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- Committer: Bazaar Package Importer
- Author(s): Thomas Schmidt
- Date: 2008-04-06 21:34:14 UTC
- Revision ID: james.westby@ubuntu.com-20080406213414-54lbe5pj1cbbquon
Tags: upstream-0.8.2
Import upstream version 0.8.2
- files added:
- data
- patches
- po
added
removed
MANUAL
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Please read the file "INSTALL" for getting the stuff working a first time :-)
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SETUP-MENU
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==========
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Live-TV buffer [frames]: 4
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Playing live-TV requires a buffer for having data ready when xine needs it for
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decoding. Without such a buffer or when it is not large enough, replaying live
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TV may not be fluently and may degrade into a slide show without sound. On the
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other hand, as buffering takes place before replaying, a too large buffer
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slows down zapping as it takes longer before replaying is started. So one may
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need to play with this value to find a suitable setting. The buffer size is
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specified in video frames, where 25 video frames make up a buffer which can
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hold one second of audio and video. Please note that this buffer is provided
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by VDR and a too large setting may cause an overflow (check VDR's logfile for
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buffer usage).
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Buffer hysteresis [frames]: 4
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Buffer monitoring is a feature of vdr-xine which tries to dynamically increase
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the buffer for certain channels on demand, i. e. whenever the buffer size
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drops below the configured value of "Live-TV buffer" frames. As a result, a
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new buffer will be established which is of size "Live-TV buffer + hysteresis"
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frames, and in the case, where this buffer is still not large enough, vdr-xine
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will internally increase hysteresis each time by one frame so that finally a
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buffer is established which perfectly fits for the current channel.
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Buffer monitoring duration [s]: 60
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Typically, the above mentioned buffer monitoring is only necessary for a
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certain amount of time after switching the channel, because once the buffer
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is established, it should stay constant as the amount of data put into the
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buffer by VDR and the amout of data taken from the buffer by xine should be
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equal. A value of 0 disables buffer monitoring.
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Buffer monitoring mode: Once
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Lets you choose how buffer monitoring is applied.
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* Once
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After the above mentioned time, buffer monitoring will be bypassed (which
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reduces CPU and memory load) until a channel switch or audio track selection
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occurs.
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* Continuous
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Buffer monitoring will never be bypassed. After the above mentioned time the
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internal hysteresis value will be reset to the configured one, to be ready
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for the next buffering cycle which starts when the buffer size falls below
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the above mentioned "Live-TV buffer" value. This mode is useful for channels
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which degrade into a slide show after a certain amout of time.
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OSD display mode: Blend scaled AUTO
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Lets you choose among several processing options for VDR's OSD.
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* X11 overlay
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Tells xine to use a method for displaying the OSD that is independent of the
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stream's video resolution. In this so called "unscaled" mode, xine uses a
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X11 window to overlay the OSD on the video window. The advantage of mapping
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a single OSD pixel to a single pixel on screen has the disadvantage of not
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being able to support semi-transparent areas which appear totally opaque in
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this mode.
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NOTE: You won't see any OSD in this mode if X11 is not available!
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* Blend clipped
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* Blend scaled LQ
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* Blend scaled HQ
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* Blend scaled SHQ
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* Blend scaled AUTO
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For these modes xine uses the CPU to blend the OSD into each video frame. As
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the result depends on the stream's video resolution you may choose among
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several modes which require a different amount of CPU time.
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The first mode simply cuts off all parts of the OSD that do not fit into the
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video frame. If for example an OSD of size 720x576 is to be blended into a
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frame of size 480x576 (e. g. VIVA broadcasts at this resolution) then almost
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one halve of the OSD will be dropped at the right and the OSD will be quite
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stretched in horizontal direction.
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All other modes scale the OSD to fit into the video frame. The difference
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among them is the scaling quality (Low, High and Super High) which also
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leads to increasing CPU load and slows down e. g. navigation in the channels
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list, etc.
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The last mode automatically chooses between HQ and SHQ depending on the
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stream's video resolution. SHQ will be chosen if either width or height
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are below 360x288.
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NOTE: Blend scaled is only implemented for VDR 1.3.x (1.3.7 and higher).
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OSD gamma correction [ 123 => 1.23 ]: 123
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When OSD scaling is performed then multiple pixels (or parts of them for SHQ)
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have to be combined into a single one. During this process a so called gamma
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correction is applied in order to give the resulting pixels the correct visual
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representation of the original ones.
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You may adjust this correction within the range 1.00 to 2.50 (by entering 100
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to 250 respectively) to get the best visual representation on your monitor.
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Changing this value is most noticeable in SHQ scaling mode so you need to
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watch a channel that doesn't broadcast at 720x576 in order to activate OSD
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scaling and to be able to see any change concerning gamma correction.
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4:3 image zoom X [%]: 100
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4:3 image zoom Y [%]: 100
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16:9 image zoom X [%]: 100
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16:9 image zoom Y [%]: 100
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These options may be useful to stretch the video image to fill the screen.
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A value of 133 for example will remove the black borders when showing a 4:3
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image on a 16:9 screen. The drawback is that a part of the images is cut
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away on top and bottom for example. So it may be useful to have different
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values for X and Y (e. g. 133 and 115).
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Audio mode: Dolby on ***** OBSOLETE FOR VDR >= 1.3.18 *****
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With this option you can control feeding dolby audio data to xine. You may
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want to use this option if you don't have the necessary replay equipment
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connected to your computer. In that way you can force xine to use a
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differently coded audio source among the supplied e. g. mp2 or pcm.
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Control xine's volume: Yes (by hardware)
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Allows you to control whether xine shall honor VDR's set volume requests. You
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might need this if you have a special setup (e. g. external audio decoder or
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amplifier) where changing the volume in xine might mute external audio:
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* No
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xine isn't instructed to change the volume.
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* Yes (by hardware)
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xine will change the volume by changing the hardware mixer (won't work
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when using a digital audio output).
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* Yes (by software)
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xine will change the volume by using it's internal software mixer (should
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work even when using a digital audio output).
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Muting: Simulate
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Lets you choose among several options how xine shall process VDR's muting
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requests:
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* Ignore
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Muting respectively unmuting requests will be ignored.
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* Execute
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Muting respectively unmuting requests will be executed.
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* Simulate
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Muting is simulated by setting volume to 0. Unmuting is simulated by
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restoring the previous volume.
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NOTE: This happens even if "Control xine's volume" is set to "No"!
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Get primary device when xine connects: Yes ***** REQUIRES VDR >= 1.3.32 *****
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This option is especially useful for owners of full featured DVB cards which
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usually run the OSD on a full featured card (i. e. the full featured card is
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the primary device).
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With this option set to Yes, vdr-xine automatically makes itself the primary
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device while xine is connected to it. In that way the OSD and live TV are
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automatically available via vdr-xine without the need to manually switch the
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primary device via remote control nor SVDRP interface.
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Support semi transparent colors: Yes
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Depending on the currently broadcast image the displayed OSD might be hardly
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readable when the OSD is blended semi transparently into the TV image.
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If this option is set to No, vdr-xine simply ignores the semi-transparent
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component of the color and therefore makes such colors opaque which typically
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makes the OSD easier to read.
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Connection interacts with EIT scanner: No
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This option may be useful for users of single card systems. When xine connects
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to vdr-xine, a currently running EPG scan will be interrupted to get into live
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TV mode immediately. On the other hand, when VDR starts an EPG scan, vdr-xine
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will shutdown the connection to xine.
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COMMAND LINE ARGS
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=================
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There are currently two optional arguments.
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-r Enable remote control.
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This argument enables Simon Truss' patch which allows controlling VDR by
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pressing buttons in xine. It will also allow control from any other suitably
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patched front end.
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-iN Instance number for FIFO directory
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If you want to run two instances of vdr-xine (in different VDR processes) on
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the same computer then you have to use a unique FIFO dir for each instance.
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For example "-i3" will append "3" to the FIFO_DIR given in Makefile. The MRL
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will then have to be like that: "vdr://tmp/vdr-xine3/stream#demux:mpeg_pes".
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-q Suppress debug messages on console
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This option is useful if VDR's console is to be used for other output e. g.
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for the OSD implementation of VDR's skin 'curses'.
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-s Switch to curses skin while xine is not connected
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Use this switch if it is useful to control VDR via it's controlling terminal
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while xine is not connected to vdr-xine. Requires VDR >= 1.3.20.
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-XN default 'SizeX' for GRAB command (720, 1..4096)
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-YN default 'SizeY' for GRAB command (576, 1..4096)
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With these switches you may change the default image size for the grabbing
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the current video frame (see VDR's SVDRP command GRAB for details).
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-p[N] use socket connections on port N (18701)
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-bIP ip address to bind for socket connections (see -p)
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These options control whether vdr-xine shall use sockets instead of fifos,
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which allows you to run xine on a different computer than vdr-xine. To enable
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socket connections, supply the option -p. This will use the default TCP ports
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18701, 18702, 18703 and 18704. You may optionally provide a different base
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port number and vdr-xine will use the next three ports too.
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By default, vdr-xine will listen on all network interfaces. If you want to
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limit connections to a certain inferface, specify option -b with the IP
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address this interface.
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The MRL for xine looks then like that (:port is optional):
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netvdr://host:port#demux:mpeg_pes
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XINE KEYBINDINGS
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================
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To make use of the remote control feature, you'll have to assign keys in xine
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to VDR's commands. Therefore, you'll find 36 keybindings in xine's key binding
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editor, named 'VDR ...', which control the specified action in VDR. Besides
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those, the following entries are also used for VDR:
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'enter the number 0' .. 'enter the number 9'
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'jump to media menu'
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'menu navigate up'
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'menu navigate down'
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'menu navigate left'
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'menu navigate right'
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'menu select'
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'jump to next chapter'
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'jump to previous chapter'
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GXINE KEYBINDINGS
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=================
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And similarly for gxine...
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You'll find several VDR-specific keybindings in gxine's key binding editor:
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Used for VDR VDR-specific
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"Play" Menu bindings "Red"
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"Pause" Number key bindings "Green"
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"Stop" "Volume +" "Yellow"
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"Up" "Volume -" "Blue"
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"Down" "Mute" "Record"
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"Left" "Power"
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"Right" "Select/OK" "Back"
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"Rewind / Back 1 min" "Audio"
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"Fast forward / Forward 1 min"
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You'll notice that the menu bindings have their VDR functions in [brackets].
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If not all of these bindings are present, try "Add new default bindings"
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from the Reload menu; if they still aren't, you're running an older version
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of gxine.
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The volume control bindings assume that VDR is passing volume control events
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back to gxine - in the xine plugin's configuration, you need
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Control xine's volume Yes
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Muting Execute
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for these bindings to work.
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XINE-LIB CONFIG
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===============
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This applies whether you're using xine, gxine or some other xine-lib front
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end.
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xine uses large buffers to gain smooth playback. The drawback is that VDR puts
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a lot of data into xine's buffers and therefore VDR's progress indicator is
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way ahead of the position at which xine is currently playing. For a recording
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of a radio channel, xine's default buffers will cause an offset of about 16
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seconds. But this can easily be improved (with almost no noticeable effects)
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to less than 2 seconds by adjusting xine's number of audio buffers. Just edit
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your xine config "~/.xine/config" and add or change the following entry:
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engine.buffers.audio_num_buffers:4
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The value '4' is the smallest possible value. You may increase it, in case that
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you experience noticeable distortions in audio playback. Another interesting
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option might be the following:
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audio.synchronization.av_sync_method:resample
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It should totally avoid distortions by adjusting audio data to fill any gaps.
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But it's only usable if your amplifier is not connected via SPDIF.
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Another useful option on less powerful machines is the following:
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video.output.disable_exact_alphablend:1
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The result will be that a less exact algorithm is used for blending the OSD
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into each video frame and thus CPU time is saved.
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XINE COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
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=========================
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This section is not intended as a replacement for xine's documentation, but it
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may be useful to have a starting point for further reading. So, some useful
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command line options are listed below.
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Options for xine (X11 required):
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-V vidix (for normal TV on my Matrox G550)
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-V xshm (for watching HDTV)
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-A alsa (use alsa sound system)
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--post vdr_video (highly recommended for correct and immediate OSD
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scaling especially when using "xineplayer". It
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further enables video scaling and positioning as
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used within yaepg)
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--post vdr_audio (highly recommended for selecting left / right stereo
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channel)
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-D (enable selected deinterlacer)
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-Dtvtime:method=Greedy2Frame,cheap_mode=0,pulldown=0,use_progressive_frame_flag=1
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(use specified deinterlacer)
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-L (disable LIRC support)
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Options for gxine (X11 required):
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-V vidix (for normal TV on my Matrox G550)
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-V xshm (for watching HDTV)
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-A alsa (use alsa sound system)
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Other options must (as of 0.4.4) be configured from within gxine.
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Options for fbxine (no X11 required):
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-V vidixfb (for normal TV on my Matrox G550)
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-V fb (for watching HDTV)
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-V dxr3 (to use a DXR3/Hollywood+ hardware MPEG decoder)
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-A alsa (use alsa sound system)
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--post vdr (highly recommended for correct and immediate OSD
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scaling especially when using "xineplayer". It
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further enables video scaling and positioning as
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used within yaepg)
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--post vdr_audio (highly recommended for selecting left / right stereo
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channel)
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-D (enable selected deinterlacer)
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-Dtvtime:method=Greedy2Frame,cheap_mode=0,pulldown=0,use_progressive_frame_flag=1
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(use specified deinterlacer)
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-L (disable LIRC support)
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The default deinterlacer doesn't take too much CPU time, but on the other hand
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it doesn't deinterlace in all situations (e. g. when there is only a small area
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with significant movement on the screen).
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The specified deinterlacer does a good job, but requires much CPU time.
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If you don't like VDR's OSD to be stretched when playing 16:9 material you
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might also use xine's "expand" post processing plugin. It simply puts the
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16:9 images into an 4:3 image (adding a black bar on top and bottom) and
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therefore the OSD will keep it's aspect ratio. To make use of the plugin
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add the following options in this order on (fb)xine's command line:
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xine ... --post expand --post vdr_video ...
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The expand plugin now also supports a feature called "centre cut out" which
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crops away the black bars around the image when 4:3 material is broadcast in
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a 16:9 stream and displayed on a 4:3 monitor. The command line looks then like
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the following:
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xine ... --post expand:centre_crop_out_mode=1 --post vdr_video ...
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If you want to listen to mono audio streams in stereo, I'd suggest to use
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the xine's upmix_mono audio post plugin like that:
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xine ... --post vdr_audio --post upmix_mono ...
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XINEPLAYER
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==========
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xineplayer is a companion of vdr-xine and is used to get the beloved mplayer
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plugin working with vdr-xine. I. e. you'll be able to replay DivX movies
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directly through xine without the need for CPU expensive recoding. And you'll
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still be able to continue using VDR's OSD while the external file is playing.
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To get it working just install the mplayer plugin. Then edit it's "mplayer.sh"
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and replace
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# where to find mplayer
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MPLAYER="mplayer"
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with
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# where to find mplayer
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MPLAYER="xineplayer"
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and now you'll only have to make sure that xineplayer is found by your shell.
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xineplayer was built in vdr-xine's source directory so you'll either have to
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copy it to a directory which is contained in your environment variable PATH or
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just enter the absolute path to xineplayer into mplayer.sh as mentioned above.
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That's it.
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NOTE: xineplayer is still under development and currently only supports
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mplayer plugin's TRADITIONAL mode. Furthermore it ignores any parameter
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given on the command line besides the last one and expects this to be a
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MRL recognizable by xine (e. g. a filename). If xine doesn't know how
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to play the given MRL you'll only see an error message on xine's console.
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As vdr-xine supports an instance number to create an unique FIFO directory it
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will also necessary to tell this number to xineplayer to have it control the
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right instance of vdr-xine. xineplayer's command line looks like that:
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xineplayer [ --vdr-xine-instance=N ] [ options ] mrl
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NOTE: "--vdr-xine-instance" must be given as the first argument as it might
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otherwise collide with further options originally intended for mplayer.
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Loggerhead is a web-based interface for Breezy
Version: 2.0.1