annotate DOCS/xml/en/codecs.xml @ 9675:62c5a17038ba

XML version of MPlayer's doc

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<sect1 id="codecs">
<title>Supported codecs</title>

<sect2 id="video-codecs">
<title>Video codecs</title>

<para>
See the <ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html">codec status table</ulink>
for the complete, daily generated list. Quite a few codecs are available for
download from our homepage. Grab them from our
<ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/">codecs page</ulink>.
</para>

<para>
The most important ones above all:
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><simpara>
  <emphasis role="bold">MPEG1</emphasis> (<emphasis role="bold">VCD</emphasis>) and
  <emphasis role="bold">MPEG2</emphasis> (<emphasis role="bold">DVD</emphasis>) video
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  native decoders for <emphasis role="bold">DivX ;-), OpenDivX (DivX4),
  DivX 5.01, 3ivX, M$ MPEG4</emphasis> v1, v2 and other MPEG4 variants
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  native decoder for <emphasis role="bold">Windows Media Video 7/8</emphasis>
  (<emphasis role="bold">WMV1/WMV2</emphasis>), and Win32 DLL decoder
  for <emphasis role="bold">Windows Media Video 9</emphasis>
  (<emphasis role="bold">WMV3</emphasis>), both used in <filename>.wmv</filename>
  files
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  native <emphasis role="bold">Sorenson 1 (SVQ1)</emphasis> decoder
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Win32/QT <emphasis role="bold">Sorenson 3 (SVQ3)</emphasis> decoder
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  <emphasis role="bold">3ivx</emphasis> v1, v2 decoder
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Cinepak and <emphasis role="bold">Intel Indeo</emphasis> codecs (3.1,3.2,4.1,5.0)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  <emphasis role="bold">MJPEG</emphasis>, AVID, VCR2, ASV2 and other hardware
  formats
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  VIVO 1.0, 2.0, I263 and other <emphasis role="bold">h263(+)</emphasis> variants
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  FLI/FLC
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  <emphasis role="bold">RealVideo 1.0</emphasis> from libavcodec, and
  <emphasis role="bold">RealVideo 2.0, 3.0</emphasis> and
  <emphasis role="bold">4.0</emphasis> codecs using RealPlayer libraries
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  native decoder for HuffYUV
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Various old simple RLE-like formats
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>
If you have a Win32 codec not listed here which is not supported yet,
please read the <link linkend="win32-codecs">codec importing HOWTO</link>
and help us add support for it.
</para>


<sect3 id="divx4-5">
<title>DivX4/DivX5</title>

<para>
This section contains information about the DivX4 codec of
<ulink url="http://www.projectmayo.com">Project Mayo</ulink>.
Their first available alpha version was OpenDivX 4.0 alpha 47 and 48.
Support for this was included in <application>MPlayer</application> in the
past, and built by default. We also used its postprocessing code to
optionally enhance visual quality of MPEG1/2 movies. Now we use our own,
for all file types.
</para>

<para>
The new generation of this codec is called DivX4 and can even decode
movies made with the infamous DivX codec! In addition it is much faster
than the native Win32 DivX DLLs but slower than <systemitem
class="library">libavcodec</systemitem>.  Hence its usage as a decoder is
<emphasis role="bold">DISCOURAGED</emphasis>. However, it is useful for
encoding. One disadvantage of this codec is that it is not available under an
Open Source license.
</para>

<para>
DivX4 works in two modes:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term><option>-vc odivx</option></term>
<listitem><simpara>
  Uses the codec in OpenDivX fashion. In this case it produces YV12 images
  in its own buffer, and <application>MPlayer</application> does colorspace
  conversion via libvo. (<emphasis role="bold">Fast, recommended!</emphasis>)
  </simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><option>-vc divx4</option></term>
<listitem><simpara>
  Uses the colorspace conversion of the codec.  In this mode you can use
  YUY2/UYVY, too. (<emphasis role="bold">SLOW</emphasis>)
  </simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>

<para>
The <option>-vc odivx</option> method is usually faster, due to the fact
that it transfers image data in YV12 (planar YUV 4:2:0) format, thus
requiring much less bandwidth on the bus. For packed YUV modes (YUY2, UYVY)
use the <option>-vc divx4</option> method. For RGB modes the speed is the
same, differing at best according to your current color depth.
<note>
<para>
If your <option>-vo</option> driver supports direct rendering, then <option>-vc
divx4</option> may be faster, or even the fastest solution.
</para>

<para>
The Divx4/5 binary codec library can be downloaded from
<ulink url="http://avifile.sourceforge.net">avifile</ulink> or
<ulink url="http://www.divx.com">divx.com</ulink>
Unpack it, run <filename>./install.sh</filename> as root and do not forget adding
<filename class="directory">/usr/local/lib</filename> to your
<filename>/etc/ld.so.conf</filename> and running <command>ldconfig</command>.
</para>

<para>
Get the CVS version of the OLD OpenDivx core library like this:
</para>

<procedure>
<step><para>
<screen>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot login</screen>
</para></step>
<step><para>
<screen>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot co divxcore</screen>
</para></step>
<step><para>
This core library is split into a decore and encore library that have to be
compiled separately. For the decore Library, simply type
<screen>
cd divxcore/decore/build/linux
make
cp libdivxdecore.so /usr/local/lib
ln -s /usr/local/lib/libdivxdecore.so /usr/local/lib/libdivxdecore.so.0
cp ../../src/decore.h /usr/local/include
</screen>
</para></step>
<step><para>
Alas, for the encore library there is no Linux Makefile available, and the
MMX optimized code only works on Windows. You can still compile it, though,
by using this
<ulink url="ftp://ftp.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/contrib/divx-mf/Makefile">Makefile</ulink>.
<screen>
cd ../../../encore/build
mkdir linux
cd linux
cp path/Makefile .
make
cp libdivxencore.so /usr/local/lib
ln -s /usr/local/lib/libdivxdecore.so /usr/local/lib/libdivxdecore.so.0
cp ../../src/encore.h /usr/local/include
</screen>
</para></step>
</procedure>

<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> autodetects DivX4/DivX5 if it is
properly installed, just compile as usual. If it does not detect it, you
did not install or configure it correctly.
</para>

</note>
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="ffmpeg" xreflabel="FFmpeg DivX/libavcodec">
<title>FFmpeg DivX/libavcodec</title>

<para>
<ulink url="http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net">FFmpeg</ulink> contains an
<emphasis role="bold">open source</emphasis> codec package, which is capable
of decoding streams encoded with H263/MJPEG/RV10/DivX3/DivX4/DivX5/MP41/MP42/WMV1/WMV2/HuffYUV
video, or WMA (Windows Media Audio) audio codecs. Not only some of them can be
encoded with, but it also offers higher speed than the Win32 codecs or the
DivX.com DivX4/5 library!
</para>

<para>
It contains a lot of nice codecs, especially important are the MPEG4 variants:
DivX3, DivX4, DivX5, Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1). Also a very interesting one
is the WMA decoder.
</para>

<para>
If you use an <application>MPlayer</application> release you have libavcodec
right in the package, just build  as usual. If you use
<application>MPlayer</application> from CVS you have to extract libavcodec from
the FFmpeg CVS tree as FFmpeg releases <emphasis role="bold">don't</emphasis>
work with <application>MPlayer</application>. In order to achieve this do:
</para>

<procedure>
<step><para>
  <screen>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg login</screen>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  <screen>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg co ffmpeg</screen>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Move the <filename>libavcodec</filename> directory from the FFmpeg
  sources to the root of the <application>MPlayer</application> CVS tree.
  It should look like this:
  <filename>main/libavcodec</filename>
  </para><para>
  Symlinking is <emphasis role="bold">not</emphasis> enough, you have to
  copy/move it!
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Compile. <filename>configure</filename> should detect problems before
  compilation.
  </para></step>
</procedure>

<note>
<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> from CVS does contain a
<filename>libavcodec</filename> subdirectory, but it does
<emphasis role="bold">not</emphasis> contain the source for libavcodec!
You must follow the steps above to obtain the source for this library.
</para>
</note>

<para>
With FFmpeg and my Matrox G400, I can view even the highest resolution DivX
movies without dropped frames on my K6/2 500.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="xanim">
<title>XAnim codecs</title>

<note>
<para>
Be advised that the XAnim binary codecs are packaged with a piece of text
claiming to be a legally binding software license which, besides other
restrictions, forbids the user to use the codecs in conjunction with any
program other than <application>XAnim</application>. However, the XAnim
author has yet to bring legal action against anyone for codec-related issues.
</para>
</note>

<formalpara>
<title>INSTALLATION AND USAGE</title>
<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> is capable of employing the XAnim codecs
for decoding. Follow the instructions to enable them:
</para>
</formalpara>

<procedure>
<step><para>
  Download the codecs you wish to use from the
  <ulink url="http://xanim.va.pubnix.com">XAnim site</ulink>.
  The 3ivx codec is not there, but at the
  <ulink url="http://www.3ivx.com">3ivx site</ulink>.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Use the <option>--with-xanimlibdir</option> option to tell
  <filename>configure</filename> where
  to find the XAnim codecs. By default, it looks for them at
  <filename class="directory">/usr/local/lib/xanim/mods</filename>,
  <filename class="directory">/usr/lib/xanim/mods</filename> and
  <filename class="directory">/usr/lib/xanim</filename>.
  Alternatively you can set the environment variable
  <envar>XANIM_MOD_DIR</envar> to the directory of the XAnim codecs.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Rename/symlink the files, cutting out the architecture stuff, so they
  will have filenames like these: <filename>vid_cvid.xa</filename>,
  <filename>vid_h263.xa</filename>, <filename>vid_iv50.xa</filename>
  </para></step>
</procedure>

<para>
XAnim is video codec family <systemitem>xanim</systemitem>, so you may want
to use the <option>-vfm xanim</option> option to tell <application>MPlayer</application>
to use them if possible.
</para>

<para>
Tested codecs include: <emphasis role="bold">Indeo 3.2, 4.1, 5.0, CVID, 3ivX,
h263.</emphasis>
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="vivo-video">
<title>VIVO video</title>
<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> can play Vivo (1.0 and 2.0) videos. The
most suitable codec for 1.0 files is FFmpeg's H263 decoder, you can use it
with the <option>-vc ffh263</option> option. For 2.0 files, use the
Win32 DLL through the <option>-vc vivo</option> option. If you do not supply
command line options <application>MPlayer</application> selects the best codec
automatically.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="mpeg12">
<title>MPEG 1/2 video</title>
<para>
MPEG1 and MPEG2 are decoded by the multiplatform native <systemitem
class="library">libmpeg2</systemitem> library, whose source code is
included in <application>MPlayer</application>.  We handle buggy MPEG 1/2
video files by catching <systemitem>Signal 11</systemitem>
(<systemitem>segmentation fault</systemitem>), and quickly
reinitializing the codec, continuing exactly from where the failure
occurred.  This recovery technique has no measurable speed penalty.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="msvideo1">
<title>MS Video1</title>
<para>
This is a very old and very bad codec from Microsoft. In the past it was
decoded with the <filename>msvidc32.dll</filename> Win32 codec, now we have
our own open source implementation
(by <ulink url="mailto:[e-mail]">Mike Melanson</ulink>).
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="cinepak-cvid">
<title>Cinepak CVID</title>
<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> uses its own open source, multiplatform
Cinepak decoder (by <ulink url="mailto:[e-mail]">Dr. Tim Ferguson</ulink>)
by default. It supports YUV outputs, so that hardware
scaling is possible if the video output driver permits it.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="realvideo">
<title>RealVideo</title>

<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> supports decoding all versions of
RealVideo:

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><simpara>
  RealVideo 1.0 (fourcc RV10) - en/decoding supported by
  <systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem>
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  RealVideo 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 (fourcc RV20, RV30, RV40) - decoding supported by
  <emphasis role="bold">RealPlayer libraries</emphasis>
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<para>
It is recommended to download and install <application>RealPlayer8</application>
or <application>RealONE</application>, because <application>MPlayer</application>
can use their libraries to decode files with RealVideo 2.0 - 4.0 video. The
<application>MPlayer</application> <filename>configure</filename> script should
detect the <application>RealPlayer</application> libraries in the standard
locations of a full installation. If it does not, tell <filename>configure</filename>
where to look with the <option>--with-reallibdir</option> option.
</para>

<note><para>
<application>RealPlayer</application> libraries currently
<emphasis role="bold">only work with Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD and Cygwin on the x86,
Alpha and PowerPC (Linux/Alpha and Linux/PowerPC have been tested) platforms</emphasis>.
</para></note>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="xvid">
<title>XViD</title>

<para>
<ulink url="http://www.xvid.org">XViD</ulink> is a forked development of the
OpenDivX codec. It happened when ProjectMayo changed OpenDivX to closed source
DivX4 (now DivX5), and the non-ProjectMayo people working on OpenDivX got angry,
then started XViD. So both projects have the same origin.

<itemizedlist>
<title>ADVANTAGES</title>
<listitem><simpara>
  open source
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  its API is compatible with DivX4 so adding support for it is easy
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  2-pass encoding support
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  nice encoding quality, higher speed than DivX4 (you can optimize it for
  your box while compiling)
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<itemizedlist>
<title>DISADVANTAGES</title>
<listitem><simpara>
  currently it does not properly <emphasis role="bold">decode</emphasis> all
  DivX/DivX4 files (no problem as <link linkend="ffmpeg">libavcodec</link>
  can play them)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  you have to choose between DivX4 <emphasis role="bold">or</emphasis> XViD
  support at compiletime
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  under development
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<procedure>
<title>INSTALLING XVID CVS</title>
<para>
It is currently available only from CVS. Here are the download and
installation instructions:
</para>
<step><para>
  <screen>cvs -z3 -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/xvid login</screen>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  <screen>cvs -z3 -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/xvid co xvidcore</screen>
</para></step>
<step><para>
  <screen>cd xvidcore/build/generic</screen>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Edit <filename>MakeFile</filename> for your architecture (probably
  <filename>Makefile.linuxx86</filename>) to fit your needs.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  <screen>make -f Makefile.linux</screen>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Copy <filename>divx4.h</filename> and <filename>xvid.h</filename> from
  <filename class="directory">/usr/local/include/</filename>.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Get <filename>encore2.h</filename> and <filename>decore.h</filename> from
  the DivX4Linux package, and copy them to
  <filename class="directory">/usr/local/include/</filename>.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Recompile <application>MPlayer</application> with
  <option>--with-xvidcore=<replaceable>/path/to/libxvidcore.a</replaceable></option>.
  </para></step>
</procedure>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="sorenson">
<title>Sorenson</title>

<para>
Sorenson is a video codec developed by Sorenson Media and licensed to Apple who
distribute it with their <application>QuickTime Player</application>. We are
currently able to decode all version of Sorenson video files with the following
decoders.
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><simpara>
  Sorenson 1 (fourcc <emphasis>SVQ1</emphasis>) - decoding supported by
  <emphasis role="bold">native codecs</emphasis>. Actually there are two
  (nearly equal) decoders for SVQ1: one is built in <application>MPlayer</application>,
  the other in libavcodec. You can invoke each of them with the <option>-vc svq1</option>
  and <option>-vc ffsvq1</option> options respectively. Some files may work
  with one of them, and not with the other, so test both decoders. The decoder
  was written (reverse engineered) by the <ulink url="http://www.xinehq.de">xine</ulink>
  authors.
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Sorenson 3 (fourcc <emphasis>SVQ3</emphasis>) - decoding supported by
  <emphasis role="bold">Win32 QuickTime libraries</emphasis>
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<procedure>
<title>INSTALLING XVID CVS</title>
<note><para>currently only 32bit Intel platforms are supported.</para></note>
<step><para>download MPlayer CVS</para></step>
<step><para>compile MPlayer with:
<screen>$ ./configure --enable-qtx-codecs</screen>
</para></step>
<step><para>download QuickTime DLL pack from
<ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/"/>
</para></step>
<step><para>extract QuickTime DLL pack to your Win32 codecs directory
(default: <filename class="directory">/usr/lib/win32</filename>)
</para></step>
</procedure>

</sect3>
</sect2>

<!-- ********** -->

<sect2 id="audio-codecs">
<title>Audio codecs</title>

<itemizedlist>
<title>The most important audio codecs above all:</title>
<listitem><simpara>
  MPEG layer 2 (MP2), and layer 3 (MP3) audio (<emphasis role="bold">native</emphasis>
  code, with MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  MPEG layer 1 audio (<emphasis role="bold">native</emphasis> code, with libavcodec)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Windows Media Audio v1, v2 (<emphasis role="bold">native</emphasis> code, with
  libavcodec)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Windows Media Audio 9 (WMAv3) (using DMO DLL)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  AC3 Dolby audio (<emphasis role="bold">native</emphasis> code, with
  MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  AC3 passing through soundcard hardware
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Ogg Vorbis audio codec (<emphasis role="bold">native</emphasis> library)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  RealAudio: DNET (low bitrate AC3), Cook, Sipro and ATRAC3
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  QuickTime: Qualcomm and QDesign audio codecs
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  VIVO audio (g723, Vivo Siren)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  Voxware audio (using DirectShow DLL)
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  alaw and ulaw, various gsm, adpcm and pcm formats and other simple old
  audio codecs
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>


<sect3 id="swac3">
<title>Software AC3 decoding</title>

<para>
This is the default decoder used for files with AC3 audio.
</para>

<para>
The AC3 decoder can create audio output mixes for 2, 4, or 6 speakers.
When configured for 6 speakers, this decoder provides separate output of
all the AC3 channels to the sound driver, allowing for full "surround
sound" experience without the external AC3 decoder required to use the
hwac3 codec.
</para>

<para>
Use the <option>-channels</option> option to select the number of output
channels.  Use <option>-channels 2</option> for a stereo downmix.  For a 4
channel downmix (Left Front, Right Front, Left Surround and Right Surround
outputs), use <option>-channels 4</option>.  In this case, any center
channel will be mixed equally to the front channels.  <option>-channels
6</option> will output all the AC3 channels as they are encoded - in the
order Left, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround, Center and LFE.
</para>

<para>
The default number of output channels is 2.
</para>

<para>
To use more than 2 output channels, you will need to use OSS, and have a
sound card that supports the appropriate number of output channels via the
SNDCTL_DSP_CHANNELS ioctl.  An example of a suitable driver is emu10k1
(used by Soundblaster Live! cards) from August 2001 or newer (ALSA CVS is
also supposed to work).
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="hwac3">
<title>Hardware AC3 decoding</title>
<para>
You need an AC3 capable sound card, with digital out (SP/DIF). The card's
driver must properly support the AFMT_AC3 format (C-Media does).  Connect
your AC3 decoder to the SP/DIF output, and use the <option>-ac
hwac3</option> option. It is experimental but known to work with C-Media
cards and Soundblaster Live! + ALSA (but not OSS) drivers and DXR3/Hollywood+
MPEG decoder cards.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="libmad">
<title>libmad support</title>

<para>
<ulink url="http://mad.sourceforge.net">libmad</ulink> is a multiplatform
MPEG audio decoding library. It does not handle broken files well, and it
sometimes has problems with seeking.
</para>

<para>
To enable support, compile with the <option>--enable-mad</option> configure
option.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="vivo-audio">
<title>VIVO audio</title>
<para>
The audio codec used in VIVO files depends on whether it is a VIVO/1.0 or
VIVO/2.0 file. VIVO/1.0 files have <emphasis role="bold">g.723</emphasis> audio,
and VIVO/2.0 files have <emphasis role="bold">Vivo Siren</emphasis> audio. Both are
supported.
</para>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="realaudio">
<title>RealAudio</title>

<para>
<application>MPlayer</application> supports decoding nearly all versions of
RealAudio:
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><simpara>
  RealAudio DNET - decoding supported by
  <systemitem class="library">liba52</systemitem>
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  RealAudio Cook/Sipro/ATRAC3 - decoding supported by
  <emphasis role="bold">RealPlayer libraries</emphasis>
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>
On how to install RealPlayer libraries, see the
<link linkend="realmedia">RealMedia file format</link> section.
</para>
</sect3>

<sect3 id="qdesign">
<title>QDesign codecs</title>
<para>
QDesign audio streams (fourcc:<emphasis>QDMC, QDM2</emphasis>) are found
in MOV/QT files. Both versions of this codec can be decoded with QuickTime
libraries. For installation instructions please see the
<link linkend="sorenson">Sorenson video codec</link> section.
</para>
</sect3>

<sect3 id="qualcomm">
<title>Qualcomm codecs</title>
<para>
Qualcomm audio streams (fourcc:<emphasis>Qclp</emphasis>) is found
in MOV/QT files. It can be decoded with QuickTime
libraries. For installation instructions please see the
<link linkend="sorenson">Sorenson video codec</link> section.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>

<!-- ********** -->

<sect2 id="win32-codecs">
<title>Win32 codecs importing HOWTO</title>

<!-- TODO: a short paragraph of text would be nice here... -->

<sect3 id="vfw-codecs">
<title>VFW codecs</title>

<para>
VFW (Video for Windows) is the old Video API for Windows. Its codecs have
the <filename>.DLL</filename> or (rarely) <filename>.DRV</filename>
extension.  If <application>MPlayer</application> fails at playing your AVI
with this kind of message:
<screen>UNKNOWN video codec: HFYU (0x55594648)</screen>
</para>

<para>
It means your AVI is encoded with a codec which has the HFYU fourcc (HFYU =
HuffYUV codec, DIV3 = DivX Low Motion, etc.). Now that you know this, you
have to find out which DLL Windows loads in order to play this file. In our
case, the <filename>system.ini</filename> contains this information in a
line that reads:
<programlisting>VIDC.HFYU=huffyuv.dll</programlisting>
</para>

<para>
So you need the <filename>huffyuv.dll</filename> file. Note that the audio
codecs are specified by the MSACM prefix:
<programlisting>msacm.l3acm=L3codeca.acm</programlisting>
</para>

<para>
This is the MP3 codec.  Now that you have all the necessary information
(fourcc, codec file, sample AVI), submit your codec support request by
mail, and upload these files to the FTP site:
<systemitem role="url">
ftp://ftp.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/incoming/[codecname]/
</systemitem>
</para>

<note><para>On Windows NT/2000/XP search for this info in the registry,
e.g. search for &quot;VIDC.HFYU&quot;. To find out how to do this, look at
the old DirectShow method below.
</para></note>
</sect3>


<sect3 id="dshow-codecs">
<title>DirectShow codecs</title>

<para>
DirectShow is the newer Video API, which is even worse than its predecessor.
Things are harder with DirectShow, since
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><simpara>
  <filename>system.ini</filename> does not contain the needed information,
  instead it is stored in the registry and
  </simpara></listitem>
<listitem><simpara>
  we need the GUID of the codec.
  </simpara></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<procedure>
<title>New Method:</title>
<para>
Using <application>Microsoft GraphEdit</application> (fast)
</para>
<step><para>
  Get <application>GraphEdit</application> from either DirectX SDK or
  <ulink url="http://doom9.org">doom9</ulink>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Start <command>graphedit.exe</command>.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  From the menu select Graph -> Insert Filters.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Expand item <systemitem>DirectShow Filters</systemitem>
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Select the right codec name and expand item.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  In the entry <systemitem>DisplayName</systemitem> look at the text in
  winged brackets after the backslash and write it down (five dash-delimited
  blocks, the GUID).
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  The codec binary is the file specified in the <systemitem>Filename</systemitem>
  entry.
  </para></step>
</procedure>

<note>
<para>
If there is no <systemitem>Filename</systemitem> and
<systemitem>DisplayName</systemitem> contains something like
<systemitem>device:dmo</systemitem>, then it is a DMO-Codec.
</para>
</note>

<procedure>
<title>Old Method:</title>
<para>
Take a deep breath and start searching the registry...
</para>
<step><para>
  Start <command>regedit</command>.
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Press <keycap>Ctrl</keycap>+<keycap>F</keycap>, disable the first two
  checkboxes, and enable the third. Type in the fourcc of the codec (e.g.
  <userinput>TM20</userinput>).
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  You should see a field which contains the path and the filename (e.g.
  <filename>C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TM20DEC.AX</filename>).
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  Now that you have the file, we need the GUID. Try searching again, but
  now search for the codec's name, not the fourcc. Its name can be acquired
  when Media Player is playing the file, by checking
  <guimenu>File</guimenu> -&gt; <guisubmenu>Properties</guisubmenu> -&gt;
  <guimenuitem>Advanced</guimenuitem>.
  If not, you are out of luck. Try guessing (e.g. search for TrueMotion).
  </para></step>
<step><para>
  If the GUID is found you should see a <guilabel>FriendlyName</guilabel>
  and a <guilabel>CLSID</guilabel> field. Write down the 16 byte CLSID,
  this is the GUID we need.
  </para></step>
</procedure>

<note>
<para>
If searching fails, try enabling all the checkboxes. You may have
false hits, but you may get lucky...
</para>
</note>

<para>
Now that you have all the necessary information (fourcc, GUID, codec file,
sample AVI), submit your codec support request by mail, and upload these files
to the FTP site:
<systemitem
role="url">ftp://ftp.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/incoming/[codecname]/
</systemitem>
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>