A MediaElement object is basically a rectangular region that can display video on its surface, or play audio (in which case there is no video displayed, but the MediaElement still acts as a player object with appropriate APIs). Because it is a UIElement object, a MediaElement supports input operations such as mouse and keyboard events, and can capture focus or the mouse. You can specify the height and width of the video display surface by using the UIElement properties Height and Width. However, for best performance, avoid explicitly setting the width and height of a MediaElement. Instead, leave the values unset. Once you specify a source, the media will display at its natural size, and layout will recalculate the size. If you need to change the size the media displays, it is best to re-encode the media to the desired size by using a media encoding tool.
By default, the media that is defined by the Source property plays immediately after the MediaElement object has loaded. To suppress the media from starting automatically, set the AutoPlay property to false.
Silverlight does not support all media formats and protocols. For more information, see Supported Media Formats and Protocols.
In networks where a proxy server exists, special settings on the client may be required before streaming will work in Silverlight. For more information, see Supported Media Formats and Protocols.