annotate DOCS/formats.html @ 2745:62bcea66003e

oh my god what have i done... format.html, codecs, video, sound.html renumbered, etc
author gabucino
date Tue, 06 Nov 2001 17:04:56 +0000
parents
children 24797a1d36d6
Ignore whitespace changes - Everywhere: Within whitespace: At end of lines:
rev   line source
2745
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
1 <HTML>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
2 <BODY BGCOLOR=WHITE>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
3
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
4 <FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
5
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
6
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
7 <P><B><A NAME=2.1>2.1. Supported formats</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
8
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
9 <P><B>MPlayer</B> can read/play from the following devices/formats:<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
10 <UL>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
11 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.1">VCD</A> (Video CD) directly from CD-ROM or from CDRwin's .bin image file
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
12 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.1">DVD</A>, directly from your DVD disk, using libdvdread for decryption
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
13 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.1">MPEG 1/2</A> System Stream (PS/PES/VOB) and Elementary Stream (ES) file
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
14 formats
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
15 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.2">RIFF AVI</A> file format
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
16 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.3">ASF/WMV</A> 1.0 file format
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
17 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.4">QT/MOV</A> file format with (un)compressed headers
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
18 <LI> <A HREF="#2.1.1.5">VIVO</A> format (.viv files)
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
19 <LI> supports <A HREF="documentation.html#3.3">reading from file</A>, stdin, or network via HTTP
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
20 </UL></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
21
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
22 <P>Note: about realmedia (.ra/.rm) support read the FAQ!</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
23
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
24 <P>It's important to clarify a popular mistake. When people see a file with
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
25 <B>.AVI</B> extension, they instantly declare that isn't an MPEG file.
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
26 That's not true. At least not entirely. If you tell them that such a file
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
27 can contain MPEG1 video, they laugh at you. Feel free to kick their dumbass
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
28 faces, then tell them to RTFM.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
29
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
30 <P>You see, a <B>codec</B> isn't equal to a <B>file format</B>.<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
31 Video <B>codecs</B> are: MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, Indeo5, 3ivx.<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
32 Video <B>formats</B> are: MPG, VOB, AVI, ASF.<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
33 </P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
34
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
35 <P>In theory, you can happily put an OpenDivX video and MP3 audio
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
36 into a <B>.MPG</B> format file. Though most players won't play it, since
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
37 they expect MPEG1 video and MP2 audio (<B>.MPG</B> doesn't have the
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
38 necessary fields to describe its video and audio streams, like <B>.AVI</B>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
39 does). Or put MPEG1 video to an .AVI. For example <A HREF="http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net">ffmpeg</A> can
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
40 create these files.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
41
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
42 <P>Audio <B>codecs</B> and <B>formats</B> are basically the same terms.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
43
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
44
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
45 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1>2.1.1. Video formats</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
46
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
47
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
48 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1.1>2.1.1.1. MPG, VOB, DAT files</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
49
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
50 <P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
51 <LI>MPG : this is the most <B>basic</B> form of MPEG file formats. Contains
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
52 MPEG1 video, and MP2 audio.</LI>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
53 <LI>VOB : this is the MPEG file format on <B>DVD</B>s. Contains optionally
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
54 encoded MPEG2 video, and usually AC3 audio.<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
55 <B>Read the <A HREF="cd-dvd.html#4.2">DVD section</A> !</B></LI>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
56 <LI>DAT : this is the MPEG file format on <B>Video CD</B>s. It's the same
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
57 as the MPG, but due to the nature VCDs are created and Linux is designed,
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
58 the DAT files can't be played nor copied from VCDs. You have to use the
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
59 <CODE>-vcd</CODE> option to play the VideoCD.</LI>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
60 </P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
61
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
62
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
63 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1.2>2.1.1.2. AVI files</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
64
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
65 <P>Designed by Micro$oft, the <B>AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)</B> is a
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
66 widespread multipurpose format, currently used mostly for DivX and DivX4
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
67 videos. Has many known drawbacks, and inabilities (for example in streaming).
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
68 Has support for one video stream, and 99 audio streams. Can be as big as
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
69 2Gb. There exists an extension for it to be bigger, called <B>OpenDMS</B>.
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
70 M$ is currently strongly discourages its use and propagates ASF/WMV. Not if
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
71 anybody cares.<BR>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
72 <B>NOTE</B> : DV cameras can create two types of AVI format, one is the usual and
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
73 playable, the other is neither.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
74
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
75
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
76 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1.3>2.1.1.3. ASF/WMV files</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
77
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
78 <P>ASF is a new very undocumented fileformat from M$, and WMV is its
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
79 successor. They are very commercial, and anyone who writes an opensource
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
80 parser for them, soon meets certain doom. While creating the parser, it
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
81 was obvious to see how bulky, shit, and unusable they are. Not if anybody
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
82 would expect something else from M$.
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
83
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
84
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
85 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1.4>2.1.1.4. QT/MOV files</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
86
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
87 <P>They are Apple's formats. Not much to say, basically well designed,
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
88 multipurpose, streamable, many features etc. Kinda hard to find documentation,
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
89 but we think the parser is perfect.
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
90
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
91 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.1.5>2.1.1.5. VIV files</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
92
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
93 <P>Hey this is new code in <B>MPlayer</B>, be gentle! Seeking is
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
94 currently nonexistent, audio too. TODO : complete this section.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
95
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
96
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
97 <P><B><A NAME=2.1.2>2.1.2. Audio formats</A></B></P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
98
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
99 <P>Currently <B>MPlayer</B> is still a <B>Movie</B> and not a <B>Media</B>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
100 player, thus the pure audio formats (for example MP3, WAV, audio ASF) are
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
101 unplayable. Use <A HREF="http://www.xmms.org">xmms</A>, <A HREF="http://www.mpg123.de">mpg123</A>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
102 or whatever.</P>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
103
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
104 </BODY>
62bcea66003e oh my god what have i done...
gabucino
parents:
diff changeset
105 </HTML>