# video's; ''h'' and ''g'' for start and stop

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 16, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118 "2016-09-16T23:36:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118/1 "2016-09-16T23:36:23Z")

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Some online videos, [smithsonianmag.com](http://smithsonianmag.com) for example, have a ‘‘h’’ and ‘‘g’’ for start and stop and some other letters for other functions. I think I have figured them all out except for the ‘wh-’ questions. Where, when, who and why are they different from older features?

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118/2 "2016-09-21T00:22:59Z")

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I was just looking at a video with Chrome and it did not have the ‘‘h’’ and ‘‘g’’ for start and stop and the other letters for other functions but rather the more familiar, to me anyway, black right arrow for start, two bold vertical lines for stop. Familiar old stuff. Then I tried it with Edge. Same familiar symbols. It is only my Firefox that gives me the letters.

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**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118/3 "2016-09-21T21:02:47Z")

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Are you talking about video _players_? Different browsers use different players, simple as that.

Or are you asking why specifically ‘h’ and ‘g’ keys? They are assuming your input device has nothing but a standard typewriter keyboard, and h and g have beed used as ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ for a long time, dating back to text terminals.

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videos-h-and-g-for-start-and-stop/766118/4 "2016-09-21T21:56:32Z")

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Thanks.