comparison DOCS/codecs.html @ 6583:4b7d097a9c69

big update

6582:f98313dcd428

daily generated list!!!</P>

<P>The most important ones above all:</P>
<UL>
<LI>MPEG1 (VCD) and MPEG2 (DVD) video</LI>
<LI>DivX ;-), OpenDivX (DivX4), DivX 5.01, 3ivX, M$ MPEG4 v2 and other MPEG4 variants</LI>
<LI>Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1) and 8 (WMV2) used in .wmv files</LI>
<LI>Cinepak and Intel Indeo codecs (3.1,3.2,4.1,5.0)</LI>
<LI>MJPEG, AVID, VCR2, ASV2 and other hardware formats</LI>
<LI>VIVO 1.0, 2.0, I263 and other h263(+) variants</LI>
<LI>FLI/FLC</LI>
<LI>RealVideo 1.0 from ffmpeg, and RealVideo 2.0, 3.0 using RealPlayer
  libraries</LI>
<LI>Various old simple RLE-like formats</LI>
</UL>

<P>If you have a Win32 codec not listed here which is not supported yet, please read the
<A HREF="#2.2.3">codec importing HOWTO</A> and help us add support

<P><B><A NAME=2.2.1.1>2.2.1.1. DivX4/DivX5</A></B></P>

<P>This section contains information about the DivX4 codec of
<A HREF="http://www.projectmayo.com">Project Mayo</A>. Their first available alpha version was OpenDivX 4.0
alpha 47 and 48. Support for this was/is included in <B>MPlayer</B>, and built by
default. Earlier, we used its postprocessing code to optionally enhance visual
quality of MPEG1/2 movies. Now we use our own.</P>

<P>The new generation of this codec is called DivX4Linux 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 libavcodec.
Hence its usage as a decoder is <B>DISCOURAGED</B>. However, it is useful for

<P><B>MPlayer</B> 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.</P>

<P>DivX4Linux conflicts with the old OpenDivX because their APIs are similar but 
incompatible. Therefore you can only have one of them compiled into <B>MPlayer</B>
at a time.</P>

<P>DivX4Linux offers an OpenDivX compatibility mode such that you may choose from
the following options when using this codec:</P>

<TABLE BORDER=0>
<TR><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD><TD VALIGN=top><CODE>-vc&nbsp;odivx</CODE></TD><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD>Uses the codec in OpenDivX fashion. In this case it
produces YV12 images in its own buffer, and <B>MPlayer</B> does colorspace
conversion via libvo. (<B>RECOMMENDED!</B>)</TD></TR>
<TR><TD></TD><TD VALIGN=top><CODE>-vc&nbsp;divx4</CODE></TD><TD></TD>
<TD>Uses the colorspace conversion of the codec.
In this mode you can use YUY2/UYVY, too.</TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<P>The <CODE>-vc odivx</CODE> 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 <CODE>-vc divx4</CODE>
method. For RGB modes the speed is the same, differing at best
according to your current color depth.</P>

<P>NOTE: If your -vo driver supports direct rendering, then <CODE>-vc divx4</CODE> may be
faster, or even the fastest solution.</P>

<P>Note: <B>OLD</B> OpenDivX supports postprocessing via the
  <CODE>-oldpp</CODE> option, but the range of values is strange:</P>

<TABLE BORDER=0>
<TR><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD>no postprocessing</TD></TR>
<TR><TD></TD><TD>10 .. 20</TD>
<TD></TD><TD>normal postprocessing (like level 2 with divxds)</TD></TR>
<TR><TD></TD><TD>30 .. 60</TD>
<TD></TD><TD>hard postprocessing, CPU intensive (like level 4 with divxds)</TD></TR>
</TABLE>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.1.2>2.2.1.2. FFmpeg DivX/libavcodec</A></B></P>

<P>Beginning with version 0.4.2,

<B>MPlayer</B> supports this codec, making it possible to <B>watch
DivX/DivX4/DivX5/MP41/MP42 movies on non-x86 platforms</B>. Furthermore it offers higher
decoding speed than the Win32 codecs or the original
DivX4 library!</P>

<P>It also contains a lot of nice codecs, such as RealVideo 1.0, MJPEG, h263,
h263+, etc.</P>

<P>If you use an <B>MPlayer</B> release you have libavcodec right in the package,
just build  as usual. If you use <B>MPlayer</B> from CVS you have to extract
libavcodec from the FFmpeg CVS tree as FFmpeg 0.4.5 does <B>not</B> work with
<B>MPlayer</B>. In order to achieve this do:</P>

</OL>

<P><B>NOTE:</B> MPlayer from CVS does contain a libavcodec
subdirectory, but it does NOT contain the source for libavcodec!
You must follow the steps above to obtain the source for this library.</P>

<P>The codec also <B>supports postprocessing!</B></P>

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

      package, and copy them to <CODE>/usr/local/include/</CODE>.</LI>
    <LI>Recompile <B>MPlayer</B> with <CODE>--with-xvidcore=/path/to/libcore.a</CODE>.</LI>
  </OL>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.2>2.2.2.  Audio codecs</A></B></P>

<P>The most important audio codecs above all:<BR></P>
<UL>
<LI>MPEG layer 2, and layer 3 (MP3) audio (<B>native</B> code, with MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)</LI>

<LI>AC3 Dolby audio (<B>native</B> code, with MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)</LI>
<LI>Ogg Vorbis audio codec (<B>native</B> library)</LI>
<LI>Voxware audio (using DirectShow DLL)</LI>
<LI>alaw, msgsm, pcm and other simple old audio formats</LI>
<LI>VIVO audio (g723, Vivo Siren)</LI>
<LI>RealAudio: DNET (low bitrate AC3)</LI>
</UL>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.2.1>2.2.2.1.  Software AC3 decoding</A></B></P>

6583:4b7d097a9c69

daily generated list!!!</P>

<P>The most important ones above all:</P>
<UL>
<LI>MPEG1 (VCD) and MPEG2 (DVD) video</LI>
<LI>native decoders for DivX ;-), OpenDivX (DivX4), DivX 5.01, 3ivX, M$ MPEG4 v1, v2 and other MPEG4 variants</LI>
<LI>native decoder for Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1), and Win32 DLL decoder for
  Windows Media Video 8 (WMV2), both used in .wmv files</LI>
<LI><B>native Sorenson (SVQ1) decoder</B></LI>
<LI>Cinepak and Intel Indeo codecs (3.1,3.2,4.1,5.0)</LI>
<LI>MJPEG, AVID, VCR2, ASV2 and other hardware formats</LI>
<LI>VIVO 1.0, 2.0, I263 and other h263(+) variants</LI>
<LI>FLI/FLC</LI>
<LI>RealVideo 1.0 from ffmpeg, and RealVideo 2.0, 3.0 using RealPlayer
  libraries</LI>
<LI>native decoder for HuffYUV</LI>
<LI>Various old simple RLE-like formats</LI>
</UL>

<P>If you have a Win32 codec not listed here which is not supported yet, please read the
<A HREF="#2.2.3">codec importing HOWTO</A> and help us add support

<P><B><A NAME=2.2.1.1>2.2.1.1. DivX4/DivX5</A></B></P>

<P>This section contains information about the DivX4 codec of
<A HREF="http://www.projectmayo.com">Project Mayo</A>. Their first available alpha version was OpenDivX 4.0
alpha 47 and 48. Support for this was included in <B>MPlayer</B> 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.</P>

<P>The new generation of this codec is called DivX4Linux 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 libavcodec.
Hence its usage as a decoder is <B>DISCOURAGED</B>. However, it is useful for

<P><B>MPlayer</B> 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.</P>

<P>DivX4Linux works in two modes:</P>

<TABLE BORDER=0>
<TR><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD><TD VALIGN=top><CODE>-vc&nbsp;odivx</CODE></TD><TD>&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD>Uses the codec in OpenDivX fashion. In this case it
produces YV12 images in its own buffer, and <B>MPlayer</B> does colorspace
conversion via libvo. (<B>FAST, RECOMMENDED!</B>)</TD></TR>
<TR><TD></TD><TD VALIGN=top><CODE>-vc&nbsp;divx4</CODE></TD><TD></TD>
<TD>Uses the colorspace conversion of the codec.
In this mode you can use YUY2/UYVY, too. (<B>SLOW</B>)</TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<P>The <CODE>-vc odivx</CODE> 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 <CODE>-vc divx4</CODE>
method. For RGB modes the speed is the same, differing at best
according to your current color depth.</P>

<P>NOTE: If your -vo driver supports direct rendering, then <CODE>-vc divx4</CODE> may be
faster, or even the fastest solution.</P>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.1.2>2.2.1.2. FFmpeg DivX/libavcodec</A></B></P>

<P>Beginning with version 0.4.2,

<B>MPlayer</B> supports this codec, making it possible to <B>watch
DivX/DivX4/DivX5/MP41/MP42 movies on non-x86 platforms</B>. Furthermore it offers higher
decoding speed than the Win32 codecs or the original
DivX4 library!</P>

<P>It also contains a lot of nice codecs, such as RealVideo 1.0, WMV7,
  MJPEG, h263, h263+, etc.</P>

<P>If you use an <B>MPlayer</B> release you have libavcodec right in the package,
just build  as usual. If you use <B>MPlayer</B> from CVS you have to extract
libavcodec from the FFmpeg CVS tree as FFmpeg 0.4.5 does <B>not</B> work with
<B>MPlayer</B>. In order to achieve this do:</P>

</OL>

<P><B>NOTE:</B> MPlayer from CVS does contain a libavcodec
subdirectory, but it does NOT contain the source for libavcodec!
You must follow the steps above to obtain the source for this library.</P>

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

      package, and copy them to <CODE>/usr/local/include/</CODE>.</LI>
    <LI>Recompile <B>MPlayer</B> with <CODE>--with-xvidcore=/path/to/libcore.a</CODE>.</LI>
  </OL>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.1.10>2.2.1.10.  Sorenson</A></B></P>

<P><B>Sorenson</B> is a video codec developed by Apple. We are currently
  able to decode the first version of it (SVQ1), with a native decoder.</P>

<P><B>Advantages:</B></P>
  <UL>
    <LI>old, slow Macintosh machines were able to decode it</LI>
  </UL>

<P><B>Disadvantages:</B></P>
  <UL>
    <LI>SVQ3 is still not reverse-engineered</LI>
  </UL>

<P><B>Installation:</B> it's compiled and usable per default.</P>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.2>2.2.2.  Audio codecs</A></B></P>

<P>The most important audio codecs above all:<BR></P>
<UL>
<LI>MPEG layer 2, and layer 3 (MP3) audio (<B>native</B> code, with MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)</LI>

<LI>AC3 Dolby audio (<B>native</B> code, with MMX/SSE/3DNow! optimization)</LI>
<LI>Ogg Vorbis audio codec (<B>native</B> library)</LI>
<LI>Voxware audio (using DirectShow DLL)</LI>
<LI>alaw, msgsm, pcm and other simple old audio formats</LI>
<LI>VIVO audio (g723, Vivo Siren)</LI>
<LI>RealAudio: DNET (low bitrate AC3), Cook, Sipro</LI>
</UL>


<P><B><A NAME=2.2.2.1>2.2.2.1.  Software AC3 decoding</A></B></P>