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diff --git a/DOCS/en/formats.html b/DOCS/en/formats.html deleted file mode 100644 index 13ac14234e..0000000000 --- a/DOCS/en/formats.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,320 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> -<HTML> - -<HEAD> - <TITLE>Formats - MPlayer - The Movie Player for Linux</TITLE> - <LINK REL="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="../default.css"> - <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> -</HEAD> - -<BODY> - - -<H2><A NAME="formats">2.1 Supported formats</A></H2> - -<P>It is important to clarify a common mistake. When people see a file with a - <B>.AVI</B> extension, they immediately conclude that it is not an MPEG file. - That is not true. At least not entirely. Contrary to popular belief such a - file <B>can</B> contain MPEG1 video.</P> - -<P>You see, a <B>codec</B> is not the same as a <B>file format</B>.<BR> - Examples of video <B>codecs</B> are: MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, Indeo5, 3ivx.<BR> - Examples of file <B>formats</B> are: MPG, AVI, ASF.</P> - -<P>In theory, you can put an OpenDivX video and MP3 audio into an <B>MPG</B> - format file. However, most players will not play it, since they expect MPEG1 - video and MP2 audio (unlike <B>AVI</B>, <B>MPG</B> does not have the - necessary fields to describe its video and audio streams). Or you might put - MPEG1 video into an AVI file. - <A HREF="http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net">FFmpeg</A> and - <A HREF="encoding.html">MEncoder</A> can create these files.</P> - - - -<H3><A NAME="video_formats">2.1.1 Video formats</A></H3> - - -<H4><A NAME="mpeg">2.1.1.1 MPEG files</A></H4> - -<P>MPEG files come in different guises:</P> - -<UL> - <LI>MPG: This is the most <B>basic</B> form of the MPEG file formats. It - contains MPEG1 video, and MP2 (MPEG-1 layer 2) or rarely MP1 audio.</LI> - <LI>DAT: This is the very same format as MPG with a different extension. It - is used on <B>Video CD</B>s. Due to the way VCDs are created and Linux is - designed, DAT files cannot be played nor copied from VCDs as regular files. - You have to use <CODE>vcd://</CODE> to play a Video CD.</LI> - <LI>VOB: This is the MPEG file format on <B>DVD</B>s. It is the same as MPG, - plus the capability to contain subtitles or non-MPEG (AC3) audio. It - contains encoded MPEG2 video and usually AC3 audio, but DTS, MP2 and - uncompressed LPCM are allowed, too.<BR> <B>Read the <A - HREF="cd-dvd.html#dvd">DVD section</A>!</B></LI> -</UL> - -<P>Series of frames form independent groups in MPEG files. This means that you - can cut/join an MPEG file with standard file tools (like <CODE>dd</CODE>, - <CODE>cut</CODE>), and it remains completely functional.</P> - -<P>One important feature of MPGs is that they have a field to describe the - aspect ratio of the video stream within. For example SVCDs have 480x480 - resolution video, and in the header that field is set to 4:3, so that it is - played at 640x480. AVI files do not have this field, so they have to be - rescaled during encoding or played with the <CODE>-aspect</CODE> option.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="avi">2.1.1.2 AVI files</A></H4> - -<P>Designed by Microsoft, <B>AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)</B> is a widespread - multipurpose format currently used mostly for DivX and DivX4 video. It has - many known drawbacks and shortcomings (for example in streaming). It - supports one video stream and 0 to 99 audio streams. File size is limited to - 2GB, but there exists an extension allowing bigger files called - <B>OpenDML</B>. Microsoft currently strongly discourages its use and - encourages ASF/WMV. Not that anybody cares.</P> - -<P>There is a hack that allows AVI files to contain an Ogg Vorbis audio - stream, but makes them incompatible with standard AVI. MPlayer - supports playing these files. Seeking is also implemented but severely - hampered by badly encoded files with confusing headers. Unfortunately the - only encoder currently capable of creating these files, NanDub, has this - problem.</P> - -<P><B>Note:</B> DV cameras create raw DV streams that DV grabbing utilities - convert to two different types of AVI files. The AVI will then contain either - separate audio and video streams that MPlayer can play or the raw DV - stream for which support is under development.</P> - -<P>There are two kinds of AVI files:</P> -<UL> - <LI><B>Interleaved:</B> Audio and video content is interleaved. This is the - standard usage. Recommended and mostly used. Some tools create - interleaved AVIs with bad sync. MPlayer detects these as - interleaved, and this climaxes in loss of A/V sync, probably at seeking. - These files should be played as non-interleaved (with the <CODE>-ni</CODE> - option).</LI> - <LI><B>Non-interleaved:</B> First comes the whole video stream, then the whole - audio stream. It thus needs a lot of seeking, making playing from network or - CD-Rom difficult.</LI> -</UL> - -<P>MPlayer supports two kinds of timings for AVI files:</P> -<UL> - <LI><B>bps-based</B>: It is based on the bitrate/samplerate of the video/audio stream. This - method is used by most players, including <A HREF="http://avifile.sourceforge.net">avifile</A> - and Windows Media Player. - Files with broken headers, and files created with VBR audio but not with a - VBR-compliant encoder will result in A/V desync with this method (mostly at - seeking).</LI> - <LI><B>interleaving-based</B>: It does not use the bitrate value of the header, instead - it uses the relative position of interleaved audio and video chunks, making - badly encoded files with VBR audio playable.</LI> -</UL> - -<P>Any audio and video codec is allowed, but note that VBR audio is not well - supported by most players. The file format makes it possible to use VBR - audio, but most players expect CBR audio, thus they fail with VBR. VBR is - uncommon and the Microsoft AVI specs only describe CBR audio. Most AVI - encoders/multiplexers create bad files when using VBR audio. There are only - two known exceptions: NanDub and <A HREF="encoding.html">MEncoder</A>.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="asf">2.1.1.3 ASF/WMV files</A></H4> - -<P>ASF (active streaming format) comes from Microsoft. They developed two - variants of ASF, v1.0 and v2.0. v1.0 is used by their media tools (Windows - Media Player and Windows Media Encoder) and is very secret. v2.0 is published - and patented :). Of course they differ, there is no compatibility at all (it - is just another legal game). MPlayer supports only v1.0, as nobody has - ever seen v2.0 files :). Note that ASF files nowadays come with the extension - .WMA or .WMV.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="mov">2.1.1.4 QuickTime/MOV files</A></H4> - -<P>These formats were designed by Apple and can contain any codec, CBR or VBR. - They usually have a .QT or .MOV extension. Ever since the MPEG4 group chose - QuickTime as the recommended file format for MPEG4, their MOV files come with - an - .MPG or .MP4 extension (Interestingly the video and audio streams in these - files are real MPG and AAC files. You can even extract them with the - <CODE>-dumpvideo</CODE> and <CODE>-dumpaudio</CODE> options.).</P> - -<P><B>Note:</B> Most new QuickTime files use <B>Sorenson</B> video and QDesign - Music audio. See our <A HREF="codecs.html#sorenson">Sorenson</A> codec - section.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="vivo">2.1.1.5 VIVO files</A></H4> - -<P>MPlayer happily demuxes VIVO file formats. The biggest disadvantage - of the format is that it has no index block, nor a fixed packet size or sync - bytes and most files lack even keyframes, so forget seeking!</P> - -<P>The video codec of VIVO/1.0 files is standard <B>h.263</B>. The video codec - of VIVO/2.0 files is a modified, nonstandard <B>h.263v2</B>. The audio is the - same, it may be <B>g.723</B> (standard), or <B>Vivo Siren</B>.</P> - -<P>See the <A HREF="codecs.html#vivo_video">VIVO video codec</A> and - <A HREF="codecs.html#vivo_audio">VIVO audio codec</A> sections for installation - instructions.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="fli">2.1.1.6 FLI files</A></H4> - -<P><B>FLI</B> is a very old file format used by Autodesk Animator, but it is a - common file format for short animations on the net. MPlayer demuxes - and decodes FLI movies and is even able to seek within them (useful when - looping with the <CODE>-loop</CODE> option). FLI files do not have keyframes, - so the picture will be messy for a short time after seeking.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="real">2.1.1.7 RealMedia (RM) files</A></H4> - -<P>Yes, MPlayer can read (demux) RealMedia (.rm) files. Seeking works, - but you have to explicitly specify the <CODE>-forceidx</CODE> option - (the format supports keyframes). Here are the lists of the supported - <A HREF="codecs.html#realvideo">RealVideo</A> - and <A HREF="codecs.html#realaudio">RealAudio</A> codecs.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="nuppelvideo">2.1.1.8 NuppelVideo files</A></H4> - -<P><A HREF="http://mars.tuwien.ac.at/~roman/nuppelvideo">NuppelVideo</A> - is a TV grabber tool (AFAIK:). MPlayer can read its .NUV files (only - NuppelVideo 5.0). Those files can contain uncompressed YV12, YV12+RTJpeg - compressed, YV12 RTJpeg+lzo compressed, and YV12+lzo compressed frames. - MPlayer decodes them all (and also <B>encodes</B> them with - MEncoder to DivX/etc!). Seeking works.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="yuv4mpeg">2.1.1.9 yuv4mpeg files</A></H4> - -<P><A HREF="http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net">yuv4mpeg / yuv4mpeg2</A> is a file - format used by the <A HREF="http://mjpeg.sf.net">mjpegtools programs</A>. - You can grab, produce, filter or encode video in this format using these - tools. The file format is really a sequence of uncompressed YUV 4:2:0 - images.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="film">2.1.1.10 FILM files</A></H4> - -<P>This format is used on old Sega Saturn CD-Rom games.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="roq">2.1.1.11 RoQ files</A></H4> - -<P>RoQ files are multimedia files used in some ID games such as Quake III and - Return to Castle Wolfenstein.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="ogg">2.1.1.12 OGG/OGM files</A></H4> - -<P>This is a new file format from <A HREF="http://www.xiph.org">Xiphophorus</A>. - It can contain any video or audio codec, CBR or VBR. You will need to - have <CODE>libogg</CODE> and <CODE>libvorbis</CODE> installed - before compiling MPlayer to be able to play it.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="sdp">2.1.1.13 SDP files</A></H4> - -<P><A HREF="ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2327.txt">SDP</A> - is an IETF standard format for describing video and/or audio RTP streams. - (The "<A HREF="http://www.live.com/mplayer/">LIVE.COM Streaming Media</A>" - libraries are required.)</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="pva">2.1.1.14 PVA files</A></H4> - -<P>PVA is an MPEG-like format used by DVB TV boards' software (e.g.: MultiDec, - WinTV) under Windows.</P> - -<P>The PVA specifications can be downloaded from the following address: - <A HREF="http://www.technotrend.de/download/av_format_v1.pdf">http://www.technotrend.de/download/av_format_v1.pdf</A></P> - - -<H4><A NAME="gif">2.1.1.15 GIF files</A></H4> - -<P>The <B>GIF</B> format is a common format for web graphics. There are two - versions of the GIF spec, GIF87a and GIF89a. The main difference is that - GIF89a allows for animation. MPlayer supports both formats through use - of libungif or another libgif-compatible library. Non-animated GIFs will - be displayed as single frame videos. (Use the <CODE>-loop</CODE> and - <CODE>-fixed-vo</CODE> options to display these longer.)</P> - -<P>MPlayer currently does not support seeking in GIF files. GIF files do - not necessarily have a fixed frame size, nor a fixed framerate. Rather, - each frame is of independent size and is supposed to be positioned in a - certain place on a field of fixed-size. The framerate is controlled by - an optional block before each frame that specifies the next frame's delay - in centiseconds.</P> - -<P>Standard GIF files contain 24-bit RGB frames with at most an 8-bit - indexed pallete. These frames are usually LZW-compressed, although - some GIF encoders produce uncompressed frames to avoid patent issues - with LZW compression.</P> - -<P>If your distribution does not come with libungif, download a copy from the - <A HREF="http://prtr-13.ucsc.edu/~badger/software/libungif/index.shtml">libungif homepage</A>. - For detailed technical information, have a look at the - <A HREF="http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt">GIF89a specification</A>.</P> - - -<H3><A NAME="audio_formats">2.1.2 Audio formats</A></H3> - -<P>MPlayer is a <B>Movie</B> and not a <B>Media</B> player, although - it can play some audio file formats (they are listed in the sections below). - This is not a recommended usage of MPlayer, you better use - <A HREF="http://www.xmms.org">xmms</A>.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="mp3">2.1.2.1 MP3 files</A></H4> - -<P>You may have problems playing certain MP3 files that MPlayer will - misdetect as MPEGs and play incorrectly or not at all. This cannot be fixed - without dropping support for certain broken MPEG files and thus will remain - like this for the foreseeable future. The <CODE>-demuxer</CODE> flag - described in the man page may help you in these cases.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="wav">2.1.2.2 WAV files</A></H4> - - -<H4><A NAME="ogg_vorbis">2.1.2.3 OGG/OGM files (Vorbis)</A></H4> - -<P>Requires properly installed <CODE>libogg</CODE> and - <CODE>libvorbis</CODE>.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="wma">2.1.2.4 WMA/ASF files</A></H4> - - -<H4><A NAME="mp4">2.1.2.5 MP4 files</A></H4> - - -<H4><A NAME="cdda">2.1.2.6 CD audio</A></H4> - -<P>MPlayer can use <B>cdparanoia</B> (lib) to play CDDA (Audio CD). - The scope of this section does not contain enumerating cdparanoia's - features.</P> - -<P>See the man page's <CODE>-cdda</CODE> option which can be used to - pass options to cdparanoia.</P> - - -<H4><A NAME="xmms">2.1.2.7 XMMS</A></H4> - -<P>MPlayer can use XMMS input plugins to play many file formats. There are - plugins for SNES game tunes, SID tunes (from Commodore 64), many Amiga - formats, .xm, .it, VQF, musepack, Bonk, shorten and many others. You can find - them at the - <A HREF="http://www.xmms.org/plugins_input.html">XMMS input plugin page</A>.</P> - -<P>For this feature you need to have XMMS and compile MPlayer with - <CODE>./configure --enable-xmms</CODE>. If that does not work, you might need - to set the XMMS plugin and library path explicitly by way of the - <CODE>--with-xmmsplugindir</CODE> and <CODE>--with-xmmslibdir</CODE> - options.</P> - -</BODY> -</HTML> |