mirror of https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv
481 lines
17 KiB
XML
481 lines
17 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
|
|
<!-- $Revision$ -->
|
|
<chapter id="containers">
|
|
<title>Containers</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
It is important to clarify a common mistake. When people see a file with a
|
|
<filename>.AVI</filename> extension, they immediately conclude that it is
|
|
not an MPEG file. That is not true. At least not entirely. Contrary to
|
|
popular belief such a file <emphasis>can</emphasis> contain MPEG-1 video.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
You see, a <emphasis role="bold">codec</emphasis> is not the same as a
|
|
<emphasis role="bold">container format</emphasis>.
|
|
Examples of video <emphasis role="bold">codecs</emphasis> are: MPEG-1, MPEG-2,
|
|
MPEG-4 (DivX), Indeo5, 3ivx.
|
|
Examples of container <emphasis role="bold">formats</emphasis> are: MPG, AVI, ASF.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
In theory, you can put an OpenDivX video and MP3 audio
|
|
into an <emphasis role="bold">MPG container</emphasis>. However, most
|
|
players will not play it, since they expect MPEG-1 video and MP2 audio (unlike
|
|
<emphasis role="bold">AVI</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">MPG</emphasis>
|
|
does not have the necessary fields to describe its video and audio streams).
|
|
Or you might put MPEG-1 video into an AVI file.
|
|
<ulink url="http://ffmpeg.org/">FFmpeg</ulink> and
|
|
<link linkend="mencoder"><application>MEncoder</application></link> can create these files.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1 id="video-formats">
|
|
<title>Video formats</title>
|
|
|
|
<sect2 id="mpg-vob-dat">
|
|
<title>MPEG files</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
MPEG files come in different guises:
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
MPG: This is the most <emphasis role="bold">basic</emphasis> form of the
|
|
MPEG file formats. It contains MPEG-1 video, and MP2 (MPEG-1 layer 2) or
|
|
rarely MP1 audio.
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
DAT: This is the very same format as MPG with a different extension. It
|
|
is used on <emphasis role="bold">Video CDs</emphasis>. Due to the way VCDs
|
|
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.
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
VOB: This is the MPEG file format on <emphasis role="bold">DVDs</emphasis>.
|
|
It is the same as MPG, plus the capability to contain subtitles or non-MPEG
|
|
(AC3) audio. It contains encoded MPEG-2 video and usually AC3 audio, but DTS,
|
|
MP2 and uncompressed LPCM are allowed, too. <emphasis role="bold">Read the
|
|
<link linkend="dvd">DVD</link> section</emphasis>!
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
TY: This is a TiVo MPEG stream. It contains MPEG PES data for audio and
|
|
video streams, as well as extra information like closed captions. The
|
|
container is not an MPEG program stream, but a closed format created by
|
|
TiVo. For more information on TiVo stream format, please refer to
|
|
<ulink url="http://dvd-create.sourceforge.net/tystudio/tystream.shtml">
|
|
the TyStudio page</ulink>.
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Series of frames form independent groups in MPEG files. This means that you
|
|
can cut/join an MPEG file with standard file tools (like
|
|
<command>dd</command>, <command>cut</command>), and it remains completely
|
|
functional.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
One important feature of MPGs is that they have a field to describe the
|
|
aspect ratio of the video stream within. For example SVCDs have 480x480
|
|
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>
|
|
option.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect2 id="avi">
|
|
<title>AVI files</title>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Designed by Microsoft, <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 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.
|
|
<application>MPlayer</application> supports playing these files. Seeking is
|
|
also implemented but severely hampered by badly encoded files with
|
|
confusing headers. Unfortunately the only encoder currently capable of
|
|
creating these files, <application>NanDub</application>, has this problem.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<note>
|
|
<para>
|
|
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
|
|
audio and video streams that <application>MPlayer</application> can play or
|
|
the raw DV stream for which support is under development.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</note>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
There are two kinds of AVI files:
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
<emphasis role="bold">Interleaved:</emphasis> Audio and video content is
|
|
interleaved. This is the standard usage. Recommended and mostly used. Some tools
|
|
create interleaved AVIs with bad sync. <application>MPlayer</application>
|
|
detects these as interleaved, and this climaxes in loss of A/V sync,
|
|
probably at seeking. These files should be played as non-interleaved
|
|
(with the <option>-ni</option> option).
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
<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.
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
<application>MPlayer</application> supports two kinds of timings for AVI
|
|
files:
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
<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).
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><simpara>
|
|
<emphasis role="bold">interleaving-based:</emphasis> It does not use the bitrate
|
|
value of the header, instead it uses the relative position of interleaved
|
|
audio and video chunks, making badly encoded files with VBR audio playable.
|
|
</simpara></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<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
|
|
that most AVI encoders/multiplexers create bad files when using VBR audio.
|
|
There are only two known exceptions: <application>NanDub</application> and
|
|
<link linkend="mencoder"><application>MEncoder</application></link>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<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).
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
<note>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Most new QuickTime files use <emphasis role="bold">Sorenson</emphasis> video and
|
|
QDesign Music audio. See our <link linkend="sorenson">Sorenson</link> codec section.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</note>
|
|
</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>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
See the
|
|
<link linkend="vivo-video">VIVO video codec</link> and
|
|
<link linkend="vivo-audio">VIVO audio codec</link>
|
|
sections for installation instructions.
|
|
</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.
|
|
Here are the lists of the supported <link
|
|
linkend="realvideo">RealVideo</link> and <link
|
|
linkend="realaudio">RealAudio</link> codecs.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect2>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect2 id="nuppelvideo">
|
|
<title>NuppelVideo files</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<ulink url="http://frost.htu.tuwien.ac.at/~roman/nuppelvideo/">NuppelVideo</ulink>
|
|
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 fileformat from <ulink url="http://www.xiph.org">Xiphophorus</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.hu/">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>.
|
|
If that does not work, you might need to set the <application>XMMS</application>
|
|
plugin and library path explicitly by way of the <option>--with-xmmsplugindir</option>
|
|
and <option>--with-xmmslibdir</option> options.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect2>
|
|
</sect1>
|
|
|
|
</chapter>
|