the Chrome Web Store.

Closing Words

Captain! is a useful extension that enables you to run reverse image searches for HTML5 video frames. You may use the extension to identify actors or items in videos for instance.

While you can run those searches manually, Captain! simplifies the process greatly.

 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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