1
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
4
<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
5
<title>SMPlayer FAQ</title>
9
<h1>SMPlayer - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
12
<li><a href="#smplayer_mplayer">Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are
13
they? are they the same?</a></li>
14
<li><a href="#dvd_menus">DVD menus, where are they?</a></li>
15
<li><a href="#output_drivers">Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...)
16
what are they? Which one is the best?</a></li>
17
<li><a href="#nvidia_problems">I have a NVidia card and gl/gl2 doesn't work,
19
<li><a href="#screenshot">I try to make a screenshot but the option
20
is disabled, why?</a></li>
21
<li><a href="#audio_track">I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work,
22
the audio remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to
23
actually change audio. Why?</a></li>
24
<li><a href="#shortcuts">How can I change the key shortcuts?</a></li>
25
<li><a href="#qt">I've read something about Qt, what's that?</a></li>
26
<li><a href="#codecs">With some video formats I only get audio, but not
27
video. Why? Do I need some codecs?</a></li>
28
<li><a href="#open_quit">What's the difference between Open -> Close and
29
Open -> Quit? Do they do the same?</a></li>
30
<li><a href="#audio_cd">How can I play an audio CD?</a></li>
31
<li><a href="#bookmark">Where is the bookmark?</a></li>
32
<li><a href="#mplayer_errors">I try to play a file but nothing happens.
35
<li><a href="#preferences_delay">When I open the preferences dialog for first
36
time it takes some secs to show, why?</a></li>
38
<li><a href="#audio_equalizer">There's a video equalizer, but why isn't there
39
an audio equalizer?</a></li>
40
<li><a href="#tv">Are you going to add support for TV?</a></li>
41
<li><a href="#mplayer_restart">A lot of menu options make the video to go blank
42
for a moment. Why?</a></li>
43
<li><a href="#crash">SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</a></li>
44
<li><a href="#playlist_problem">When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends
45
SMPlayer doesn't play the next file automatically, why?</a></li>
46
<li><a href="#mplayer_recommended">What version of MPlayer is recommended?</a></li>
47
<li><a href="#subtitles_border">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black
48
border instead of the image, how can I do it?</a></li>
49
<li><a href="#expand_filter">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black
50
border for ALL videos, is it possible?</a></li>
51
<li><a href="#monitors">(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st
52
monitor but not in the 2nd, why?</a></li>
53
<li><a href="#volume_loud">The volume is too loud at the beginning of the
54
videos, how can this be fixed?</a></li>
55
<li><a href="#vista">(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time
56
I play a video Aero is disabled, why?</a></li>
57
<li><a href="#config_file">Where is the configuration file?</a></li>
63
<li><a name="smplayer_mplayer"></a>
64
<b>Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are they? are they
67
No, they are two different applications. MPlayer is a multimedia player
68
developed initially for linux and then ported to other OS. It's very
69
good, it plays almost every everything, and it has for instance a lot of
70
filters and so on. But most users may find it hard to use it.
72
Fortunately MPlayer can work together with another application (the
73
video window can be embedded in the other application GUI, it obeys
74
commands sent by the application).
75
So SMPlayer is just a front-end which uses MPlayer to actually play the
78
SMPlayer is the window you see, the menus, the preferences dialog...
79
(along with other things you don't see, like functions to control
80
MPlayer). But SMPlayer knows nothing about playing files. It doesn't
81
even know what a codec is.
82
MPlayer on the other hand, opens the files, decodes them, displays the
83
video and plays the audio. Subtitles are also read, parsed and displayed
87
<li><a name="dvd_menus"></a>
88
<b>DVD menus, where are they?</b>
90
Currently MPlayer doesn't support DVD menus...
91
Well, in fact it does if compiled with dvdnav support. The last time I
92
tested it, it didn't work quite well.
94
Anyway, even there are no DVD menus, you can still select your desired
95
title, chapter, audio track, subtitles... in the SMPlayer menus.
98
<li><a name="output_drivers"></a>
99
<b>Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...) what are they?
100
Which one is the best?</b>
102
MPlayer has several output drivers, for video and sound. SMPlayer allows
103
you to select the one you want among all of them (<i>Preferences -> General</i>).
105
For video it's recommended that you use xv (linux) or directx (windows).
106
They use hardware acceleration and give the best performance.
108
The inconvenience about directx for Windows Vista users is that it
111
x11 and directx:noaccel are drivers without hardware acceleration. They
112
give the worst performance. Moreover directx:noaccel gives a bad quality
115
gl and gl2 will use 3D acceleration from the graphic card. They will
116
give better performance than directx:noaccel and x11 but no so much as
117
directx or xv. gl/gl2 can be useful for Windows Vista users.
119
For sound, you should usually use oss or alsa in linux. I don't like esd
120
or arts, they use to use more CPU.
122
In windows the sound drivers are dsound and win32. I read that dsound
123
can cause sometimes audio-video sync problems. If you notice that
124
problem try win32 instead.
126
Other drivers allows you to save the video as image files or write the
127
sound to the disk. These drivers are not officially supported by
128
SMPlayer. Use them only if you know what you're doing.
131
<li><a name="nvidia_problems"></a>
132
<b>I have a NVidia card and gl/gl2 doesn't work, why?</b>
134
It seems to be a problem with the NVidia cards or their drivers on
135
Windows. gl/gl2 does work when using the real MPlayer window, but not
136
when the video is embedded in another application. There's no known fix.
137
The only thing you can do is either use directx instead of gl/gl2 or
138
check the option to use the MPlayer window in <i>Preferences -> Advanced</i>.
140
<b>Update: this problem has finally been fixed in MPlayer r25972.</b>
143
<li><a name="screenshot"></a>
144
<b>I try to make a screenshot but the option is disabled, why?</b>
146
You didn't choose a folder for storing the screenshots. Do it in
147
<i>Preferences -> General</i>, and the screenshot option will be enabled.
150
<li><a name="audio_track"></a>
151
<b>I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work, the audio
152
remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to actually
153
change audio. Why?</b>
155
With some formats (ike mp4 or ogm), MPlayer can't change the audio track
156
at runtime. By unchecking the option "Fast audio track switching" you'll
157
be able to change the audio in those formats.
160
<li><a name="shortcuts"></a>
161
<b>How can I change the key shortcuts?</b>
163
<i>Preferences -> Keyboard and mouse</i>. You'll be able to change most key shortcuts.
166
<li><a name="qt"></a>
167
<b>I've read something about Qt, what's that?</b>
169
SMPlayer is being developed by using Qt, which is a C++ library that
170
allows cross-platform development. The same source code can be compiled
171
on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
173
<a href="http://trolltech.com/products/qt">http://trolltech.com/products/qt</a>
176
<li><a name="codecs"></a>
177
<b>With some video formats I only get audio, but not video. Why? Do
178
I need some codecs?</b>
180
MPlayer can player most common formats "out of the box". But for codecs
181
that haven't been yet implemented natively, it's necessary to install a
182
package with binary codecs. You can get it from the
183
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html">MPlayer download
186
On Windows, install the codecs in the mplayer/codecs subdirectory.
187
On linux distros the package may be available as a regular package,
188
maybe with the name of w32codecs or something like that.
191
<li><a name="open_quit"></a>
192
<b>What's the difference between <i>Open -> Close</i> and <i>Open -> Quit</i>?
193
Do they do the same?</b>
195
If the option "Show icon in system tray" (in menu Options) is not
196
checked, then yes, the two options do the same: quit the application.
198
But if that option is enabled, then <i>Open -> Close</i> will just hide the
199
application (and stop the current file), but SMPlayer is still running.
200
<i>Open -> Quit</i> really quits the application, no matter if the system tray
201
icon is enabled or not.
204
<li><a name="audio_cd"></a>
205
<b>How can I play an audio CD?</b>
207
Support for audio CDs was added in version 0.5.18.
209
Under Windows it's not possible to play audio CDs yet.
212
<li><a name="bookmark"></a>
213
<b>Where is the bookmark?</b>
218
<li><a name="mplayer_errors"></a>
219
<b>I try to play a file but nothing happens. Why?</b>
221
Probably MPlayer couldn't play the file. Open the mplayer log
222
(<i>Options -> View logs -> MPlayer</i>), you'll probably find an error message in
225
On Windows is quite common that some MPlayer builds fail because they
226
have been compiled with no support for some feature that SMPlayer tries
227
to use. The error message could give you a clue. If it complains about
228
cache, try disabling the cache in <i>Preferences -> Performance</i>. If it
229
complains about fontconfig try to use a ttf font instead of a system
234
<li><a name="preferences_delay"></a>
235
<b>When I open the preferences dialog for first time it takes some
236
secs to show, why?</b>
238
In that moment SMPlayer calls MPlayer to get some info from it (the
239
output drivers, for instance). It happens the same with <i>Options -> View
240
info and properties</i>.
244
<li><a name="audio_equalizer"></a>
245
<b>There's a video equalizer, but why isn't there an audio equalizer?</b>
247
The video equalizer was easy to do because MPlayer has slave commands to
248
change brightness, contrast and so on at runtime. But I'm afraid it
249
doesn't have similar commands for audio, so this can't be done.
252
<li><a name="tv"></a>
253
<b>Are you going to add support for TV?</b>
255
That would be nice, but TV support is not planned for now. Currently
256
I don't have a TV card, so I can't implement it.
259
<li><a name="mplayer_restart"></a>
260
<b>A lot of menu options make the video to go blank for a moment.
263
Some options require to stop the MPlayer process and start it again with
264
new parameters. That's why playing interrupts for a moment.
267
<li><a name="crash"></a>
268
<b>SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</b>
270
SMPlayer crashed, but MPlayer is still running. Kill the MPlayer process
273
Anyway if SMPlayer crashes, it's a serious bug that should be fixed.
277
<li><a name="playlist_problem"></a>
278
<b>When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends SMPlayer doesn't
279
play the next file automatically, why?</b>
281
Probably your MPlayer is translated into another language. SMPlayer
282
looks for some English texts in the output of MPlayer. In this case it
283
looks for "Exiting... (End of file)". As MPlayer displays the messages
284
in another language SMPlayer fails and won't work properly.
285
Unfortunately the language of MPlayer can't be changed without
286
recompiling it. But recents versions of SMPlayer allow to change the
287
messages that it should look for (<i>Preferences -> Advanced -> MPlayer
291
<li><a name="mplayer_recommended"></a>
292
<b>What version of MPlayer is recommended?</b>
294
SMPlayer can work with MPlayer 1.0rc1 (it hasn't been tested with
295
older releases). Anyway that version is very old and it's not recommended at all.
296
A lot of new things and improvements have been added since then.
297
For instance changing audio in avi files or seeking in flv or ogm files
298
don't work with that version.
300
You should use at least MPlayer 1.0rc2, although some new interesting features
301
have been added after its release. I recommend to use at least
302
MPlayer SVN r25843 (from 2008-01-23).
304
In the <a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html">MPlayer
305
download page</a> you can get a svn tar.bz2 ready to compile. And
306
compiling it is very easy (in linux, I mean...)
309
<li><a name="subtitles_border"></a>
310
<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border instead
311
of the image, how can I do it?</b>
313
<i>Video filters -> Add black borders</i>
316
<li><a name="expand_filter"></a>
317
<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border for ALL
318
videos, is it possible?</b>
320
Currently the only way is to add a video filter like
321
<b>expand=:::::4/3</b> in <i>Preferences -> Advanced -> Options for MPlayer</i>.
324
<li><a name="monitors"></a>
325
<b>(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st monitor but not in the
328
When you use <i>directx</i> as video driver (<i>Preferences -> General</i>)
329
the video can only be displayed on one monitor. If you use instead
330
<i>directx:noaccel</i>, <i>gl</i> or <i>gl2</i> the video will be displayed
331
in any monitor (users of nvidia cards, please
332
<a href="#nvidia_problems">read this</a>).
334
Anyway if you prefer to use <i>directx</i> is still possible but you have
335
to add the <i>-adapter</i> option in <i>Preferences -> Advanced -> Options
336
for MPlayer</i> (<i>Options</i> field). <b>-adapter 1</b> will display the
337
video on the 1st monitor, <b>-adapter 2</b> will display it on the 2nd
338
monitor, and so on (I think).
341
<li><a name="volume_loud"></a>
342
<b>The volume is too loud at the beginning of the videos, how can this
345
Check the option <i>Change volume just before playing</i> in
346
<i>Preferences -> General -> Audio</i>.
348
This option requires a MPlayer build which is patched to add a new option
349
(<i>-volume</i>) for it. The build included in the package for Windows has
350
this patch applied. The patch can be found
351
<a href="http://smplayer.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/*checkout*/smplayer/mplayer-builds/patches/startupvol.diff?revision=467">here</a>.
354
<li><a name="vista"></a>
355
<b>(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time I play a video Aero
356
is disabled, why?</b>
358
This happens when you're using <i>directx</i> as video driver
359
(<i>Preferences -> General</i>). You can change it to <i>gl</i> or <i>gl2</i>
360
(users of nvidia cards, please <a href="#nvidia_problems">read this</a>).
363
<li><a name="config_file"></a>
364
<b>Where is the configuration file?</b>
366
SMPlayer uses two <i>ini</i> files: smplayer.ini and smplayer_files.ini.
367
Both are stored by default in <i>$HOME/.smplayer</i> (Linux) or
368
<i>C:\Documents and Settings\your_username\.smplayer</i> (Windows XP).
370
You can also see it in the SMPlayer log (<i>Options -> View logs</i>), look
371
for a line like this:
373
* ini path: '/home/ricardo/.smplayer'
375
<i>smplayer.ini</i> stores the SMPlayer configuration while
376
<i>smplayer_files.ini</i> stores the settings of the files you have played.