comparison DOCS/codecs.html @ 6960:87deea511b1f

continuing paragraph reformatting

6959:f7d8c02536e4

<P>See the <A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html">codec status table</A> for the complete,
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="#importing">codec importing HOWTO</A> and help us add support
for it!</P>

<P><B><A NAME="divx">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
encoding. One disadvantage of this codec is that it is currently closed source.</P> 

<P>The codec can be downloaded from one of the following URLs:</P>

<P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net">http://avifile.sourceforge.net</A><BR>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://divx.com">http://divx.com</A></P>

<P>Unpack it, and run <CODE>./install.sh</CODE> as root.</P>

<P><B>Note:</B> Do <B>not</B> forget adding <CODE>/usr/local/lib</CODE> to your
<CODE>/etc/ld.so.conf</CODE> and running <CODE>ldconfig</CODE>!</P>

<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>

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


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

<P>Beginning with version 0.4.2,
<A HREF="http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net">FFmpeg</A> contains an
<B>open source</B> DivX codec, which is compatible with traditional DivX.
<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>
  <LI><CODE>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg login</CODE></LI>
  <LI><CODE>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg co ffmpeg</CODE></LI>
  <LI>Move the <CODE>libavcodec</CODE> directory from the FFmpeg sources to the

    Symlinking is <B>not</B> enough, you have to copy/move it!!!</LI>
  <LI>Compile. Configure should detect problems before compilation.</LI>
</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>


<P><B><A NAME="xanim">2.2.1.3  XAnim codecs</A></B></P>

<P>Foreword:<BR>
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 XAnim. However, the XAnim author has yet to bring legal
action against anyone for codec-related issues.
</P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> is capable of employing the XAnim codecs for decoding. Follow
the instructions to enable them:</P>

<UL>
  <LI>Download the codecs you wish to use from the
  <A HREF="http://xanim.va.pubnix.com">XAnim site</A>. The <B>3ivx</B> codec
  is not there, but at the <A HREF="http://www.3ivx.com">3ivx site</A>.</LI>

  have filenames like these: <CODE>vid_cvid.xa, vid_h263.xa, vid_iv50.xa</CODE>

</UL>

<P>XAnim is video codec family number 10, so you may want to use the <CODE>-vfm 10</CODE>
option to tell <B>MPlayer</B> to use them if possible.</P>

<P>Tested codecs include: <B>Indeo 3.2</B>, <B>4.1</B>, <B>5.0</B>, <B>CVID</B>, <B>3ivX</B>, <B>h263</B>.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="vivo_video">2.2.1.4  VIVO video</A></B></P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> 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 <CODE>-vc
ffh263</CODE> option (default) (requires up-to-date libavcodec). For 2.0 files, use
the <CODE>ivvideo.dll</CODE> Win32 DLL file (from <A
HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/samples/drivers32/ivvideo.dll">here</A>),
and install it under <CODE>/usr/lib/win32</CODE> or wherever you store the
Win32 codecs. This latter codec does not support YV12 nor YUY2 only BGR modes,
restricting it to the X11 and OpenGL outputs. Hopefully ffh263 will support
VIVO 2.0 files in the future.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="mpeg">2.2.1.5  MPEG 1/2 video</A></B></P>

<P>MPEG1 and MPEG2 are decoded by the multiplatform native <B>libmpeg2</B> library,
whose source code is included in <B>MPlayer</B>.
We handle buggy MPEG 1/2 video files by catching sig11 (segmentation fault),
and quickly reinitializing the codec, continuing exactly from where the failure
occurred.
This recovery technique has no measurable speed penalty.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="ms_video1">2.2.1.6  MS Video1</A></B></P>

<P>This is a very old and very bad codec from Microsoft. In the past it was
decoded with the <CODE>msvidc32.dll</CODE> Win32 codec, now we have our own
open source implementation (by <A HREF="mailto:[e-mail]">Mike
Melanson</A>).</P>


<P><B><A NAME="cinepak">2.2.1.7  Cinepak CVID</A></B></P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> uses its own open source, multiplatform Cinepak decoder by
default. It supports YUV outputs, so that hardware scaling is possible if the
video output driver permits it.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="realvideo">2.2.1.8  RealVideo</A></B></P>

<B>MPlayer</B> supports decoding all versions of RealVideo:

  <LI>RealVideo 3.0 (fourcc RV30) - decoding supported by <B>RealPlayer libraries</B></LI>
</UL>

<P>It is recommended to download and install RealPlayer8 or RealONE, because
  <B>MPlayer</B> can use their libraries to decode files with RealVideo 2.0 or
  RealVideo 3.0 video. You may also just take the RealPlayer libraries from a
  full installation and put them in a suitable directory like
  <CODE>/usr/lib/real</CODE> or <CODE>$LIBDIR/real</CODE>. The <B>MPlayer</B>
  configure script should detect the RealPlayer libraries there or in the
  standard locations of a full installation. If it does not, tell configure
  where to look with the <CODE>--with-reallibdir</CODE> switch.</P>

<P><B>Note:</B> RealPlayer libraries currently <B>only work with Linux, FreeBSD,
  NetBSD and Cygwin on the x86 platform</B>!</P>

<P><B>Note2:</B> We cannot distribute the RealPlayer libraries, the license does

<P><B><A NAME="audio_codecs">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>MPEG layer 1 audio (<B>native</B> code, with libavcodec)</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="software_ac3">2.2.2.1  Software AC3 decoding</A></B></P>

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

<P>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.</P>

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

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

<P>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).</P>


<P><B><A NAME="hardware_ac3">2.2.2.2  Hardware AC3 decoding</A></B></P>

<P>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 <CODE>-ac hwac3</CODE>
option. It is experimental but known to work with C-Media cards and Soundblaster
Live! + ALSA (but not OSS) drivers.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="libmad">2.2.2.3  libmad support</A></B></P>

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

<P>To enable support, compile with the <CODE>--enable-mad</CODE> configure
option.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="vivo_audio">2.2.2.4  VIVO audio</A></B></P>

<P>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 <B>g.723</B> audio, and VIVO/2.0 files
have <B>Vivo Siren</B> audio. Both are supported. You can grab the g.723/Siren
Win32 DLL from
<A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/samples/drivers32/vivog723.acm">here</A>,
then copy it into the <CODE>/usr/lib/win32</CODE> directory.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="realaudio">2.2.2.5  RealAudio</A></B></P>

<B>MPlayer</B> supports decoding all versions of RealAudio:
<UL>
  <LI>RealAudio DNET - decoding supported by <B>liba52</B></LI>
  <LI>RealAudio Cook - decoding supported by <B>RealPlayer libraries</B></LI>
  <LI>RealAudio Sipro - decoding supported by <B>RealPlayer libraries</B></LI>
</UL>


<P>On how to install RealPlayer libraries, see the
  <A HREF="formats.html#real">RealMedia file format</A> section.</P>

6960:87deea511b1f

<P>See the <A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html">codec status table</A> for the complete,
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, DivX5,
    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>3ivx decoder</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 codec from libavcodec, and RealVideo 2.0, 3.0 codecs 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="#importing">codec importing HOWTO</A> and help us add support
  for it!</P>

<P><B><A NAME="divx">2.2.1.1 DivX4/DivX5</A></B></P>

<P>This section contains information about the DivX4 and DivX5 codecs 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 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 libavcodec.  Hence its usage as a
  decoder is <B>DISCOURAGED</B>. However, it is useful for encoding. One
  disadvantage of this codec is that it is currently closed source.</P>

<P>The codec can be downloaded from one of the following URLs:</P>

<P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net">http://avifile.sourceforge.net</A><BR>
  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<A HREF="http://divx.com">http://divx.com</A></P>

<P>Unpack it, and run <CODE>./install.sh</CODE> as root.</P>

<P><B>Note:</B> Do <B>not</B> forget adding <CODE>/usr/local/lib</CODE> to your
  <CODE>/etc/ld.so.conf</CODE> and running <CODE>ldconfig</CODE>!</P>

<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>

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


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

<P><A HREF="http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net">FFmpeg</A> contains an
  <B>opensource</B> codec package, which is capable of decoding video streams
  encoded with
  H263/MJPEG/RV10/DivX3/DivX4/DivX5/MP41/MP42/WMV1
  codecs. Not only some of them can be encoded with, but it also offers higher
  speed than the Win32 codecs or the ProjectMayo DivX4/5 library!</P>

<P>It contains a lot of nice codecs, especially important are the MPEG4
  variants:
  DivX 3, DivX 4, DivX 5, Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1)</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>
  <LI><CODE>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg login</CODE></LI>
  <LI><CODE>cvs -d:pserver:[e-mail]:/cvsroot/ffmpeg co ffmpeg</CODE></LI>
  <LI>Move the <CODE>libavcodec</CODE> directory from the FFmpeg sources to the

    Symlinking is <B>not</B> enough, you have to copy/move it!!!</LI>
  <LI>Compile. Configure should detect problems before compilation.</LI>
</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>


<P><B><A NAME="xanim">2.2.1.3  XAnim codecs</A></B></P>

<P>Foreword:<BR>
  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 XAnim. However, the XAnim author has yet to bring legal
  action against anyone for codec-related issues.
</P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> is capable of employing the XAnim codecs for decoding. Follow
  the instructions to enable them:</P>

<UL>
  <LI>Download the codecs you wish to use from the
  <A HREF="http://xanim.va.pubnix.com">XAnim site</A>. The <B>3ivx</B> codec
  is not there, but at the <A HREF="http://www.3ivx.com">3ivx site</A>.</LI>

  have filenames like these: <CODE>vid_cvid.xa, vid_h263.xa, vid_iv50.xa</CODE>

</UL>

<P>XAnim is video codec family number 10, so you may want to use the <CODE>-vfm 10</CODE>
  option to tell <B>MPlayer</B> to use them if possible.</P>

<P>Tested codecs include: <B>Indeo 3.2</B>, <B>4.1</B>, <B>5.0</B>, <B>CVID</B>, <B>3ivX</B>, <B>h263</B>.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="vivo_video">2.2.1.4  VIVO video</A></B></P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> 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 <CODE>-vc
  ffh263</CODE> option (default) (requires up-to-date libavcodec). For 2.0
  files, use the <CODE>ivvideo.dll</CODE> Win32 DLL file (from
  <A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/samples/drivers32/ivvideo.dll">here</A>),
  and install it under <CODE>/usr/lib/win32</CODE> or wherever you store the
  Win32 codecs. This latter codec does not support YV12 nor YUY2 only BGR
  modes, restricting it to the X11 and OpenGL outputs. Hopefully ffh263 will
  support VIVO 2.0 files in the future.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="mpeg">2.2.1.5  MPEG 1/2 video</A></B></P>

<P>MPEG1 and MPEG2 are decoded by the multiplatform native <B>libmpeg2</B>
  library, whose source code is included in <B>MPlayer</B>. We handle buggy
  MPEG 1/2 video files by catching sig11 (segmentation fault), and quickly
  reinitializing the codec, continuing exactly from where the failure occurred. 
  This recovery technique has no measurable speed penalty.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="ms_video1">2.2.1.6  MS Video1</A></B></P>

<P>This is a very old and very bad codec from Microsoft. In the past it was
  decoded with the <CODE>msvidc32.dll</CODE> Win32 codec, now we have our own
  open source implementation (by <A HREF="mailto:[e-mail]">Mike
  Melanson</A>).</P>


<P><B><A NAME="cinepak">2.2.1.7  Cinepak CVID</A></B></P>

<P><B>MPlayer</B> uses its own open source, multiplatform Cinepak decoder by
  default. It supports YUV outputs, so that hardware scaling is possible if the
  video output driver permits it.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="realvideo">2.2.1.8  RealVideo</A></B></P>

<B>MPlayer</B> supports decoding all versions of RealVideo:

  <LI>RealVideo 3.0 (fourcc RV30) - decoding supported by <B>RealPlayer libraries</B></LI>
</UL>

<P>It is recommended to download and install RealPlayer8 or RealONE, because
  <B>MPlayer</B> can use their libraries to decode files with RealVideo 2.0 or
  RealVideo 3.0 video.  The <B>MPlayer</B> configure script should detect the
  RealPlayer libraries in the standard locations of a full installation. If it
  does not, tell configure where to look with the
  <CODE>--with-reallibdir</CODE> switch.</P>

<P><B>Note:</B> RealPlayer libraries currently <B>only work with Linux, FreeBSD,
  NetBSD and Cygwin on the x86 platform</B>!</P>

<P><B>Note2:</B> We cannot distribute the RealPlayer libraries, the license does

<P><B><A NAME="audio_codecs">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>MPEG layer 1 audio (<B>native</B> code, with libavcodec)</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</LI>
</UL>


<P><B><A NAME="software_ac3">2.2.2.1  Software AC3 decoding</A></B></P>

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

<P>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.</P>

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

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

<P>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).</P>


<P><B><A NAME="hardware_ac3">2.2.2.2  Hardware AC3 decoding</A></B></P>

<P>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 <CODE>-ac hwac3</CODE>
  option. It is experimental but known to work with C-Media cards and
  Soundblaster Live! + ALSA (but not OSS) drivers.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="libmad">2.2.2.3  libmad support</A></B></P>

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

<P>To enable support, compile with the <CODE>--enable-mad</CODE> configure
  option.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="vivo_audio">2.2.2.4  VIVO audio</A></B></P>

<P>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 <B>g.723</B> audio, and VIVO/2.0 files
  have <B>Vivo Siren</B> audio. Both are supported. You can grab the
  g.723/Siren Win32 DLL from
  <A HREF="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/samples/drivers32/vivog723.acm">here</A>,
  then copy it into the <CODE>/usr/lib/win32</CODE> directory.</P>


<P><B><A NAME="realaudio">2.2.2.5  RealAudio</A></B></P>

<B>MPlayer</B> supports decoding nearly all versions of RealAudio:
<UL>
  <LI>RealAudio DNET - decoding supported by <B>liba52</B></LI>
  <LI>RealAudio Cook - decoding supported by <B>RealPlayer libraries</B></LI>
  <LI>RealAudio Sipro - not yet supported</LI>
</UL>

<P>On how to install RealPlayer libraries, see the
  <A HREF="formats.html#real">RealMedia file format</A> section.</P>