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<title>SMPlayer FAQ</title>
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<h1>SMPlayer - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
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<li><a href="#smplayer_mplayer">Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are
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they? are they the same?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#dvd_menus">DVD menus, where are they?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#output_drivers">Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...)
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what are they? Which one is the best?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#screenshot">I try to make a screenshot but the option
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is disabled, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#audio_track">I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work,
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the audio remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to
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actually change audio. Why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#shortcuts">How can I change the key shortcuts?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#qt">I've read something about Qt, what's that?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#codecs">With some video formats I only get audio, but not
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video. Why? Do I need some codecs?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#open_quit">What's the difference between Open -> Close and
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Open -> Quit? Do they do the same?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#audio_cd">How can I play an audio CD?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#bookmark">Where is the bookmark?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#mplayer_errors">I try to play a file but nothing happens.
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<li><a href="#preferences_delay">When I open the preferences dialog for first
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time it takes some secs to show, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#tv">Are you going to add support for TV?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#mplayer_restart">A lot of menu options make the video to go blank
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for a moment. Why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#crash">SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#playlist_problem">When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends
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SMPlayer doesn't play the next file automatically, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#mplayer_recommended">What version of MPlayer is recommended?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#subtitles_border">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black
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border instead of the image, how can I do it?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#expand_filter">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black
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border for ALL videos, is it possible?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#monitors">(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st
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monitor but not in the 2nd, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#screensaver1">The screensaver doesn't turn off, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#volume_loud">The volume is too loud at the beginning of the
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videos, how can this be fixed?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#vista">(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time
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I play a video Aero is disabled, why?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#config_file">Where is the configuration file?</a></li>
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<li><a name="smplayer_mplayer"></a>
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<b>Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are they? are they
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No, they are two different applications. MPlayer is a multimedia player
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developed initially for linux and then ported to other OS. It's very
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good, it plays almost every everything, and it has for instance a lot of
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filters and so on. But most users may find it hard to use it.
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Fortunately MPlayer can work together with another application (the
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video window can be embedded in the other application GUI, it obeys
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commands sent by the application).
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So SMPlayer is just a front-end which uses MPlayer to actually play the
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SMPlayer is the window you see, the menus, the preferences dialog...
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(along with other things you don't see, like functions to control
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MPlayer). But SMPlayer knows nothing about playing files. It doesn't
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even know what a codec is.
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MPlayer on the other hand, opens the files, decodes them, displays the
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video and plays the audio. Subtitles are also read, parsed and displayed
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<li><a name="dvd_menus"></a>
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<b>DVD menus, where are they?</b>
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Currently SMPlayer doesn't support DVD menus... but it's under development.
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Anyway, even there are no DVD menus, you can still select your desired
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title, chapter, audio track, subtitles... in the SMPlayer menus.
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<li><a name="output_drivers"></a>
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<b>Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...) what are they?
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Which one is the best?</b>
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MPlayer has several output drivers, for video and sound. SMPlayer allows
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you to select the one you want among all of them (<i>Preferences -> General
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For video it's recommended that you use xv (linux) or directx (windows).
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They use hardware acceleration and give the best performance.
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The inconvenience about directx for Windows Vista users is that it
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x11 and directx:noaccel are drivers without hardware acceleration. They
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give the worst performance. Moreover directx:noaccel gives a bad quality
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gl and gl2 will use 3D acceleration from the graphic card. They will
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give better performance than directx:noaccel and x11 but no so much as
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directx or xv. gl/gl2 can be useful for Windows Vista users.
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For sound, you should usually use oss or alsa in linux. I don't like esd
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or arts, they use to use more CPU.
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In windows the sound drivers are dsound and win32. I read that dsound
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can cause sometimes audio-video sync problems. If you notice that
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problem try win32 instead.
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Other drivers allows you to save the video as image files or write the
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sound to the disk. These drivers are not officially supported by
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SMPlayer. Use them only if you know what you're doing.
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<li><a name="screenshot"></a>
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<b>I try to make a screenshot but the option is disabled, why?</b>
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You didn't choose a folder for storing the screenshots. Do it in
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<i>Preferences -> General</i>, and the screenshot option will be enabled.
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<li><a name="audio_track"></a>
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<b>I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work, the audio
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remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to actually
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change audio. Why?</b>
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With some formats (ike mp4 or ogm), MPlayer can't change the audio track
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at runtime. By unchecking the option "Fast audio track switching"
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(<i>Preferences -> Performance</i>) you'll be able to change the audio in
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<li><a name="shortcuts"></a>
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<b>How can I change the key shortcuts?</b>
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<i>Preferences -> Keyboard and mouse</i>. You'll be able to change most key
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<li><a name="qt"></a>
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<b>I've read something about Qt, what's that?</b>
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SMPlayer is being developed by using Qt, which is a C++ library that
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allows cross-platform development. The same source code can be compiled
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on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
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<a href="http://trolltech.com/products/qt">http://trolltech.com/products/qt</a>
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<li><a name="codecs"></a>
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<b>With some video formats I only get audio, but not video. Why? Do
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I need some codecs?</b>
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MPlayer can player most common formats "out of the box". But for codecs
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that haven't been yet implemented natively, it's necessary to install a
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package with binary codecs. You can get it from the
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<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html">MPlayer download
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On Windows, install the codecs in the mplayer/codecs subdirectory.
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On linux distros the package may be available as a regular package,
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maybe with the name of w32codecs or something like that.
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<li><a name="open_quit"></a>
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<b>What's the difference between <i>Open -> Close</i> and <i>Open -> Quit</i>?
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Do they do the same?</b>
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If the option "Show icon in system tray" (in menu Options) is not
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checked, then yes, the two options do the same: quit the application.
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But if that option is enabled, then <i>Open -> Close</i> will just hide the
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application (and stop the current file), but SMPlayer is still running.
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<i>Open -> Quit</i> really quits the application, no matter if the system tray
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icon is enabled or not.
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<li><a name="audio_cd"></a>
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<b>How can I play an audio CD?</b>
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Support for audio CDs was added in version 0.5.18.
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Under Windows it's not possible to play audio CDs yet.
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<li><a name="bookmark"></a>
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<b>Where is the bookmark?</b>
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<li><a name="mplayer_errors"></a>
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<b>I try to play a file but nothing happens. Why?</b>
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Probably MPlayer couldn't play the file. Open the mplayer log
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(<i>Options -> View logs -> MPlayer</i>), you'll probably find an error message
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On Windows is quite common that some MPlayer builds fail because they
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have been compiled with no support for some feature that SMPlayer tries
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to use. The error message could give you a clue. If it complains about
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cache, try disabling the cache in <i>Preferences -> Performance</i>. If it
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complains about fontconfig try to use a ttf font instead of a system
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<li><a name="preferences_delay"></a>
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<b>When I open the preferences dialog for first time it takes some
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secs to show, why?</b>
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In that moment SMPlayer calls MPlayer to get some info from it (the
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output drivers, for instance). It happens the same with <i>Options -> View
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info and properties</i>.
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<li><a name="tv"></a>
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<b>Are you going to add support for TV?</b>
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That would be nice, but TV support is not planned for now. Currently
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I don't have a TV card, so I can't implement it.
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<li><a name="mplayer_restart"></a>
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<b>A lot of menu options make the video to go blank for a moment.
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Some options require to stop the MPlayer process and start it again with
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new parameters. That's why playing interrupts for a moment.
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<li><a name="crash"></a>
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<b>SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</b>
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SMPlayer crashed, but MPlayer is still running. Kill the MPlayer process
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Anyway if SMPlayer crashes, it's a serious bug that should be fixed.
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<li><a name="playlist_problem"></a>
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<b>When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends SMPlayer doesn't
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play the next file automatically, why?</b>
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Be sure you're using at least SMPlayer 0.6.5 and MPlayer SVN r28066.
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<li><a name="mplayer_recommended"></a>
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<b>What version of MPlayer is recommended?</b>
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I recommend to use at least MPlayer SVN r25843 (from 2008-01-23), although
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a recent version from SVN would be better.
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SMPlayer will try its best to work with older versions, but some options
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<li><a name="subtitles_border"></a>
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<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border instead
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of the image, how can I do it?</b>
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<i>Video filters -> Add black borders</i>
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<li><a name="expand_filter"></a>
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<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border for ALL
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videos, is it possible?</b>
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You can add a video filter like
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<b>expand=:::::4/3</b> in <i>Preferences -> Advanced -> Options for MPlayer</i>.
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<p>Other possibilities:
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<li>check <b>Add black borders on fullscreen</b> in
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<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i></li>
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<li>Add <b>add_letterbox true</b> in actions list field in
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<i>Preferences -> Advanced</i></li>
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<li><a name="monitors"></a>
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<b>(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st monitor but not in the
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When you use <i>directx</i> as video driver
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(<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i>) the video can only be displayed on
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one monitor. If you use instead <i>gl</i>, <i>gl2</i> or <i>direct3d</i>
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the video will be displayed in any monitor.
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Anyway if you prefer to use <i>directx</i> you can choose the screen which
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will be display the video in the menu <i>Video -> Screen</i>.
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<li><a name="screensaver1"></a>
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<b>The screensaver doesn't turn off, why?</b>
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If you use a recent version of MPlayer you may need to add a line like this
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in your ~/.mplayer/config:
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<pre>heartbeat-cmd="gnome-screensaver-command -p &>/dev/null"</pre>
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<pre>heartbeat-cmd="dcop kdesktop KScreensaverIface enable false &>/dev/null && dcop kdesktop KScreensaverIface enable true &>/dev/null"</pre>
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<p>Please take a look at the MPlayer manpage for more info.
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<li><a name="volume_loud"></a>
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<b>The volume is too loud at the beginning of the videos, how can this
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Check the option <i>Change volume just before playing</i> in
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<i>Preferences -> General -> Audio</i>.
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This option requires at least MPlayer SVN r27872.
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<li><a name="vista"></a>
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<b>(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time I play a video Aero
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is disabled, why?</b>
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This happens when you're using <i>directx</i> as video driver
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(<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i>). You can change it to <i>gl</i>,
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<i>gl2</i> or <i>direct3d</i>.
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<li><a name="config_file"></a>
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<b>Where is the configuration file?</b>
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SMPlayer uses two <i>ini</i> files: smplayer.ini and smplayer_files.ini.
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Both are stored by default in <i>$HOME/.config/smplayer</i> (Linux) or
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<i>C:\Documents and Settings\your_username\.smplayer</i> (Windows XP).
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You can also see it in the SMPlayer log (<i>Options -> View logs</i>), look
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for a line like this:
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* ini path: '/home/ricardo/.config/smplayer'
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<i>smplayer.ini</i> stores the SMPlayer configuration while
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<i>smplayer_files.ini</i> stores the settings of the files you have played.
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