changeset 141:0b6b7cad24ef

rewritten :)

--- a/DOCS/VIDEOCARDS	Sun Mar 18 17:57:49 2001 +0000
+++ b/DOCS/VIDEOCARDS	Sun Mar 18 19:27:28 2001 +0000
@@ -5,19 +5,34 @@
 * read DOCS/MTRR too!
 
   "Hardware acceleration" usually means hardware YUV conversion, scaling,
-bilinear filtering. Under Linux and XFree86, this is done by the XVideo
-extension, this is what the option '-vo xv' uses.
-  In order to make this work, be sure to check the following:
-1. your card actually supports harware acceleration
-2. you use XFree86 4.0.2 or newer (former versions don't have XVideo)
+bilinear filtering. Under Linux, there are several ways to access it:
+
+I.   the Xv (XVideo) extension of XFree86-4.0.x
+II.  opengl drivers with glTexSubImage() support (currently the Utah-GLX drivers)
+III. native card-specific drivers, using special abilities of some cards
+IV.  DGA - direct graphic access. no yuv & scaling, but faster than raw X11
+
+Now, see them in details:
+
+I. under XFree86 v4.0.x, using the XVideo extension:
+   this is what the option '-vo xv' uses.
+
+In order to make this work, be sure to check the following:
+
+1. you use XFree86 4.0.2 or newer (former versions don't have XVideo)
+
+2. your card actually supports harware acceleration (modern cards does)
+
 3. X loads the XVideo extension, it's something like this:
    (II) Loading extension XVideo
    in /var/log/XFree86.0.log
    NOTE : this loads only the XFree86 support. In a good install, this is
           always loaded, and doesn't mean that the _card's_ XVideo support is
           loaded!
-4. The XVideo extensions can use your card. Try 'xvinfo' which is the part of
-   the XFree86 distribution. It should display a long text, similar to this:
+
+4. 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:
 
 	X-Video Extension version 2.2
 	screen #0
@@ -30,21 +45,60 @@
 	      depth 16, visualID 0x23
 	    number of attributes: 5
 	(...etc...)
+
+   It must support YUY2 packed, and YV12 planar pixel formats to be
+   usable with MPlayer.
+
 5. Be sure MPlayer is compiled with the "xv" target. "./configure" should say:
 	Checking for Xv ... yes
+
 6. If all is fine, try the option '-vo xv' . It should work.
    (if it doesn't, send us a bugreport. See the README on how to do this.)
 
 
+II. OpenGL drivers with *working* *fast* glTexSubImage() support.
 
-  There are additional drivers for the Matrox cards, which are usually
-better than XVideo, consume much less CPU, and some doesn't even need X.
-(Arpi please complete this section somewhat :) I'll correct your english:)
+   Currently only the old Utah-GLX drivers (for X 3.3.6) have it.
+   See http://utah-glx.sourceforge.net for details about how to install it.
+
+   The new X4/DRI and nVidia's binary drivers has no usable glTexSubImage :(
+
+III. native card-specific drivers
+
+There is 3 native drivers for linux:
+1. Matrox G200/G400/G450 BES (Back-End Scaler) support -> mga_vid kernel drv.
+  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.
+  
+  To use, simply compile the mga_vid.o in the drivers/ subdir (type: make)
+  and load it with insmod mga_vid.o. You should verify the memory size
+  detection using the 'dmesg' command. If it's bad, use the mga_ram_size
+  option (rmmod mga_vid first), specify card's memory size in MB:
+    insmod mga_vid.o mga_ram_size 16
+
+  Using it from MPlayer:  (you should re-compile it with mga_vid support...)
+  
+  Use the 'mga' vo driver on framebuffer console (matroxfb): -vo mga
+  and use the xmga driver for X 3.3.x: -vo xmga
+
+  Note: it works under X 4.0.x too, but it conflicts with the Xv driver,
+  so avoid using both. Usually X restart or reboot needs to get Xv usable
+  again :(
+
+2. SiS 6326 YUV Framebuffer driver -> sis_vid kernel driver
+  Its interface should be compatible with the mga_vid, but the driver
+  was not updated after the mga_vid changes, so it's outdated now.
+  Volunteers needed to test it and bring the code up-to-date.
+
+3. 3dfx (which ones?) YUV+scaler support, using /dev/3dfx (tdfx.o driver?)
+  The /dev/3dfx kernel driver exists only for 2.2.x kernels, for use with
+  Glide 2.x linux ports. It's not tested with MPlayer, and so no more
+  supported. Volunteers needed to test it and bring the code up-to-date.
 
 
+IV. If your card lacks hardware acceleration, you can still boost your fps by
+using the DGA driver:
 
-  If your card lacks hardware acceleration, you can still boost your fps by
-using the DGA driver.
 1. Make sure X loads the DGA extension:
 	(II) Loading extension XFree86-DGA
 2. MPlayer's DGA driver is autodetected on ./configure, or you can force it
@@ -54,9 +108,11 @@
    (see the FAQ on how to do this, and... heed the warning!)
 5. Use '-vo dga' option, and there you go! (hope so:)
 
+If you have fast enough CPU (P3 800 for example) you can try fsdga for
+fullscreen mpeg playing (using software YUV->RGB scaling):
+mplayer -vo fsdga ...
 
 
-  (section describing OpenGL support? I don't have any:)
 
-	Gabucino
+	Gabucino & A'rpi