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1 1. Input layer, supported devices, methods:
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2 - plain file, with seeking
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3 - STDIN, without seeking backward
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4 - network streaming (currently plain wget-like HTTP, no MMS support yet)
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5 - VCD (Video CD) track, by direct CDROM device access (not requires mounting disc)
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6 - DVD titles using .IFO structure, by direct DVD device access (not requires mounting disc)
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7
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8 2. Demuxer/parser layer, supported file/media formats:
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9
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10 - MPEG streams (ES,PES,PS. no TS support yet)
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11 note: mpeg demuxer silently ignore non-mpeg content, and find mpeg packets
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12 in arbitrary streams. it means you can play directly VCD images (for example
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13 CDRwin's .BIN files) without extracting mpeg files first (with tools like vcdgear)
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14 It accepts all PES variants, including files created by VDR.
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15 Note: VOB (video object) is simple mpeg stream, but it usually has 01BD
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16 streams which may contain subtitles and non-mpeg audio. Usually found on DVD discs.
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17
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18 Headers: mpeg streams has no global header. each frame sequecne (also called GOP,
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19 group of pictures) contains an sequence header, it describes that block.
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20 In normal mpeg 1/2 content there are GOPs of 12-15 frames (24/30 fps).
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21 It means you can freely seek in mpeg streams, and even can cut it to
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22 small parts with standard file tools (dd, cut) without destroying it.
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23
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24 Codecs: video is always mpeg video (mpeg1, mpeg2 or mpeg4).
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25 audio is usually mpeg audio (any layer allowed, but it's layer 2 in most files)
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26 but 01BD streams may contain AC3 or LPCM too.
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27
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28 FPS: mpeg2 content allow variable framerate, in form of delayed frames.
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29 It's mostly used for playback 24fps contant at 29.97/30 fps (NTSC) rate.
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30 (so called Telecine or 3:2 pulldown effect)
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31 It means you see 30 frames per second, but there are only 24 different
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32 pictures and some of them are shown longer to fill 30 frame time.
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33 If you encode such files with mencoder, using -ofps 24 or -ofps 23.98
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34 is recommended.
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35
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36 - AVI streams.
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37 Two kind of RIFF AVI files exists:
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38 1. interleaved: audio and video contant is interlaved. it's faster and
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39 requires only 1 reading thread, so it's recommended (and mostly used).
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40 2. non-interleaved: audio and video aren't interleaved, i mean first come
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41 whole video followed by whole audio. it requires 2 reading process or
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42 1 reading with lots of seeking. very bad for network or cdrom.
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43 3. badly interleaved streams: mplayer detects interleaving at startup and
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44 enables -ni option if it finds non-interleaved content. but sometimes
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45 the stream seems to be interleaved, but with bad sync so it should be
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46 played as non-interleaved otherwise you get a-v desync or buffer overflow.
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47 MPlayer supports 2 kind of timing for AVI files:
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48 - bps-based: it is baed on bitrate/samplerate of video/audio steram.
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49 this method is used by most players, including avifile and wmp.
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50 files with broken headers, and files created with VBR audio but not
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51 vbr-compliant encoder will result a-v desync with this method.
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52 (mostly at seeking).
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53 - interleaving-based: note: it can't be used togethwer with -ni
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54 it doesn't use bitrate stuff of header, it uses the relative position
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55 of interleaved audio and video chunks. makes some badly encoded file
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56 with vbr audio playable.
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57
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58 Headers: AVI files has a mandatory header at the begin of the file,
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59 describing video parameters (resolution, fps) and codecs. Optionally
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60 they have an INDEX block at the end of the file. It's optional, but
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61 most files has such block, because it REQUIRES for seeking.
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62 Btw usually it can be rebuild from file content, mplayer does it with
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63 the -idx switch. Mplayer can fix broken index blocks using -forceidx.
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64 As AVI files needs index for random access, broken files with no index
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65 are usually unplayable.
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66 Of course, cutting/joining AVI files needs special programs.
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67
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68 Codecs: any audio and video codecs allowed, but I note that VBR audio is
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69 not well supported by most players. The file format makes it possible to
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70 use VBR audio, but most players expect CBR audio and fails with VBR,
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71 as VBR is unusual, and Microsoft's AVI specs only describe CBR audio.
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72 I also note, that most AVI encoders/multiplexers create bad files if
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73 using VBR audio. only 2 exception (known by me): NaNDub and MEncoder.
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74
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75 FPS: must be constant, but skipping frames are allowed.
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76
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77 - ASF streams:
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78 ASF (active streaming format) comes from Microsoft. they developed two
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79 variant of ASF, v1.0 and v2.0. v1.0 is used by their media tools (wmp and
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80 wme) and v2.0 is published and patented :). of course, they differ,
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81 no compatibility at all. (it's just a legality game)
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82 MPlayer supports only v1.0, as nobody ever seen v2.0 files :)
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83 Note, that .ASF files are nowdays come with extension .WMA or .WMV.
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84
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85 Headers: Stream headers (codecs parameters) can be everywhere (in theory),
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86 but all files i've seen had it at the beginning of the file.
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87 Asf uses fixed packet size, so it is seekable without any INDEX block,
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88 and broken files are playable well.
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89
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90 Codecs: video is mostly microsoft's mpeg4 variants, MP42, MP43 (aka DivX),
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91 WMV1 and WMV2. but any codecs allowed.
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92 audio is usually wma or voxware, but any codecs allowed.
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93
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94 FPS: no fixed fps, every video frame has an exact timestamp instead.
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95 I've got stream with up to 3 sec frame display times.
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96
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97 - QuickTime / MOV files:
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98 They come from Mac users, usually with .mov or .qt extension, but as
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99 MPEG Group choose quicktime as recommended file format for MPEG4,
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100 sometimes you meet quicktime files with .mpg extension.
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101
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102 At first look, it's a mixture of ASF and AVI.
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103 It requires INDEX block for random access and seeking, and even for
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104 playback, like AVI, but uses timestamps instead of constant framerate
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105 and has more flexible stream options (including network stuff) like ASF.
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106
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107 Headers: header can be placed at the beginning or at the end of file.
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108 About half of my files has it at the begining, others has it at the end.
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109 Broken files are only playable if they have header at the beginning!
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110
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111 Codecs: any codecs allowed, both CBR and VBR.
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112 Note: most new mov files use Sorenson video and audio, they are
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113 patented, closed, secret, (TM)-ed etc formats, only Apple's quicktime
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114 player is able to playback these files (on win/mac only).
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115
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116 - VIVO files:
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117 They are funny streams. They have a human-readable ascii header at
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118 the beginning, followed by interleaved audio and video chunks.
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119 It has no index block, has no fixed packetsize or sync bytes, and most
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120 files even has no keyframes, so forget seeking!
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121 Video is standard h.263 (in vivo/2.0 files it's modified, non-standard
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122 h.263), audio is either standard g.723 or Vivo Siren codec.
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123
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124 Note, that microsoft licensed vivo stuff, and included in their netshow
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125 v2.0 program, so there are VfW/ACM codecs for vivo video and audio.
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126
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