diff DOCS/tech/general.txt @ 30990:0ad2da052b2e

the great MPlayer tab removal: part I
author diego
date Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:56:17 +0000
parents 32725ca88fed
children eb4576887140
line wrap: on
line diff
--- a/DOCS/tech/general.txt	Mon Apr 12 08:03:39 2010 +0000
+++ b/DOCS/tech/general.txt	Mon Apr 12 10:56:17 2010 +0000
@@ -14,64 +14,64 @@
 
 2. demuxer.c: this does the demultiplexing (separating) of the input to
    audio, video or dvdsub channels, and their reading by buffered packages.
-	 The demuxer.c is basically a framework, which is the same for all the
-	 input formats, and there are parsers for each of them (mpeg-es,
-	 mpeg-ps, avi, avi-ni, asf), these are in the demux_*.c files.
-	 The structure is the demuxer_t. There is only one demuxer.
+         The demuxer.c is basically a framework, which is the same for all the
+         input formats, and there are parsers for each of them (mpeg-es,
+         mpeg-ps, avi, avi-ni, asf), these are in the demux_*.c files.
+         The structure is the demuxer_t. There is only one demuxer.
 
 2.a. demux_packet_t, that is DP.
    Contains one chunk (avi) or packet (asf,mpg). They are stored in memory as
-	 in linked list, cause of their different size.
+         in linked list, cause of their different size.
 
 2.b. demuxer stream, that is DS.
    Struct: demux_stream_t
    Every channel (a/v/s) has one. This contains the packets for the stream
          (see 2.a). For now, there can be 3 for each demuxer :
-	 - audio (d_audio)
-	 - video (d_video)
-	 - DVD subtitle (d_dvdsub)
+         - audio (d_audio)
+         - video (d_video)
+         - DVD subtitle (d_dvdsub)
 
 2.c. stream header. There are 2 types (for now): sh_audio_t and sh_video_t
    This contains every parameter essential for decoding, such as input/output
-	 buffers, chosen codec, fps, etc. There are each for every stream in
-	 the file. At least one for video, if sound is present then another,
-	 but if there are more, then there'll be one structure for each.
-	 These are filled according to the header (avi/asf), or demux_mpg.c
-	 does it (mpg) if it founds a new stream. If a new stream is found,
-	 the ====> Found audio/video stream: <id>  messages is displayed.
+         buffers, chosen codec, fps, etc. There are each for every stream in
+         the file. At least one for video, if sound is present then another,
+         but if there are more, then there'll be one structure for each.
+         These are filled according to the header (avi/asf), or demux_mpg.c
+         does it (mpg) if it founds a new stream. If a new stream is found,
+         the ====> Found audio/video stream: <id>  messages is displayed.
 
-	 The chosen stream header and its demuxer are connected together
-	 (ds->sh and sh->ds) to simplify the usage. So it's enough to pass the
-	 ds or the sh, depending on the function.
+         The chosen stream header and its demuxer are connected together
+         (ds->sh and sh->ds) to simplify the usage. So it's enough to pass the
+         ds or the sh, depending on the function.
 
-	 For example: we have an asf file, 6 streams inside it, 1 audio, 5
-	 video. During the reading of the header, 6 sh structs are created, 1
-	 audio and 5 video. When it starts reading the packet, it chooses the
-	 stream for the first found audio & video packet, and sets the sh
-	 pointers of d_audio and d_video according to them. So later it reads
-	 only these streams. Of course the user can force choosing a specific
-	 stream with
-	 -vid and -aid switches.
-	 A good example for this is the DVD, where the english stream is not
-	 always the first, so every VOB has different language :)
-	 That's when we have to use for example the -aid 128 switch.
+         For example: we have an asf file, 6 streams inside it, 1 audio, 5
+         video. During the reading of the header, 6 sh structs are created, 1
+         audio and 5 video. When it starts reading the packet, it chooses the
+         stream for the first found audio & video packet, and sets the sh
+         pointers of d_audio and d_video according to them. So later it reads
+         only these streams. Of course the user can force choosing a specific
+         stream with
+         -vid and -aid switches.
+         A good example for this is the DVD, where the english stream is not
+         always the first, so every VOB has different language :)
+         That's when we have to use for example the -aid 128 switch.
 
   Now, how this reading works?
-	 - demuxer.c/demux_read_data() is called, it gets how many bytes,
-	   and where (memory address), would we like to read, and from which
+         - demuxer.c/demux_read_data() is called, it gets how many bytes,
+           and where (memory address), would we like to read, and from which
            DS. The codecs call this.
-	 - this checks if the given DS's buffer contains something, if so, it
-	   reads from there as much as needed. If there isn't enough, it calls
-	   ds_fill_buffer(), which:
-	 - checks if the given DS has buffered packages (DP's), if so, it moves
-	   the oldest to the buffer, and reads on. If the list is empty, it
-	   calls demux_fill_buffer() :
-	 - this calls the parser for the input format, which reads the file
-	   onward, and moves the found packages to their buffers.
-		 Well it we'd like an audio package, but only a bunch of video
-		 packages are available, then sooner or later the:
-		 DEMUXER: Too many (%d in %d bytes) audio packets in the buffer
-		 error shows up.
+         - this checks if the given DS's buffer contains something, if so, it
+           reads from there as much as needed. If there isn't enough, it calls
+           ds_fill_buffer(), which:
+         - checks if the given DS has buffered packages (DP's), if so, it moves
+           the oldest to the buffer, and reads on. If the list is empty, it
+           calls demux_fill_buffer() :
+         - this calls the parser for the input format, which reads the file
+           onward, and moves the found packages to their buffers.
+                 Well it we'd like an audio package, but only a bunch of video
+                 packages are available, then sooner or later the:
+                 DEMUXER: Too many (%d in %d bytes) audio packets in the buffer
+                 error shows up.
 
 2.d. video.c: this file/function handle the reading and assembling of the
      video frames. each call to video_read_frame() should read and return a
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
     The given stream's actual position is in the 'timer' field of the
     corresponding stream header (sh_audio / sh_video).
 
-	 The structure of the playing loop :
+         The structure of the playing loop :
          while(not EOF) {
              fill audio buffer (read & decode audio) + increase a_frame
              read & decode a single video frame + increase v_frame
@@ -111,89 +111,89 @@
              handle events (keys,lirc etc) -> pause,seek,...
          }
 
-	 When playing (a/v), it increases the variables by the duration of the
-	 played a/v.
-	 - with audio this is played bytes / sh_audio->o_bps
-	 Note: i_bps = number of compressed bytes for one second of audio
-	       o_bps = number of uncompressed bytes for one second of audio
-		   (this is = bps*samplerate*channels)
-	 - with video this is usually == 1.0/fps, but I have to note that
-	 fps doesn't really matters at video, for example asf doesn't have that,
-	 instead there is "duration" and it can change per frame.
-	 MPEG2 has "repeat_count" which delays the frame by 1-2.5 ...
-	 Maybe only AVI and MPEG1 has fixed fps.
+         When playing (a/v), it increases the variables by the duration of the
+         played a/v.
+         - with audio this is played bytes / sh_audio->o_bps
+         Note: i_bps = number of compressed bytes for one second of audio
+               o_bps = number of uncompressed bytes for one second of audio
+                   (this is = bps*samplerate*channels)
+         - with video this is usually == 1.0/fps, but I have to note that
+         fps doesn't really matters at video, for example asf doesn't have that,
+         instead there is "duration" and it can change per frame.
+         MPEG2 has "repeat_count" which delays the frame by 1-2.5 ...
+         Maybe only AVI and MPEG1 has fixed fps.
 
-	 So everything works right until the audio and video are in perfect
-	 synchronity, since the audio goes, it gives the timing, and if the
-	 time of a frame passed, the next frame is displayed.
-	 But what if these two aren't synchronized in the input file?
-	 PTS correction kicks in. The input demuxers read the PTS (presentation
-	 timestamp) of the packages, and with it we can see if the streams
-	 are synchronized. Then MPlayer can correct the a_frame, within
-	 a given maximal bounder (see -mc option). The summary of the
-	 corrections can be found in c_total .
+         So everything works right until the audio and video are in perfect
+         synchronity, since the audio goes, it gives the timing, and if the
+         time of a frame passed, the next frame is displayed.
+         But what if these two aren't synchronized in the input file?
+         PTS correction kicks in. The input demuxers read the PTS (presentation
+         timestamp) of the packages, and with it we can see if the streams
+         are synchronized. Then MPlayer can correct the a_frame, within
+         a given maximal bounder (see -mc option). The summary of the
+         corrections can be found in c_total .
 
-	 Of course this is not everything, several things suck.
-	 For example the soundcards delay, which has to be corrected by
-	 MPlayer! The audio delay is the sum of all these:
-	 - bytes read since the last timestamp:
-	   t1 = d_audio->pts_bytes/sh_audio->i_bps
-	 - if Win32/ACM then the bytes stored in audio input buffer
-	   t2 = a_in_buffer_len/sh_audio->i_bps
-	 - uncompressed bytes in audio out buffer
-	   t3 = a_buffer_len/sh_audio->o_bps
-	 - not yet played bytes stored in the soundcard's (or DMA's) buffer
-	   t4 = get_audio_delay()/sh_audio->o_bps
+         Of course this is not everything, several things suck.
+         For example the soundcards delay, which has to be corrected by
+         MPlayer! The audio delay is the sum of all these:
+         - bytes read since the last timestamp:
+           t1 = d_audio->pts_bytes/sh_audio->i_bps
+         - if Win32/ACM then the bytes stored in audio input buffer
+           t2 = a_in_buffer_len/sh_audio->i_bps
+         - uncompressed bytes in audio out buffer
+           t3 = a_buffer_len/sh_audio->o_bps
+         - not yet played bytes stored in the soundcard's (or DMA's) buffer
+           t4 = get_audio_delay()/sh_audio->o_bps
 
-	 From this we can calculate what PTS we need for the just played
-	 audio, then after we compare this with the video's PTS, we have
-	 the difference!
+         From this we can calculate what PTS we need for the just played
+         audio, then after we compare this with the video's PTS, we have
+         the difference!
 
-	 Life didn't get simpler with AVI. There's the "official" timing
-	 method, the BPS-based, so the header contains how many compressed
-	 audio bytes or chunks belong to one second of frames.
-	 In the AVI stream header there are 2 important fields, the
-	 dwSampleSize, and dwRate/dwScale pairs:
-	 - If the dwSampleSize is 0, then it's VBR stream, so its bitrate
-	 isn't constant. It means that 1 chunk stores 1 sample, and
-	 dwRate/dwScale gives the chunks/sec value.
-	 - If the dwSampleSize is >0, then it's constant bitrate, and the
-	 time can be measured this way:  time = (bytepos/dwSampleSize) /
-	 (dwRate/dwScale) (so the sample's number is divided with the
-	 samplerate). Now the audio can be handled as a stream, which can
-	 be cut to chunks, but can be one chunk also.
+         Life didn't get simpler with AVI. There's the "official" timing
+         method, the BPS-based, so the header contains how many compressed
+         audio bytes or chunks belong to one second of frames.
+         In the AVI stream header there are 2 important fields, the
+         dwSampleSize, and dwRate/dwScale pairs:
+         - If the dwSampleSize is 0, then it's VBR stream, so its bitrate
+         isn't constant. It means that 1 chunk stores 1 sample, and
+         dwRate/dwScale gives the chunks/sec value.
+         - If the dwSampleSize is >0, then it's constant bitrate, and the
+         time can be measured this way:  time = (bytepos/dwSampleSize) /
+         (dwRate/dwScale) (so the sample's number is divided with the
+         samplerate). Now the audio can be handled as a stream, which can
+         be cut to chunks, but can be one chunk also.
 
-	 The other method can be used only for interleaved files: from
-	 the order of the chunks, a timestamp (PTS) value can be calculated.
-	 The PTS of the video chunks are simple: chunk number * fps
-	 The audio is the same as the previous video chunk was.
-	 We have to pay attention to the so called "audio preload", that is,
-	 there is a delay between the audio and video streams. This is
-	 usually 0.5-1.0 sec, but can be totally different.
-	 The exact value was measured until now, but now the demux_avi.c
-	 handles it: at the audio chunk after the first video, it calculates
-	 the A/V difference, and take this as a measure for audio preload.
+         The other method can be used only for interleaved files: from
+         the order of the chunks, a timestamp (PTS) value can be calculated.
+         The PTS of the video chunks are simple: chunk number * fps
+         The audio is the same as the previous video chunk was.
+         We have to pay attention to the so called "audio preload", that is,
+         there is a delay between the audio and video streams. This is
+         usually 0.5-1.0 sec, but can be totally different.
+         The exact value was measured until now, but now the demux_avi.c
+         handles it: at the audio chunk after the first video, it calculates
+         the A/V difference, and take this as a measure for audio preload.
 
 3.a. audio playback:
-	 Some words on audio playback:
-	 Not the playing is hard, but:
-	 1. knowing when to write into the buffer, without blocking
-	 2. knowing how much was played of what we wrote into
-	 The first is needed for audio decoding, and to keep the buffer
-	 full (so the audio will never skip). And the second is needed for
-	 correct timing, because some soundcards delay even 3-7 seconds,
-	 which can't be forgotten about.
-	 To solve this, the OSS gives several possibilities:
-	 - ioctl(SNDCTL_DSP_GETODELAY): tells how many unplayed bytes are in
-	   the soundcard's buffer -> perfect for timing, but not all drivers
-	   support it :(
-	 - ioctl(SNDCTL_DSP_GETOSPACE): tells how much can we write into the
-	   soundcard's buffer, without blocking. If the driver doesn't
-	   support GETODELAY, we can use this to know how much the delay is.
-	 - select(): should tell if we can write into the buffer without
-	   blocking. Unfortunately it doesn't say how much we could :((
-	   Also, doesn't/badly works with some drivers.
-	   Only used if none of the above works.
+         Some words on audio playback:
+         Not the playing is hard, but:
+         1. knowing when to write into the buffer, without blocking
+         2. knowing how much was played of what we wrote into
+         The first is needed for audio decoding, and to keep the buffer
+         full (so the audio will never skip). And the second is needed for
+         correct timing, because some soundcards delay even 3-7 seconds,
+         which can't be forgotten about.
+         To solve this, the OSS gives several possibilities:
+         - ioctl(SNDCTL_DSP_GETODELAY): tells how many unplayed bytes are in
+           the soundcard's buffer -> perfect for timing, but not all drivers
+           support it :(
+         - ioctl(SNDCTL_DSP_GETOSPACE): tells how much can we write into the
+           soundcard's buffer, without blocking. If the driver doesn't
+           support GETODELAY, we can use this to know how much the delay is.
+         - select(): should tell if we can write into the buffer without
+           blocking. Unfortunately it doesn't say how much we could :((
+           Also, doesn't/badly works with some drivers.
+           Only used if none of the above works.
 
 4. Codecs. Consists of libmpcodecs/* and separate files or libs,
    for example liba52, libmpeg2, xa/*, alaw.c, opendivx/*, loader, mp3lib.