comparison DOCS/video.html @ 6998:83a386e88f9e

Applied patch by Andras Mohari <mayday at varoshaza . nagyatad . hu> * Reduces the number of '!' chars... * Removes unnecessary spaces before ':' and '!' chars. * Changes the title of Appendix X to 'MPlayer skin format'. * Improves(?) wording in some cases. * Adds CODE tags around some options and filenames. Plus some further wording fixes by me, two dangling links and converted a few ASCII unordered lists into proper HTML ones.

6997:85fc65e6667f

    <P><CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;(II) Loading extension XVideo</CODE></P>

    <P>in /var/log/XFree86.0.log</P>

    <P>NOTE: this loads only the XFree86's extension. In a good install, this
      is always loaded, and doesn't mean that the _card's_ XVideo support is
      loaded!</P>
  </LI>
  <LI>Your card has Xv support under Linux. To check, try 'xvinfo', it is the
    part of the XFree86 distribution. It should display a long text, similar
    to this:

<P><B><A NAME="xv_3dfx">2.3.1.2.1 3dfx cards</A></B></P>

<P>Older 3dfx drivers were known to have problems with XVideo acceleration, it
  didn't support either YUY2 or YV12, and so. Verify that you have XFree86
  version 4.2.0 or greater, it works OK with YV12 and YUY2. Previous versions,
  including 4.1.0 <B>crashes with YV12</B>! If you experience strange effects
  using -vo xv, try SDL (it has XVideo too) and see if it helps. Check the
  <A HREF="#sdl">SDL section</A> for details.</P>

<P><B>OR</B>, try the NEW -vo tdfxfb driver! See the
  <A HREF="#tdfxfb">tdfxfb</A> section!</P>


<P><B><A NAME="xv_s3">2.3.1.2.2 S3 cards</A></B></P>

<P>S3 Savage3D's should work fine, but for Savage4, use XFree86 version 4.0.3

  driver is autodetected on ./configure, or you can force it with
  --enable-dga.</P>

<P>If the driver couldn't switch to a smaller resolution, experiment with
  switches -vm (only with X 3.3.x), -fs, -bpp, -zoom to find a video mode that
  the movie fits in. There is no converter right now.. :(</P>

<P>Become ROOT. DGA needs root access to be able to write directly video
  memory. If you want to run it as user, then install <B>MPlayer</B> SUID
  root:</P>

  This is a <B>BIG</B> security risk! Never do this on a server or on a
  computer can be accessed by more people than only you because they can gain
  root privileges through SUID root <B>MPlayer</B>.<BR>
  <B>!!!! SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ... !!!!</B></P>

<P>Now use '-vo dga' option, and there you go! (hope so:)
  You should also try if the '-vo sdl:dga' option works for you! It's much
  faster!!!</P>


<P><B><A NAME="dga_resolution">2.3.1.3.4 Resolution switching</A></B></P>

<P>The DGA driver allows for switching the resolution of the output signal. 

<P><B><A NAME="fbdev">2.3.1.6 Framebuffer output (FBdev)</A></B></P>

<P>Whether to build the FBdev target is autodetected during ./configure .
  Read the framebuffer documentation in the kernel sources
  (Documentation/fb/*) for info on how to enable it, etc..!</P>

<P>If your card doesn't support VBE 2.0 standard (older ISA/PCI
  cards, such as S3 Trio64), only VBE 1.2 (or older?):
  Well, VESAfb is still available, but you'll have to load SciTech Display
  Doctor (formerly UniVBE) before booting Linux.  Use a DOS boot disk or

  support, the mga_vid kernel driver.  It's active developed by me (A'rpi), and
  it has hardware VSYNC support with triple buffering. It works on both
  framebuffer console and under X.</P>

<P><B>WARNING</B>: on non-Linux systems, use <A HREF="#vidix">VIDIX</A> for
  mga_vid !!!</P>

<P>To use it, you first have to compile mga_vid.o:</P>

<P><CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;cd drivers<BR>
  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;make</CODE></P>

<P>Use the <CODE>-framedrop</CODE> option if your computer isn't fast enough to
  render all frames!</P>

<P>Playing on terminal you'll get better speed and quality using the Linux
  driver, not curses (-aadriver linux). But therefore you need write access on
  /dev/vcsa&lt;terminal&gt;!  That isn't autodetected by aalib, but vo_aa tries
  to find the best mode.  See
  <A HREF="http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/tune/">http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/tune/</A>
  for further tuning issues.</P>

<P>So you have chances to get working TV-out by using this driver.<BR>
  (I guess that TV-out frequently is standalone head or standalone output
  at least.)</P>

<P><B>What are pluses:</B><BR>
  - You have chances to watch movies <B>if Linux even doesn't know</B> your
    video hardware.<BR>
  - You don't need to have installed any graphics' related things on your Linux
    (like X11 (aka XFree86), fbdev and so on). This driver can be run from
    <B>text-mode</B>.<BR>
  - You have chances to get <B>working TV-out</B>. (It's known at least for
    ATI's cards).<BR>
  - This driver calls <B>int 10h</B> handler thus it's not an emulator - it
    calls <B>real</B> things of <B>real</B> BIOS in <B>real</B>-mode. (Finely -
    in vm86 mode).<BR>
  - You can use Vidix with it, thus getting accelerated video display
    <B>AND</B> TV output at the same time! (recommended for ATI cards)</P>

<P><B>What are minuses:</B><BR>
  - It works only on <B>x86 systems</B>.<BR>
  - It can be used only by <B>ROOT</B>.<BR>
  - Currently it's available only for <B>Linux</B>.</P>

<P>Don't use this driver with <B>GCC 2.96</B>! It won't work!</P>

<TABLE BORDER=0>
  <TR><TD COLSPAN=4><P><B>These switches of command line currently are available for VESA:</B></P></TD></TR>

  <TR><TD></TD><TD VALIGN="top"><CODE>-double</CODE></TD><TD></TD><TD>enables
    double buffering mode. (Available only in DGA mode). Should be slower of
    single buffering, but has no flickering effects.</TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<P><B>Known problems and workaround:</B><BR>
  - If you have installed <B>NLS</B> font on your Linux box and run VESA driver
    from text-mode then after terminating <B>MPlayer</B> you will have <B>ROM
    font</B> loaded instead of national. You can load national font again by
    using <B><I>setsysfont</I></B> utility from for example Mandrake
    distribution.<BR>
    (<B>Hint</B>: The same utility is used for localization of fbdev).<BR>
  - Some <B>Linux graphics drivers</B> don't update active <B>BIOS mode</B> in
    DOS memory. So if you have such problem - always use VESA driver only from
    <B>text-mode</B>. Otherwise text-mode (#03) will be activated anyway and
    you will need restart your computer.<BR>
  - Often after terminating VESA driver you get <B>black screen</B>. To return
    your screen to original state - simply switch to other console (by pressing
    <B>Alt-Fx</B>) then switch to your previous console by the same way.<BR>
  - To get <B>working TV-out</B> you need have plugged TV-connector in before
    booting your PC since video BIOS initializes itself only once during POST
    procedure.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="x11">2.3.1.13  X11</A></B></P>

<P>Avoid if possible. Outputs to X11 (uses shared memory extension), with no

<P><B><A NAME="tv-out_matrox">2.3.1.A.1 Matrox G400 cards</A></B></P>

<P>Under Linux you have 2 methods to get G400 TV out working:</P>

<P><B>IMPORTANT:</B> Only Matrox G400DH/G400MAX has TV-out support under Linux, others (G450, G550) has <B>NOT!</B></P>

<UL>
  <LI><B>XFree86</B>: using the driver and the HAL module, available from
    <A HREF="http://www.matrox.com">Matrox's site</A>. This will give you X on
    the TV.<BR> <B>This method doesn't give you accelerated playback</B> as

        will enter into framebuffer mode (no way back!).</LI>
      <LI>Next, run the <CODE>./matroxtv</CODE> script. This will present you
        to a very simple menu. Press <B>2</B> and <B>ENTER</B>. Now you should
	have the same picture on your monitor, and TV. The <B>3.</B> option
        will turn on independent display, but then you <B>can't use X</B>! If
	the TV (PAL!) picture has some weird stripes on it, the script wasn't able to
	set the resolution correctly (to 640x512 by default). Use other menu
	items randomly and it'll be OK :)</LI>
    </UL>

    <P>Yoh. Next task is to make the cursor on tty1 (or whatever) to disappear,

    or <CODE>setterm -cursor on</CODE></P>

    <P>Yeah kewl. Start movie playing with <CODE>mplayer -vo mga -fs -screenw 640
    -screenh 512 &lt;filename&gt;</CODE><BR>
    (if you use X, now change to matroxfb with for example CTRL-ALT-F1!)<BR>
    Change 640x512 if you set the resolution to other..<BR>
    <B>Enjoy the ultra-fast ultra-featured Matrox TV output (better than Xv)!</B></P>
  </LI>
</UL>

  <LI><B>ATI Mach64</B>: supported by
    <A HREF="http://gatos.sf.net">gatos</A>.</LI>
  <LI><B>ASIC Radeon VIVO</B>: supported by
  <A HREF="http://gatos.sf.net">gatos</A>.</LI>
  <LI><B>Radeon</B> and <B>Rage128</B>: supported by <B>MPlayer</B>!
    Check <a href="#vesa">VESA driver</a> and <A HREF="#2.3.1.15">Vidix</A>
    sections.</LI>
</UL>

<P>On other cards, just use the <a href="#vesa">VESA driver</a>, without
  VIDIX. Powerful CPU is needed, though.</P>

6998:83a386e88f9e

    <P><CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;(II) Loading extension XVideo</CODE></P>

    <P>in /var/log/XFree86.0.log</P>

    <P>NOTE: this loads only the XFree86's extension. In a good install, this
      is always loaded, and doesn't mean that the <B>card's</B> XVideo support is
      loaded!</P>
  </LI>
  <LI>Your card has Xv support under Linux. To check, try 'xvinfo', it is the
    part of the XFree86 distribution. It should display a long text, similar
    to this:

<P><B><A NAME="xv_3dfx">2.3.1.2.1 3dfx cards</A></B></P>

<P>Older 3dfx drivers were known to have problems with XVideo acceleration, it
  didn't support either YUY2 or YV12, and so. Verify that you have XFree86
  version 4.2.0 or greater, it works OK with YV12 and YUY2. Previous versions,
  including 4.1.0, <B>crash with YV12</B>. If you experience strange effects
  using -vo xv, try SDL (it has XVideo too) and see if it helps. Check the
  <A HREF="#sdl">SDL section</A> for details.</P>

<P><B>OR</B>, try the NEW -vo tdfxfb driver! See the
  <A HREF="#tdfxfb">tdfxfb</A> section.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="xv_s3">2.3.1.2.2 S3 cards</A></B></P>

<P>S3 Savage3D's should work fine, but for Savage4, use XFree86 version 4.0.3

  driver is autodetected on ./configure, or you can force it with
  --enable-dga.</P>

<P>If the driver couldn't switch to a smaller resolution, experiment with
  switches -vm (only with X 3.3.x), -fs, -bpp, -zoom to find a video mode that
  the movie fits in. There is no converter right now :(</P>

<P>Become ROOT. DGA needs root access to be able to write directly video
  memory. If you want to run it as user, then install <B>MPlayer</B> SUID
  root:</P>

  This is a <B>BIG</B> security risk! Never do this on a server or on a
  computer can be accessed by more people than only you because they can gain
  root privileges through SUID root <B>MPlayer</B>.<BR>
  <B>!!!! SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ... !!!!</B></P>

<P>Now use the <CODE>-vo dga</CODE> option, and there you go (hope so :))!
  You should also try if the <CODE>-vo sdl:dga</CODE> option works for you. It's
  much faster.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="dga_resolution">2.3.1.3.4 Resolution switching</A></B></P>

<P>The DGA driver allows for switching the resolution of the output signal. 

<P><B><A NAME="fbdev">2.3.1.6 Framebuffer output (FBdev)</A></B></P>

<P>Whether to build the FBdev target is autodetected during ./configure .
  Read the framebuffer documentation in the kernel sources
  (Documentation/fb/*) for more information.</P>

<P>If your card doesn't support VBE 2.0 standard (older ISA/PCI
  cards, such as S3 Trio64), only VBE 1.2 (or older?):
  Well, VESAfb is still available, but you'll have to load SciTech Display
  Doctor (formerly UniVBE) before booting Linux.  Use a DOS boot disk or

  support, the mga_vid kernel driver.  It's active developed by me (A'rpi), and
  it has hardware VSYNC support with triple buffering. It works on both
  framebuffer console and under X.</P>

<P><B>WARNING</B>: on non-Linux systems, use <A HREF="#vidix">VIDIX</A> for
  mga_vid!</P>

<P>To use it, you first have to compile mga_vid.o:</P>

<P><CODE>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;cd drivers<BR>
  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;make</CODE></P>

<P>Use the <CODE>-framedrop</CODE> option if your computer isn't fast enough to
  render all frames!</P>

<P>Playing on terminal you'll get better speed and quality using the Linux
  driver, not curses (<CODE>-aadriver linux</CODE>). But therefore you need write access on
  <CODE>/dev/vcsa&lt;terminal&gt;</CODE>.  That isn't autodetected by aalib, but vo_aa tries
  to find the best mode.  See
  <A HREF="http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/tune/">http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/tune/</A>
  for further tuning issues.</P>

<P>So you have chances to get working TV-out by using this driver.<BR>
  (I guess that TV-out frequently is standalone head or standalone output
  at least.)</P>

<B>Advantages:</B>

<UL>
  <LI>You have the possibility to watch movies <B>even if Linux doesn't know</B>
    your video hardware.</LI>
  <LI>You don't need to have installed any graphics' related things on your Linux
    (like X11 (aka XFree86), fbdev and so on). This driver can be run from
    <B>text-mode</B>.</LI>
  <LI>You have chances to get <B>working TV-out</B>. (It's known at least for
    ATI's cards).</LI>
  <LI>This driver calls <B>int 10h</B> handler thus it's not an emulator - it
    calls <B>real</B> things of <B>real</B> BIOS in <B>real</B>-mode. (Finely -
    in vm86 mode).</LI>
  <LI>You can use Vidix with it, thus getting accelerated video display
    <B>AND</B> TV output at the same time! (recommended for ATI cards)</LI>
</UL>

<B>Disadvantages:</B>

<UL>
  <LI>It works only on <B>x86 systems</B>.</LI>
  <LI>It can be used only by <B>root</B>.</LI>
  <LI>Currently it's available only for <B>Linux</B>.</LI>
</UL>

<P>Don't use this driver with <B>GCC 2.96</B>! It won't work!</P>

<TABLE BORDER=0>
  <TR><TD COLSPAN=4><P><B>These switches of command line currently are available for VESA:</B></P></TD></TR>

  <TR><TD></TD><TD VALIGN="top"><CODE>-double</CODE></TD><TD></TD><TD>enables
    double buffering mode. (Available only in DGA mode). Should be slower of
    single buffering, but has no flickering effects.</TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<B>Known problems and workaround:</B>

<UL>
  <LI>If you have installed <B>NLS</B> font on your Linux box and run VESA
    driver from text-mode then after terminating <B>MPlayer</B> you will have
    <B>ROM font</B> loaded instead of national. You can load national font again
    by using <B><I>setsysfont</I></B> utility from the Mandrake distribution
    for example.</BR>
    (<B>Hint:</B> The same utility is used for the localization of fbdev).</LI>
  <LI>Some <B>Linux graphics drivers</B> don't update active <B>BIOS mode</B> in
    DOS memory. So if you have such problem - always use VESA driver only from
    <B>text-mode</B>. Otherwise text-mode (#03) will be activated anyway and
    you will need restart your computer.</LI>
  <LI>Often after terminating VESA driver you get <B>black screen</B>. To return
    your screen to original state - simply switch to other console (by pressing
    <B>Alt-Fx</B>) then switch to your previous console by the same way.</LI>
  <LI>To get <B>working TV-out</B> you need have plugged TV-connector in before
    booting your PC since video BIOS initializes itself only once during POST
    procedure.</LI>
</UL>


<P><B><A NAME="x11">2.3.1.13  X11</A></B></P>

<P>Avoid if possible. Outputs to X11 (uses shared memory extension), with no

<P><B><A NAME="tv-out_matrox">2.3.1.A.1 Matrox G400 cards</A></B></P>

<P>Under Linux you have 2 methods to get G400 TV out working:</P>

<P><B>IMPORTANT:</B> Only Matrox G400DH/G400MAX has TV-out support under Linux, others (G450, G550) have <B>not!</B></P>

<UL>
  <LI><B>XFree86</B>: using the driver and the HAL module, available from
    <A HREF="http://www.matrox.com">Matrox's site</A>. This will give you X on
    the TV.<BR> <B>This method doesn't give you accelerated playback</B> as

        will enter into framebuffer mode (no way back!).</LI>
      <LI>Next, run the <CODE>./matroxtv</CODE> script. This will present you
        to a very simple menu. Press <B>2</B> and <B>ENTER</B>. Now you should
	have the same picture on your monitor, and TV. The <B>3.</B> option
        will turn on independent display, but then you <B>can't use X</B>! If
	the TV (PAL) picture has some weird stripes on it, the script wasn't able to
	set the resolution correctly (to 640x512 by default). Use other menu
	items randomly and it'll be OK :)</LI>
    </UL>

    <P>Yoh. Next task is to make the cursor on tty1 (or whatever) to disappear,

    or <CODE>setterm -cursor on</CODE></P>

    <P>Yeah kewl. Start movie playing with <CODE>mplayer -vo mga -fs -screenw 640
    -screenh 512 &lt;filename&gt;</CODE><BR>
    (if you use X, now change to matroxfb with for example CTRL-ALT-F1!)<BR>
    Change 640x512 if you set the resolution to other.<BR>
    <B>Enjoy the ultra-fast ultra-featured Matrox TV output (better than Xv)!</B></P>
  </LI>
</UL>

  <LI><B>ATI Mach64</B>: supported by
    <A HREF="http://gatos.sf.net">gatos</A>.</LI>
  <LI><B>ASIC Radeon VIVO</B>: supported by
  <A HREF="http://gatos.sf.net">gatos</A>.</LI>
  <LI><B>Radeon</B> and <B>Rage128</B>: supported by <B>MPlayer</B>!
    Check <a href="#vesa">VESA driver</a> and <A HREF="#vidix">VIDIX</A>
    sections.</LI>
</UL>

<P>On other cards, just use the <a href="#vesa">VESA driver</a>, without
  VIDIX. Powerful CPU is needed, though.</P>