mirror of
https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv
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Remove section about containers. Its contents are non-informative, redundant,
outdated and generally not worth the trouble. git-svn-id: svn://svn.mplayerhq.hu/mplayer/trunk@27771 b3059339-0415-0410-9bf9-f77b7e298cf2
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diego
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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<!-- $Revision$ -->
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<chapter id="containers">
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<title>Containers</title>
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<para>
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It is important to clarify a common mistake. When people see a file with a
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<filename>.AVI</filename> extension, they immediately conclude that it is
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not an MPEG file. That is not true. At least not entirely. Contrary to
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popular belief such a file <emphasis>can</emphasis> contain MPEG-1 video.
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</para>
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<para>
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You see, a <emphasis role="bold">codec</emphasis> is not the same as a
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<emphasis role="bold">container format</emphasis>.
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Examples of video <emphasis role="bold">codecs</emphasis> are: MPEG-1, MPEG-2,
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MPEG-4 (DivX), Indeo5, 3ivx.
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Examples of container <emphasis role="bold">formats</emphasis> are:
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MPG, AVI, ASF.
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</para>
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<para>
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In theory, you can put an OpenDivX video and MP3 audio
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into an <emphasis role="bold">MPG container</emphasis>. However, most
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players will not play it, since they expect MPEG-1 video and MP2 audio (unlike
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<emphasis role="bold">AVI</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">MPG</emphasis>
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does not have the necessary fields to describe its video and audio streams).
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Or you might put MPEG-1 video into an AVI file.
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<ulink url="http://ffmpeg.org/">FFmpeg</ulink> and
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<link linkend="mencoder"><application>MEncoder</application></link>
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can create these files.
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</para>
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||||
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||||
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||||
<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
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||||
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<sect1 id="video-formats">
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<title>Video formats</title>
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<sect2 id="mpg-vob-dat">
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<title>MPEG files</title>
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<para>
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MPEG files come in different guises:
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</para>
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||||
|
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>
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MPG: This is the most <emphasis role="bold">basic</emphasis> form of the
|
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MPEG file formats. It contains MPEG-1 video, and MP2 (MPEG-1 layer 2) or
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rarely MP1 audio.
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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DAT: This is the very same format as MPG with a different extension. It
|
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is used on <emphasis role="bold">Video CDs</emphasis>. Due to the way VCDs
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are created and Linux is designed, the DAT files cannot be played nor copied
|
||||
from VCDs as regular files. You have to use <option>vcd://</option>
|
||||
to play a Video CD.
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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VOB: This is the MPEG file format on <emphasis role="bold">DVDs</emphasis>.
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It is the same as MPG, plus the capability to contain subtitles or non-MPEG
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(AC-3) audio. It contains encoded MPEG-2 video and usually AC-3 audio, but DTS,
|
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MP2 and uncompressed LPCM are allowed, too. <emphasis role="bold">Read the
|
||||
<link linkend="dvd">DVD</link> section</emphasis>!
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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TY: This is a TiVo MPEG stream. It contains MPEG PES data for audio and
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video streams, as well as extra information like closed captions. The
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container is not an MPEG program stream, but a closed format created by
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TiVo. For more information on TiVo stream format, please refer to
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||||
<ulink url="http://dvd-create.sourceforge.net/tystudio/tystream.shtml">
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the TyStudio page</ulink>.
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</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>
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Series of frames form independent groups in MPEG files. This means that you
|
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can cut/join an MPEG file with standard file tools (like
|
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<command>dd</command>, <command>cut</command>), and it remains completely
|
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functional.
|
||||
</para>
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|
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<para>
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One important feature of MPEG files is that they have a field to describe the
|
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aspect ratio of the video stream within. For example SVCDs have 480x480
|
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resolution video, and in the header that field is set to 4:3, so that it is
|
||||
played at 640x480. AVI files often lack this field, so they have to be
|
||||
rescaled during encoding or played with the <option>-aspect</option>
|
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option.
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</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
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|
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<sect2 id="avi">
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<title>AVI files</title>
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|
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<para>
|
||||
Designed by Microsoft,
|
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<emphasis role="bold">AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)</emphasis>
|
||||
is a widespread multipurpose format currently used mostly for MPEG-4 (DivX and
|
||||
DivX4) video. It has many known drawbacks and shortcomings (for example in
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streaming).
|
||||
It supports one video stream and 0 to 99 audio streams and can be as big as
|
||||
2GB, but there exists an extension allowing bigger files called
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">OpenDML</emphasis>. Microsoft currently strongly
|
||||
discourages its use and encourages ASF/WMV. Not that anybody cares.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
There is a hack that allows AVI files to contain an Ogg Vorbis audio
|
||||
stream, but makes them incompatible with standard AVI.
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||||
<application>MPlayer</application> supports playing these files. Seeking is
|
||||
also implemented but severely hampered by badly encoded files with
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||||
confusing headers. Unfortunately the only encoder currently capable of
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creating these files, <application>NanDub</application>, has this problem.
|
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</para>
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|
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<note><para>
|
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DV cameras create raw DV streams that DV grabbing utilities convert to two
|
||||
different types of AVI files. The AVI will then contain either separate
|
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audio and video streams that <application>MPlayer</application> can play or
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the raw DV stream for which support is under development.
|
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</para></note>
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<para>
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||||
There are two kinds of AVI files:
|
||||
<itemizedlist>
|
||||
<listitem><para>
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">Interleaved:</emphasis> Audio and video content is
|
||||
interleaved. This is the standard usage. Recommended and mostly used. Some
|
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tools create interleaved AVIs with bad sync.
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<application>MPlayer</application> detects these as interleaved, and this
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climaxes in loss of A/V sync, probably at seeking.
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These files should be played as non-interleaved
|
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(with the <option>-ni</option> option).
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</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>
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<emphasis role="bold">Non-interleaved:</emphasis> First comes the whole
|
||||
video stream, then the whole audio stream. It thus needs a lot of seeking,
|
||||
making playing from network or CD-ROM difficult.
|
||||
</para></listitem>
|
||||
</itemizedlist>
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> supports two kinds of timings for AVI
|
||||
files:
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||||
<itemizedlist>
|
||||
<listitem><para>
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">bps-based:</emphasis> It is based on the
|
||||
bitrate/samplerate of the video/audio stream. This method is used by
|
||||
most players, including <ulink url="http://avifile.sf.net">avifile</ulink>
|
||||
and <application>Windows Media Player</application>. Files with broken
|
||||
headers, and files created with VBR audio but not VBR-compliant encoder
|
||||
will result in A/V desync with this method (mostly at seeking).
|
||||
</para></listitem>
|
||||
<listitem><para>
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">interleaving-based:</emphasis> It does not use the
|
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bitrate value of the header, instead it uses the relative position of
|
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interleaved audio and video chunks,
|
||||
making badly encoded files with VBR audio playable.
|
||||
</para></listitem>
|
||||
</itemizedlist>
|
||||
</para>
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||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
Any audio and video codec is allowed, but note that VBR audio is not well
|
||||
supported by most players. The file format makes it possible to use VBR
|
||||
audio, but most players expect CBR audio, thus they fail with VBR. VBR is
|
||||
uncommon and Microsoft's AVI specs only describe CBR audio. I also noticed
|
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that most AVI encoders/multiplexers create bad files when using VBR audio.
|
||||
There are only two known exceptions: <application>NanDub</application> and
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||||
<link linkend="mencoder"><application>MEncoder</application></link>.
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</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
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<sect2 id="asf-wmv">
|
||||
<title>ASF/WMV files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
ASF (Active Streaming Format) comes from Microsoft. They developed two
|
||||
variants of ASF, v1.0 and v2.0. v1.0 is used by their media tools
|
||||
(<application>Windows Media Player</application> and
|
||||
<application>Windows Media Encoder</application>)
|
||||
and is very secret. v2.0 is published and patented :). Of course they differ,
|
||||
there is no compatibility at all (it is just another legal game).
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||||
<application>MPlayer</application> supports only v1.0, as nobody has ever seen
|
||||
v2.0 files :). Note that ASF files nowadays come with the extension
|
||||
<filename>.WMA</filename> or <filename>.WMV</filename>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="mov">
|
||||
<title>QuickTime/MOV files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
These formats were designed by Apple and can contain any codec, CBR or VBR.
|
||||
They usually have a <filename>.QT</filename> or <filename>.MOV</filename>
|
||||
extension. Note that since the MPEG-4 group chose QuickTime as the recommended
|
||||
file format for MPEG-4, their MOV files come with a <filename>.MPG</filename> or
|
||||
<filename>.MP4</filename> extension (Interestingly the video and audio
|
||||
streams in these files are real MPG and AAC files. You can even extract them
|
||||
with the <option>-dumpvideo</option> and <option>-dumpaudio</option> options.).
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="vivo">
|
||||
<title>VIVO files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> happily demuxes VIVO file formats. The
|
||||
biggest disadvantage of the format is that it has no index block, nor a
|
||||
fixed packet size or sync bytes and most files lack even keyframes, so
|
||||
forget seeking!
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
The video codec of VIVO/1.0 files is standard
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">h.263</emphasis>.
|
||||
The video codec of VIVO/2.0 files is a modified, nonstandard
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">h.263v2</emphasis>. The audio is the same, it may be
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">g.723 (standard)</emphasis>, or
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">Vivo Siren</emphasis>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="fli">
|
||||
<title>FLI files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">FLI</emphasis> is a very old file format used by
|
||||
Autodesk Animator, but it is a common file format for short animations on the
|
||||
net.
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> demuxes and decodes FLI movies and is
|
||||
even able to seek within them (useful when looping with the
|
||||
<option>-loop</option> option). FLI files do not have keyframes, so the
|
||||
picture will be messy for a short time after seeking.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="realmedia">
|
||||
<title>RealMedia (RM) files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
Yes, <application>MPlayer</application> can read (demux) RealMedia
|
||||
(<filename>.rm</filename>) files.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="nuppelvideo">
|
||||
<title>NuppelVideo files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
NuppelVideo
|
||||
is a TV grabber tool (AFAIK:). <application>MPlayer</application> can read
|
||||
its <filename>.NUV</filename> files (only NuppelVideo 5.0). Those files can
|
||||
contain uncompressed YV12, YV12+RTJpeg compressed, YV12 RTJpeg+lzo
|
||||
compressed, and YV12+lzo compressed frames.
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> decodes (and also
|
||||
<emphasis role="bold">encodes</emphasis>
|
||||
them with <application>MEncoder</application> to MPEG-4 (DivX)/etc!) them all.
|
||||
Seeking works.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="yuv4mpeg">
|
||||
<title>yuv4mpeg files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<ulink url="http://mjpeg.sf.net">yuv4mpeg / yuv4mpeg2</ulink>
|
||||
is a file format used by the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://mjpeg.sf.net">mjpegtools programs</ulink>.
|
||||
You can grab, produce, filter or encode video in this format using these tools.
|
||||
The file format is really a sequence of uncompressed YUV 4:2:0 images.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="film">
|
||||
<title>FILM files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
This format is used on old Sega Saturn CD-ROM games.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="roq">
|
||||
<title>RoQ files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
RoQ files are multimedia files used in some ID games such as Quake III and
|
||||
Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="ogg">
|
||||
<title>OGG/OGM files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
This is a new file format from the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://www.xiph.org">Xiph.Org Foundation</ulink>.
|
||||
It can contain any video or audio codec, CBR or VBR. You'll need
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libogg</systemitem> and
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libvorbis</systemitem> installed before
|
||||
compiling <application>MPlayer</application> to be able to play it.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="sdp">
|
||||
<title>SDP files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<ulink url="ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2327.txt">SDP</ulink> is an
|
||||
IETF standard format for describing video and/or audio RTP streams.
|
||||
(The "<ulink url="http://www.live555.com/mplayer/">LIVE555 Streaming Media</ulink>"
|
||||
are required.)
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="pva">
|
||||
<title>PVA files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
PVA is an MPEG-like format used by DVB TV boards' software (e.g.:
|
||||
<application>MultiDec</application>,
|
||||
<application>WinTV</application> under Windows).
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="nsv">
|
||||
<title>NSV files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
NSV (NullSoft Video) is the file format used by the
|
||||
<application>Winamp</application> player to stream audio and video.
|
||||
Video is VP3, VP5 or VP6, audio is MP3, AAC or VLB.
|
||||
The audio only version of NSV has the <filename>.nsa</filename> extension.
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> can play both NSV streams and files.
|
||||
Please note that most files from the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://www.winamp.com">Winamp site</ulink> use VLB audio, that
|
||||
can't be decoded yet. Moreover streams from that site need an extra
|
||||
depacketization layer that still has to be implemented (those files are
|
||||
unplayable anyway because they use VLB audio).
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="matroska">
|
||||
<title>Matroska files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
Matroska is an open container format.
|
||||
Read more on the <ulink url="http://www.matroska.org/">official site</ulink>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="nut">
|
||||
<title>NUT files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
NUT is the container format developed by <application>MPlayer</application> and
|
||||
<application>FFmpeg</application> folks. Both projects support it.
|
||||
Read more on the <ulink url="http://www.nut-container.org/">official
|
||||
site</ulink>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="gif">
|
||||
<title>GIF files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
The <emphasis role="bold">GIF</emphasis> format is a common format for web
|
||||
graphics. There are two versions of the GIF spec, GIF87a and GIF89a.
|
||||
The main difference is that GIF89a allows for animation.
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> supports both formats through use of
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libungif</systemitem> or
|
||||
another libgif-compatible library. Non-animated GIFs will be displayed as
|
||||
single frame videos. (Use the <option>-loop</option> and
|
||||
<option>-fixed-vo</option> options to display these longer.)
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> currently does not support seeking in GIF
|
||||
files. GIF files do not necessarily have a fixed frame size, nor a fixed
|
||||
framerate. Rather, each frame is of independent size and is supposed to be
|
||||
positioned in a certain place on a field of fixed-size. The framerate is
|
||||
controlled by an optional block before each frame that specifies the next
|
||||
frame's delay in centiseconds.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
Standard GIF files contain 24-bit RGB frames with at most an 8-bit indexed
|
||||
palette. These frames are usually LZW-compressed, although some GIF encoders
|
||||
produce uncompressed frames to avoid patent issues with LZW compression.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
If your distribution does not come with
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libungif</systemitem>, download a copy from the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/libungif">libungif
|
||||
homepage</ulink>. For detailed technical information, have a look at the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt">GIF89a specification</ulink>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
</sect1>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
<sect1 id="audio-formats">
|
||||
<title>Audio formats</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> is a <emphasis role="bold">movie</emphasis>
|
||||
and not a <emphasis role="bold">media</emphasis> player, although it can play
|
||||
some audio file formats (they are listed in the sections below). This is not
|
||||
a recommended usage of <application>MPlayer</application>, you better use <ulink
|
||||
url="http://www.xmms.org">XMMS</ulink>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="mp3">
|
||||
<title>MP3 files</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
You may have problems playing certain MP3 files that
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> will misdetect as MPEGs and play
|
||||
incorrectly or not at all. This cannot be fixed without dropping support
|
||||
for certain broken MPEG files and thus will remain like this for the
|
||||
foreseeable future. The <option>-demuxer</option> flag described in the
|
||||
man page may help you in these cases.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="ogg-vorbis">
|
||||
<title>OGG/OGM files (Vorbis)</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
Requires properly installed
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libogg</systemitem> and
|
||||
<systemitem class="library">libvorbis</systemitem>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="cdda">
|
||||
<title>CD audio</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> can use <application>cdparanoia</application>
|
||||
to play CDDA (Audio CD). The scope of this section does not contain enumerating
|
||||
<application>cdparanoia</application>'s features.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
See the man page's <option>-cdda</option> option which can be used to pass
|
||||
options to <application>cdparanoia</application>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
|
||||
<!-- ********** -->
|
||||
|
||||
<sect2 id="xmms">
|
||||
<title>XMMS</title>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> can use <application>XMMS</application> input
|
||||
plugins to play many file formats. There are plugins for SNES game tunes, SID
|
||||
tunes (from Commodore 64), many Amiga formats, .xm, .it, VQF, Musepack, Bonk,
|
||||
shorten and many others. You can find them at the
|
||||
<ulink url="http://www.xmms.org/plugins.php?category=input">XMMS input plugin page</ulink>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
|
||||
<para>
|
||||
For this feature you need to have <application>XMMS</application> and compile
|
||||
<application>MPlayer</application> with
|
||||
<filename>./configure --enable-xmms</filename>.
|
||||
</para>
|
||||
</sect2>
|
||||
</sect1>
|
||||
|
||||
</chapter>
|
||||
@ -168,7 +168,6 @@ can be distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 2.
|
||||
&cd-dvd.xml;
|
||||
&faq.xml;
|
||||
|
||||
&containers.xml;
|
||||
&codecs.xml;
|
||||
&video.xml;
|
||||
&audio.xml;
|
||||
|
||||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue
Block a user