VLC Media Player

NEC Australia Pty. Ltd.VLC MEDIA PLAYER ON BROADBAND FOR SENIORS KIOSKS

NEC AUSTRALIA Pty. Ltd.

A.B.N. 86 001 217 527

System Solutions Division

Title

VLC MEDIA PLAYER ON BROADBAND FOR SENIORS KIOSKS

Document No.:DN-BFS-00020Issue:1

FORMCHECKBOX APPROVED DOCUMENT

ISSUE HISTORY

IssueDateDescriptionDCN

103/05/10First ReleaseN/A

Original AuthorOrigination Date

G. Dodd5/01/10

This Issue Prepared ByDate

G. Dodd19/02/10

Copyright NEC Australia. Pty Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photographic or magnetic without the prior written permission of NEC Australia Pty. Ltd.

Hardcopies of this document are uncontrolled unless otherwise indicated in writing by the Documentation Manager.

VLCMEDIA

PLAYERV1.0.xOn Broadband for Seniors Kiosks

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

41.INTRODUCTION

2.SPECIAL NOTES43.pre-requisite knowledge44.OPERATION44.1Start Up44.1.1 Automatic54.1.2 By Screen ICON54.1.3 By using the Windows START button54.1.4 Selection via the AutoPlay Menu64.2VLC Main Interface64.3Shutting Down VLC64.4Main Interface Controls64.5VLC Menu Options74.6Opening an Audio or a Video File104.6.1 Using Open File or Advanced Open File104.6.2 Opening a Folder104.6.3 Opening a Disc114.7Converting and Saving a Media File Format124.8Playing an Audio Track134.8.1 Playing Specific Audio Tracks134.8.2 Playlists134.8.3 Audio Device134.8.4 Audio Channels144.8.5 Visualise Audio144.8.6 Audio Effects and Filters15Appendix 1 File Formats17Appendix 2 What is a Codec?21Appendix 3 VLC Codec Listing23

1. INTRODUCTIONThis document is intended to provide Broadband for Seniors (BFS) Kiosk Users with guidelines and information on VLC Media Player.

VLC Media Player is a multimedia player for various audio and video formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg and many other formats. It also plays DVDs, VCDs, CDs and where allowed, content from various streaming networks.

VLC development started as a student project at the French cole Centrale, Paris, but is now a worldwide project with developers from more than 20 countries.

VLC media player was initially known as VideoLAN Client, however, in recent years, it has been renamed to simply VLC.2. SPECIAL NOTESThe screenshots used in this guide are taken from the MS Windows Vista Home Basic version. On home computer systems and other operating systems they might appear slightly differently. VLC offers many Audio and Video features, however, this guide will only cover the basic play features.

Information provided in the Appendices is for information and reference only and is intended for advanced users only.

VLC is provided as-is. No additional codecs will be installed by NEC and no other support is provided.

3. pre-requisite knowledgeKiosk users should be familiar with general computer operation (i.e. Keyboard and Mouse) and be able to navigate menus and sub-menus.

4. OPERATION

4.1 Start UpVLC start-up could be initiated a number of ways, depending on which version of Operating System is on the Kiosk computer being used:

Automatically (depending on the media/format AND the computer operating system, Vista Home Basic or Premium) Manually via screen Icon

Manually via the Vista START (the Vista ORB) menus

Manually via the Auto Play window

4.1.1 AutomaticVLC start-up may happen automatically when recognizable media (a DVD or VCD Video or an Audio disc) is inserted. This is dependent on the version of the Vista Operating System and Windows Media Player that is installed on your computer. Windows may take control and not permit VLC to start up automatically. It is understood that a future release of VLC (1.1) may correct this.Playback may take some time to start as the CD/DVD drive has to spin-up and read the media.

4.1.2 By Screen ICON

Users may start VLC by clicking on the screen icon.

This will bring up the VLV media player main interface (see Para 4.2).

4.1.3 By using the Windows START button

The START button is found on the left-hand side of the lower task bar.

On the drop-down menu, select:

Programs, then

VideoLAN, then

VLC media player

4.1.4 Selection via the AutoPlay Menu

When recognisable media is inserted, the AutoPlay window may open, allowing you to choose which player to use (if other players are installed).

Please refer to Para 4.1. above.

Even if you select VLC, it MAY not open VLC from this menu. If not open VLC by the methods listed in 4.1.2 and 4.1.3.

4.2 VLC Main InterfaceOn start-up, the VLC main interface will be seen.

This looks as shown on the right.

This is the default interface on Windows Vista.

4.3 Shutting Down VLCTo shut down VLC, simply click on the X at the top right-hand corner of the VLC Main Interface ( 4.4 Main Interface ControlsThe buttons below the slider help in controlling the play.

Button function is as per the following table:

ButtonDescription

Toggles between play and pause

Moves to the previous track

Stops the play

Moves to the next track

Displays the application in a full-screen mode

Displays the play list

Displays a menu of options to have audio and video effects, and synchronising the audio and video media.

Toggles between mute and voice. Click on it to mute or un-mute.

Volume slider. Displays the volume level. You can adjust the volume by placing the cursor on this icon and moving it left or right. The number indicates the percentage of amplification. Maximum is 200%.

NOTE: When Video or Audio is playing, the following additional buttons will appear

Go to the Previous Chapter/Title.

Go to the Disc Menu.

Go to the Next Chapter/Title.

4.5 VLC Menu OptionsThe following tables relate to the MENU BAR on the top of the VLC interface window.

Menu Bar

Many of the options that VLC offers will not be used (and a number will not be supported on the Kiosks), however, all are listed below for completeness. The most common (and the ones that most of you will use at some time) are highlighted in GREEN.

MenuOptionDescription

MediaOpen FileSelect this option to open a media file and play it.

Advanced Open FileSelect this option to open files through a folder, disc, network or a capture device.

In addition to opening a file from a hard disk, you can open files from a disc, from any computer on the network or directly from a capturing device.

You can also open a subtitles file associated with the selected media file.

Open FolderSelect this option to open a folder with multiple media files and play them in order.

Open DiscUse this option to play files from a disc, in different video formats. Based on the type of disc you select, you may have a few more playing options.

Open Network StreamSelect this option to receive media files from Internet and play them.Use this option to open a file present on any system on the network to which you are currently connected. You can also set a few playing options.

Open Capture DeviceSelect this option to receive media files from capture devices such as camcorder, webcam and so on.

Open Location from ClipboardThis is where you can enter the web address (URL) or the directory PATH to the media you wish to play.

Recent MediaThis shows all the recent media you have played and allows you to select it again (if still available).

Services Discovery[ not available ]

Save Playlist to FileHere you can save any playlist you may have created to a special playlist file for later access.

Convert/SaveSelect this option to convert media files to different media file formats.

StreamingSelect this option to send media files through network and play them live.

QuitSelect this option to quit the application.

PlaybackBookmarksSelect this option to bookmark the media file.

TitleDVD Video: Select this option to access a particular movie title in a DVD.

ChapterDVD Video: Select this option to access a particular movie chapter in a DVD.

NavigationDVD Video: Gives access to all DVD menus

ProgramDVD Video [ not enabled ]

StopStops play

Previous

Next

Faster

Faster (fine)Each access increases the playback speed

Normal SpeedSets Speed back to normal when you have used Faster or Slower

Slower (fine)Each access decreases the playback speed

Slower

Jump Forward

Jump Backward

NavigationSelect this option to navigate to different titles and their corresponding chapters.

Jump to Specific TimeSelect this option to move the track slider to a specific frame of the video or audio file. The media file starts playing from that instance

Previous title[only present when a Video is being played]

Next title[only present when a video is being played]

Previous chapter[only present when a video is being played]

Next Chapter[only present when a video is being played]

AudioAudio TrackSelect this option to disable or enable an audio track. When a DVD is played, shows the languages available and allows you to select.

Audio ChannelsSelect this option to select a audio channel (Dolby, Left, Right, Reverse Stereo)

Audio DeviceSelect this option to Stereo, Mono.

VisualizationAudio CD only. Select this option to display splashes of colour and geometric shapes while listening to an audio file. Spectrometer, Scope, Spectrum, VU Meters, etc.

Increase VolumeVolume up

Decrease VolumeVolume Down

MuteMute the audio

VideoVideo TrackSelect this option to disable or enable a video track.

SubtitlesSelect this option to load a specific subtitle track (if any are available).

Full ScreenSelect this option to view the media file in the entire screen.

Always on TopSelect this option to display the application always on top when other applications or files are open.

Direct X wall paper[ Not Enabled ] Makes the video which is being displayed become the wall paper.

SnapshotSelect this option to capture snapshots of video being displayed. The snapshot will be automatically stored in directory: DATA(D:)/Downloads/Pictures/

ZoomSelect this option to zoom in or zoom out of a video track.

Scale[ TBA ]

Aspect RatioSelect this option to adjust the width to height ratio of the video. Normally left at Default.

CropSelect this option to crop the edges of a video track.

De-interlaceSelect this option to convert interlaced video signals into non-interlaced form.

Post Processing[ Not Enabled ]

ToolsEffects and FiltersOpens a window allowing the adjustment of audio and video effects.

Track SynchronizationAllows users to synchronize audio tracks or subtitles to the video being played

Media InformationSelect this option to view all information regarding the media file being played.

Codec InformationSelect this option to view codec information of the media file being played.

BookmarksSelect this option to bookmark the media file.

VLM Configuration[ Not to be used ]

Messages[ Not to be used ]]

Plug-ins and Extensions[ Not to be used ]

PreferencesShould not be used. Select this option to give preferred settings to audio, video, subtitles, codecs and hotkeys. If used and the results are not as expected, may be reset (use Reset Preferences button).

ViewPlaylistSelect this option to view and play the media files listed in the playlist.

Minimal viewSelect this option to have a minimal view of the application.

Fullscreen InterfaceSelect this option to have a full screen view of the application.

Advanced controlsSelect this option to access snapshot and loop controls.

Quit after Playback

Cutomize InterfaceShould not be used. Gives access to the Toolbars Editor.

Add Interface[ Not to be used ]

HelpHelpOpens the VLC help

Check for UpdatesNOT TO BE USED

About

4.6 Opening an Audio or a Video File4.6.1 Using Open File or Advanced Open FileA file can be opened in two ways. From the Media menu select the: Open File option, or

the Advanced Open File option. When logged-in under the BFS User Account, Restrictions windows may open. Just ignore these. Click OK (or on the X) to close the windows.Select the Computer tab on the left-hand side of the Open dialog box.

Browse and select a file (or enter a file name in the File names box).Click Open. VLC starts playing the selected file with the default options.

Experienced users could also set a number of parameters by going to the Tools menu and selecting: Effects and Filters Track synchronization (if the Audio or Subtitles do not track with the video being played)4.6.2 Opening a FolderYou can select a folder to play all media files one after the other in that folder.

1. Select the Open Folder option. The Browse for Folders dialog box is displayed.

2. Browse and select the folder.

3. Click on OK.

All the files present in the selected folder are played in the alphabetical order, one after another, without any action from you.

4.6.3 Opening a Disc

You can open media files from a disc. In VLC, you can play Audio CDs, SVCD/VCDs, and DVDs. You can open a file from a disc in two ways.

1. Select the Open Disc option from the Media menu.Or Select the Advanced Open File option from the Media menu.

The Open dialog box is displayed.

2. Select the Disc tab.

3. Check the type of disc connected to the system. The options are DVD, Audio CD and SVCD/VCD.

4. In the Disc Device box, by default, the path for the disc is displayed. You may select a different path using the Browse button.If you wish to check if the drive is empty or if the correct disc is in the drive, Click on the Eject button. The disk drive opens automatically.

5. Based on the selected disc type, specify the following options:

DVD

Some original DVDs may have complex, proprietary menu options and VLC may not handle all the options well. If you check the No DVD menus option, VLC reads the raw video files directly into the film regardless of the options present while creating the original DVD. Check this option if you want to listen to or view the basic version without using the menus present in the DVD.

When a DVD is played, the entire disc need not be played. To specify the part to be played, specify the Title and Chapter number in the Starting Position box.

Under the Audio and Subtitles group, select the Subtitles track and Audio track.

Audio CD

In the Track box of the Starting Position group, select the track number at which the play should start.

SVCD/VCD

In the Starting Position group, you may specify the Entry number at which the play should start. Under the Audio and Subtitles group, select the Subtitles track and Audio track.

6. Check Show more options to see more play options.

4.7 Converting and Saving a Media File FormatAlthough VLC media player is able to perform multimedia conversion (i.e. it can convert different media formats to the format of your preference), this feature is untested by NEC and is not supported for use on the Kiosks.

Users who try this feature should do so knowing that NEC cannot assist and cannot guarantee the results.

4.8 Playing an Audio Track4.8.1 Playing Specific Audio TracksYou can play, enable and disable an audio track. To play a track

1. Select Open File from the Media menu.

2. Select an audio file and click on the Play button. The selected track is played.

3. To disable a track, select the Disable option in the Audio Track from the Audio menu. The selected track stops.

4. To play the same track again, select the Track 1 option in the Audio Track from the Audio menu. The selected track is played. 4.8.2 PlaylistsTo display your audio playlist, click on the playlist button on the main VLC Interface (or from the View menu, select Playlist).

This opens the playlist window. Here you can select tracks (just double-click on any track to start that track playing) and add tracks.

You can also:

Add to the Playlist Select Random Play Select Loop (keeps playing all files until stopped) 4.8.3 Audio DeviceThis option helps you to listen to audio files in two modes: stereo and mono.

1. To listen to an audio track in either the Stereo or Mono mode, select Open File or Open Disc from the Media menu. The Open dialog box is displayed.

2. Select an audio file and click on the Play button. The selected track is played.

3. Select Mono in Audio Device from the Audio menu if you want to listen to the audio track in the Mono mode. Mono refers to monoaural sound that uses a single channel for sound reproduction.

4. Select Stereo in Audio Device from the Audio menu if you want to listen to the audio track in the Stereo mode. Stereo refers to sound that uses two channels for sound reproduction.

4.8.4 Audio ChannelsIn audio, a channel refers to a stream of audio that is to be played by one speaker. For example, stereo audio, consists of two channels. This option is useful for codecs that dont have support for more than 2 channels.

Select a channel type in Audio Channels from the Audio menu. VLC media player provides four audio channel options. They are:

1. Stereo Refers to the reproduction of the sound in two channels using more than one speaker. If you use this option, you would feel as though the sound is played from all the directions. You can observe this in a regular home theatre with 5.1 or 6.1 speakers.

2. Left You can observe this in a regular audio player with 2.1 speakers. If you select the Left option, the music is played only in the left speaker. The speaker on your right is automatically switched OFF.

3. Right - If you select the Right option, the music is played only in the speaker on your right side. The speaker on your left is automatically switched OFF.

4. Reverse Stereo VLC has an in-built feature to reverse the stereo. Imagine that you are watching a video. In the video, a person walks on the left side but the sound is produced on the right speaker. You can correct this by selecting the Reverse Stereo option in VLC. Select the Reverse Stereo option and play the same scene in the video and observe the difference. You can observe this with 2.1, 5.1 and 6.1 speaker systems.

4.8.5 Visualise AudioVisualizations display splashes of colour and geometric shapes when audio is played.

The different visual effects available are Spectrometer, Scope, VU Meter, Spectrum and Goom.

1. Select an option under the Visualizations option from the Audio menu to view the effects. The selected visualization is played.

2. To disable visualizations, select Disable under Visualizations from the Audio menu. The visualization is disabled.

VU Meter Visualization

4.8.6 Audio Effects and Filters

If you wish to add a little more depth to the audio that you are playing, you may wish to experiment with the Effects and Filters module.

This may be accessed from the Tools menu or by clicking on the Extended Settings button on the VLC main interface.The Graphic Equalizer allows you to manually adjust or to use pre-sets.

The Spacializer allows you to simulate changes in room size and stereo width.

Be gentle in changing the settings as sometimes a large on a control slider will result in audio instability and some loud noise. If that happens, just close VLC and open it again. No damage can be done.

As previously mentioned, the following Appendices are included for INFORMATION ONLY.

They contain advanced information that has been included to assist users in understanding the terminology used when talking about video and audio players (e.g. File Formats, Containers, Codecs, etc).

Appendix 1 File FormatsQuestion: Are file formats and codecs the same?

Answer:No, although it can be confusing because sometimes they have the same name. You can think of a file format as a type of container. Inside the container is data that has been compressed by using a particular codec. A file format is a specification on how to read/write a certain type of information into a file. There are many file formats which all have their own advantages. Some are easy to edit, some are easy to stream, some allow for possible future extensions, others are very simple and can't do much at all.

For example, a file format such as Windows Media Audio (.wma) contains data that is compressed by using the Windows Media Audio codec. However, a file format such as Audio Video Interleaved (.avi) can contain data that is compressed by any of a number of different codecs, including the MPEG-2, DivX, or XVid codecs.

AVI files can also contain data that is not compressed by any codec. Consequently, you might be able to play some AVI files and not others, depending on which codecs were used to compress the file and which codecs are integrated with the player installed on your computer. For the same reason, you also might be able to play the audio portion of an AVI file, but not the video portion.

In the world of audio/video/streaming there are several categories which are of importance.

Container

Playlist

Subtitles Container

Containers are Files that can contain audio and/or video. The audio and video is encoded (compressed) using codecs, and then stored in a container. Codecs can normally be used in a variety of different containers. For information on codecs, see Appendix 2.You can usually tell what container format is used for a file by looking at the file's extension. For example, if a file has a .mp4 extension, it is likely to contain MPEG-4 video.

Below some of the formats you can play with VLC File Extension Contains Comments

A52A52 A/52 (A52) is essentially the same thing as AC-3 (AC3), which is Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital is sometimes referred to as "DD", as in "DD 5.1" (for "Dolby Digital for 5.1 channels").

.aac AAC AAC is a codec designed to provide better compression than MP3s, and are improved versions of MPEG audio. AAC actually refers to two similar codecs - MPEG-2 AAC and MPEG-4 AAC.

.aiff AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) files are files similar to WAVE files. They contain uncompressed PCM encoded data.

.asf ASF Advanced Streaming Format (or ASF, later renamed into Advanced Systems Format) is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media. ASF is part of the Windows Media Framework.

ASF files have the file extension .asf, but ASF files which contain Windows Media codecs are often given the file extension .wmv or .wma.

.au AU Sun au format is an audio file, normally with the file extension .au, which can hold uncompressed audio.

.avi AVI AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a popular container format used to hold video and audio data.

AVI files aren't designed to hold subtitles. Also, they don't support some features which more recent container formats support.

.dts DTS DTS is a private company that develops audio formats, similar to Dolby. The term "DTS" generally refers to DTS's digital surround audio technology that is used widely on DVD-Video discs, just like Dolby's Dolby Digital/AC3.

DTS differs from Dolby Digital in that it uses less compression and has a lower bass extension, which allows it to produce a better sound quality. DTS Stereo sounds almost identical to Dolby Surround.

.dump Demuxdump A special codec used mainly for debugging. This saves the input as a file (specified by demuxdump-file), without decoding it.

This is a way to "decode" input to VLC.

.nsf, .nsfe, .gbs, .vgm, .vgz, .spc, .gym gme The Game Music Emu (GME) format is a format used to store music in games.

.mkv, .mka, .mks Matroska Matroska is a container format for storing or streaming video and audio files. The Matroska format has many features, such as a DVD-style menu system.

MediaBase

.mpc Musepack MusePack (MPC) is an audio codec, designed for compression of stereo audio at bitrates of 160-180 kbit/s.

.m2ts, .mpg, .mpeg, .vob MPEG-TS or MPEG-PS MPEG-2 specifies 2 container formats, ts and ps. Containers hold video and audio information in them, and package them up so the data can be sent over a network or stored on disk.

ts (Transport Stream) should be used to store or send data where data loss will probably occur, such as over a network.

ps (Program Stream) should be used to store or send data where data loss is not likely, such as on a DVD.

Both ps and ts can transport MPEG-4 Video, but only ts can send MPEG-4 Audio. In addition, MPEG-4 specifies it's own container format, mp4

.mov MOV A .MOV file is the default extension given a QuickTime movie file. The video and audio contained in the .mov can use one of many codecs.

Retrieved from "http://wiki.videolan.org/MOV"

.flv flash Video Flash Video is a file format mainly used for playing data in a Flash player on a webpage. It has the extension .flv.

There are two types of flv files, the one based on H.263 (which exists since Flash 6) and another based on VP6 (which was introduced in Flash 8). In Flash 9 Update 3 Adobe added support for MPEG-4, thus since this version flv files may also contain H.264 and HE-AAC.

.m4a, .m4b, .m4p MPEG-4MPEG-4 is a form of MPEG encoding. It is a flexible audio and video compression format. The format describes audio and video compression, with a container format for streaming across networks and saving to disk. It also contains optional extra features, including DRM and subtitles. These extra features are only included in software if needed. MPEG-4 can provide better quality than MPEG-2 at low bitrates.

.nsv NSV NSV is a new video format. It is designed to be easily streamed, support any audio and video codec, and be usable on nearly any platform. Currently NSV utilizes MP3 for audio and VP3 for video. Support for more codecs will be added soon.

.ogm OGM The OGM extension is typically associated with video files. OGM is the Ogg Vorbis video container format, similar to AVI or MP4, that generally contains Ogg Vorbis audio and a video stream that is often DivX, XviD or Theora video format.

.ogg, . ogv, .oga, .ogx, .spxOgg Being a Container format, ogg can embed third-party codecs (such as DivX, XviD, MP3 and others) but usually Ogg is used with Vorbis, Theora, FLAC and Dirac.

.pva PVA PVA is the the extension denoting a Packetized Elementary Streams (PES) containing both video and audio. PES files are muxed Elementary Streams. By their nature Elementary streams are only audio or video files. However, by recording timestamps PVA files can contain both with a low overhead for muxing real-time MPEG-2 video with AC3 Dolby Digital audio. Such files are often recorded by Digital Video Broadcast DVB capturing software.

.rm, .ram, .ra RealMedia RealMedia is a type of file designed by RealNetworks, and can be played with the proprietary RealPlayer. VLC is able to play most RealMedia files.

SDPSDP (streaming only) SDP stands for "Session Description Protocol". It is used to describe a streaming session.

The idea behind SDP is that you can store critical stream information in the SDP and distribute this over a reliable connection (such as HTTP or RTSP). Then you can stream the raw codec data over a lossy connection, such as RTP without the need for a container.

.wav WAV WAVE is a way of storing audio, which is normally uncompressed. It is based on RIFF.

.wmv Windows Media Video Windows Media is a generic name for the set of proprietary streaming audio and video technologies developed by Microsoft. It includes the Windows Media Video (WMV) and Windows Media Audio (WMA) codecs.

To sum up:

A codec is a compression algorithm, used to reduce the size of a stream. There are audio codecs and video codecs. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Vorbis, DivX, ... are codecs

A container format contains one or several streams already encoded by codecs. Very often, there is an audio stream and a video one. AVI, Ogg, MOV, ASF are container formats. The streams contained can be encoded using different codecs. In a perfect world, you could put any codec in any container format. Unfortunately, there are some incompatibilities.

Playlist

Playlists are files that contain information on which files to play. Usually they are plain text files with paths to the files to play. Here an example in the M3U format:

rock.mp3

classical.mp3

OTHER\new.mp3

\\COMPUTERNAME\Music\Band\Artistname - Track - Title of the Song.mp3

http://www.webaddress. com/.../movie clip.mp4

http://111.22.333.44:8024

This file would instruct the player to first play the file rock.mp3, then classical.mp3 and then the file new.mp3 which is in the directory OTHER before accessing a song on the local network. Then it plays a movie clip in MP4 format from the web and lastly switches to a web radio station.

Subtitles

Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added information to help viewers who are deaf and hard-of-hearing follow the dialog. Further information on subtitles may be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubtitlesThere are a lot of different types of external subtitle files. Most contain textual data. That is the subtitle and a timestamp at which this subtitles is to be shown. Some of these allow for additional formatting, others don't.

There are also subtitles which are essentially pictures instead of text. These type of subtitles are used in DVDs, VCDs and the external VobSub files.

There are also some file formats to which you can add subtitles. These include:

MOV, MP4, OGM, Matroska

Appendix 2 What is a Codec?A codec is software that is used to compress or decompress a digital media file, such as a song or video. Content creators use codecs because a compressed file takes up less storage space on your computer, will allow movies to be stored on DVDs and can be transferred across the Internet more quickly and smoothly. When you play a digital media file, your media player uses a codec to decompress the file. Codecs are used to create and play nearly all music or video files on your computer or on Web sites.

A codec can consist of two componentsan encoder and a decoder. The encoder compresses a file during creation, and the decoder decompresses the file so that it can be played. Some codecs include both components, while other codecs only include one. For example, if you install a DVD playback program on your computer, the program will likely install a codec that only includes an MPEG-2 decoder, which allows you to play the DVD on your computer. You would not be able to use the decoder to create your own DVD.Missing Codec. If you get a message saying that your computer is missing a codec, you are probably trying to play a file that uses a codec that your media player does not have installed. When you try to play a file that uses a codec that is not on your computer, your media player may even try to download the codec from an internet server.

NOTES: As the Broadband for Seniors Kiosks are locked into a kiosk configuration, any new/additional codec downloads cannot be installed by users. VLC has been installed with as many codecs as possible, however, developers are always experimenting with new compression processes and it is likely that at some time you will come across a file that will not play correctly (or not play at all).The majority of codecs use a lossy method of compression, but some are lossless. Lossless codecs, such as MSU or Huffyuv, reproduce the original video exactly, with no subsequent loss if the video is re-encoded. The more common lossy codecs lose varying degrees of information, but can save substantial amounts of space.

A lossy codec may be transformative, predictive, or a combination of both. A transformative codec cuts up the original image(s) or sound and quantizes it into a more efficient space, then encodes it. A predictive codec compares a chunk of known data to adjacent data and eliminates excess information to save size. There are many types of codec available, each attempting to strike an ideal balance between the loss of information and file size. Other factors, such as openness and the processor power needed to decode the file, are also important when considering a codec.

The MPEG-1 codec is used for VCDs and contains the standard MP3, the most commonly used audio codec. Support for MPEG-1 is incredibly high, both among computers and consumer movie devices. The quality is very high, though not as high as MPEG-2, and file-sizes for video are fairly large. The MP3 audio standard has good compression through a number of codecs and is very popular as an audio-encoding solution.

The MPEG-2 codec is a high-quality standard used for DVDs. While the MPEG-1 codec allows for only progressive scanning, MPEG-2 also supports interlacing, allowing better display for its size. While not the most advanced of the available video codecs, MPEG-2 is firmly entrenched because of its use as the standard for commercially available DVDs.

The MPEG-4 codec is a step beyond the MPEG-2 codec. It has a number of significant technical advancements and better compression techniques, can handle both interlaced and progressive-scan video, and is widely supported. A number of popular online codecs are derived from the MPEG-4 codec. These include DivX, 3ivx and XviD. Each of these codecs has minor deviations from the original MPEG-4 codec to give them better compression and functionality in certain situations.

The Ogg Theora and Ogg Vorbis codecs are a pair of video and audio codecs, respectively. These codecs have high-quality and good compression, and are entirely free of patent restrictions, making them popular amongst many developers. RealVideo is a video codec designed specifically for streaming use online. While many codecs can be streamed, RealVideo and its sister codec RealAudio are particularly optimized for the PNA and Real Time Streaming protocols.

To decode a stream, VLC first demuxes it. This means that it reads the container format and separates audio, video, and subtitles, if any. Then, each of these are passed to decoders that do the mathematical processing to decompress the streams .

There is a particular thing about MPEG:

MPEG is a codec. There are several versions of it, called MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4

MPEG is also a container format, sometimes refered to as MPEG System. There are several types of MPEG: ES, PS, and TS

When you play an MPEG video from a DVD, for instance, the MPEG stream is actually composed of several streams (called Elementary Streams, ES): there is one stream for video, one for audio, another for subtitles, and so on. These different streams are mixed together into a single Program Stream (PS). So, the .VOB files you can find in a DVD are actually MPEG-PS files. But this PS format is not adapted for streaming video through a network or by satellite, for instance. So, another format called Transport Stream (TS) was designed for streaming MPEG videos through such channels.

Appendix 3 VLC Codec ListingVideo Codecs (reference only may not be up to date)Widely Used Video Codecs

Most used Video Codecs

Name FOURCC Playable Encoder library Comment

MPEG-1 Part 2 mpeg, mp1v, mpg1, PIM1 Yes Yes libmpeg2 , ffmpeg

MPEG-2 Part 2 mp2v, mpg2, vcr2, hdv1, hdv2, hdv3, mx*n, mx*pYes Yes libmpeg2 , ffmpeg

MJPEG (A/B) Yes Yes ffmpeg

Divx (1, 2, 3) DIV1, DIV2, DIV3, mp41, mp42, MPG4, MPG3 Yes Yes ffmpeg

DivX 4, 5, 6 , 3ivx D4, MPEG-4 DIV4, DIV5, DIV6, col1, col0, 3ivd Yes Yes ffmpeg

MPEG-4 Part 2 (AVP), Xvid DIVX, Xvid, mp4s, m4s2, xvid, mp4v, fmp4, 3iv2, smp4, ... Yes Yes ffmpeg

H.261 h261 Yes Yes ffmpeg

H.262 h262 Yes Yes ffmpeg Same as MPEG-2 Video

H.263 / H.263i h263 Yes Yes ffmpeg

H.264 / X.264

(MPEG-4/AVC) (MPEG-4 Part.10) h264, s264, AVC1, DAVC, H264, X264, VSSH Yes Yes ffmpeg (decode), x264 (encode)

Sorenson 1 (Quicktime) SVQ 1 Yes Yes ffmpeg

Sorenson 3 (Quicktime) SVQ 3 Yes No ffmpeg

DV Yes Yes ffmpeg

Cinepak cvid Yes No internal, ffmpeg

Theora thra Yes Yes broken libtheora

WMV 1/2 (7/8) wmv1, wmv2 Yes Yes ffmepg

WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1 wmv3, wvc1, wmva Yes No ffmpeg

On2 VP3, VP31, VP30, VP3 Yes No ffmpeg

On2 VP5 VP50, VP5, VP51 Yes No ffmpeg

On2 VP6 (used by FLV) VP60, VP61, VP62, VP6F, VP6A Yes Yes ffmpeg

On2 VP7 VP7 No No

Flash Screen Video FSV1 Yes Yes ffmpeg

Indeo Video 3 IV31, IV32 Yes No ffmpeg

Indeo Video 4/5 IV41, IV51 No No

Real Video 1.0, 1.3, 2.0 RV10, RV13, RV20 Yes Yes ffmpeg

Real Video 3.0, 4.0 RV30, RV40 No No

Dirac BBCD Yes Yes dirac

Huffyuv / Lagarith Yes Yes ffmpeg

Rarer Video Codecs

Less-Used Video Codecs

Rare codecs FOURCC Decoder Encoder library Comment

Apple Animation, Graphics, Video, QuickDraw 'rle','smc ','rpza', 'qdrw' Yes No ffmpeg

SheerVideo No No Professional use, no open source decoders

CorePNG ?? ??

MSU Lossless ?? ??

Snow Yes Yes

Pixlet ?? ??

Rare codecs (Asus V1, Asus V2) ASV1, ASV2 Yes Yes ffmpeg

Game Codecs (Some) Yes No ffmpeg

Tarkin No No

Audio Codecs

Audio Codecs Status

Name FOURCC Decoder Encoder library Comment

MPEG-Audio 1 Layer-1/2 mpga Yes Yes libmad (decoding), twolame (encoding) ISO/IEC MPEG

MP3 mp3, .mp3, LAME Yes Yes libmad (decoding), ffmpeg-mp3lame ISO/IEC MPEG

AAC mp4aYes Yes faad (decode), faac (encoding) ISO/IEC MPEG

HE-AAC Yes untested??? faad (decode), libaacplus + ffmpeg (encoding) ISO/IEC MPEG, AAC+ encoding through libaacplus + ffmpeg (patched) - untested

AC-3 a52, a52b Yes Yes liba52 (decode), ffmpeg (encode)

ATRAC atrc Yes No

iLBC ILBC, ilbc untested??? untested??? QuickTime (decode)

Mu-Law Yes No ffmpeg (check for encoder)

NellyMoser Yes No ffmpeg

Real Audio lpcJ, 28_8, dnet, sipr, cook, atrc, raac, racp, ralf Yes No Some work. ralf doesn't

Shorten shrn No No ffmpeg and ffplay do it.

Speex spex Yes Yes libspeex

Vorbis vorb Yes Yes libvorbis

DTS dts Yes No libdca DTS-HD unsupported

MPC Yes No libmpcdec

WMA 1/2 wma1, wma2 Yes Yes broken ffmpeg WMA9 is not supported

Flac flac Yes Yes libflac lossless

Apple Lossless Audio Codec alac Yes No ffmpeg lossless

Monkey's Audio Yes No lossless

Musepack Yes No libmpcdec

ADMPCM (various) Yes Yes ffmpeg and internal

AMR samr Yes Yes ffmpeg + libamrnb + libamrwb

Sonic SONC Yes Yes ffmpeg

Subtitles Codecs

Subtitles Status

Subtitle Name

Extension

Subtitle Type

Character Encoding

Line Break

Text Styling

Metadata Info

Timings

Timing Precision

VLC media player Support

AQTitle *.aqt Text-based None Yes No No Framings Dependent on Frame Yes (0.9.0 and over)

CVD *.cvd Image-based N/A N/A N/A No Elapsed Time Don't know Yes

DVB Subtitles N/A (in DVB streams) Image-based N/A N/A N/A No Elapsed Time Don't know Yes

DKS *.dks Text-based None Yes No No Elapsed TimeDon't know Yes (0.9.0 and over)

JACOSub *.jss Text-based None Yes Yes No Elapsed Time 10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes (0.9.0 and over), no styles

Kate N/A (inside OGG) Text-based None Yes Yes No Don't know Don't know Yes (0.9.0 and over), no styles

MicroDVD *.sub Text-based None Yes No No Framings Dependent on Frames Yes

MPEG-4 Timed Text .ttxt XML Don'tknow Don'tknow Yes No Elapsed Time 1 Millisecond Yes

MPL2 *.mpl/.txtText-based NoneYes No No Sequential Time100 Milliseconds (1/10th sec) Yes, no italic

MPSub *.subText-based NoneYes No Yes Sequential Time10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes (0.9.0 and over)

OggWrit N/A (inside Oggs) Text-based None No Yes Yes Sequential Granules Dependent on Bitstream untested???- Not specified yet.

Phoenix Subtitle *.pjsText-based NoneNo No No FramingsDependent on FramesYes (0.9.0 and over)

PowerDivX .psb Text-based None No No No Elapsed Time 1 Second Yes (0.9.0 and over)

RealText / SMIL *.rtHTML-based Unicode (UTF-8)YesYes (SMIL) No Elapsed Time10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes (0.9.0 and over)

SAMI *.smiHTML-based Unicode (Windows-1252) YesYes (CSS)YesFramingsDependent on Frames Yes

Structured Subtitle Format .ssf XML None No Yes Yes Elapsed Time 1 Millisecond No

SubRip *.srtText-based Informally Unicode YesNo No Elapsed Time1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) Yes

SSA/ASS *.ssaText-based NoneNo Yes YesElapsed Time10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes, 0.9.0 and over

SubViewer *.subText-based NoneYesNo YesElapsed Time10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes

SVCD *.svcd Image-based N/A N/A N/A No Elapsed Time Don't know Yes

Universal Subtitle *.usfXML Unicode (UTF-8)No Yes (XML DTD)No Elapsed Time1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) Yes, 0.9.0 and over

VOBSub *.sub, *.idxImage-based N/AN/AN/AN/AElapsed Time1 Millisecond (1/1000th sec) Yes

VPlayer *.txtText-based NoneYesNo No Framing or Time10 Milliseconds (1/100th sec) Yes

DivX Subtitles (XSUB) N/A (embedded in .divx) Image-based N/A N/A N/A No Elapsed Time 1 Millisecond No

Format/Container/Muxers

Muxer

Name extensions Playable Savable Comment

3GP .3gp Yes untested???

AIFF .asf, .wmv Yes No

ASF .asf, .wmv Yes Yes

AU .au Yes

AVI .avi Yes Yes, broken

DMF untested??? untested???

FLV .flv Yes Yes through ffmpeg

MOV .mov Yes Yes

MP4 .mp4 Yes Yes

OGG .ogm, .ogg Yes Yes

MKV .mkv, .mka Yes No, WIP Summer of Code 2007 Project

MPEG-2 / TS .ts, .mpg Yes Yes

MPEG-2 / ES, PS, PVA, MP3 .mpg, .mp3, .mp2 Yes Yes

NSC .nsc Yes No

NSV .nsv Yes No

Nut .nut Yes Yes

Real .ra, .ram, .rm, .rv , .rmbv Partial No version 4 and 5, no support for version 3

Raw (a52, dts, aac, flac, .dv, .vid) .a52, .dts, .aac, .flac, .dv, .vid Yes ??

True Audio Codec .tta, .tac Yes No

Ty Tivo .ty Yes No

Wav .wav, .dts Yes Yes

Xa .xa Yes No

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