VideoLAN Wiki - User contributions [en]

What can VLC do?

2013-12-14T16:36:23Z

Rocky: /* Compact Disc (CD) Images */ Who says there's no support or limited support for UDF in libcdio which started circa 2004? What specificially is missing that is needed?

{{stub}}

This area of the wiki contains a list with the possibilities {{VLC}} gives you. It was made to help people better realize the potential {{VLC}} has. Some entries will simply mention the possibility, others try to explain how to do it as well. Let me start by apologising for my horrible spelling, but I hope you will be able to decipher the texts anyway.

== Mediaplayer ==

=== Compact Disc (CD) Images ===
If you have a [[CD-DA]] (audio CD), [[SVCD]], or [[VCD]] packaged inside a CD-image, in some cases [[VLC media player]] can play this without you having to mount it or extract it. You can simply choose "open file" and pick the CD-image. For CD-image support vlc has to be [[compile]]d using [[libcdio]] (<tt>--enable-libcdio</tt>) and the various plugins which use libcdio need to be selected (<tt>--enable-cddax</tt>, <tt>--enable-vcdx</tt>). Some of these enablements may not be the default for your OS.

The kinds of Compact Disc formats supported are CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.

(''[[libcdio]] also supports ISO-9660 image reading but at present there is no VLC access plugin which uses it. DVD's images follow the UDF format and there is some UDF support in libcdio. It is possible that will get added in the future; volunteers are most welcome).

=== How to enable/use subtitles ===
Before you try to enable [[subtitle]]s make sure the subtitles you have are in a format that VLC can read! You can find the list of compatible subtitle formats [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html here].
If VLC has detected any sort of subtitles available, you will be able to turn them on under the menu: ''Video->Subtitles track->Track 1''

Auto detection of subtitle files uses a 'fuzzy' logic which you can specify. If this is wrongly specified you may end up with more subtitle file options than really exist or miss some that are provided. By default it allows any file in the right place which exactly matches the video name, and may have some extra characters. If you are not seeing the number of subtitle options you expect you might want to allow more 'fuzziness' by changing the preference in video/subtitles/subtitle autodetection where help is available if you 'hover' over the field.

If you mainly use .srt subtitles or .sub, you can get them turned on automatically when they are detected, by setting the ''Input/Codecs->Advanced->Choose subtitle track'' to 0, it will automatically turn on the subtitle track. You can also experiment with the ''Choose subtitle language'' on the same page. But if you experiment a bit with the settings you should be able to get subtitles turned on automatically.

'''Notes:''' On Mac OS X, the "Video->Subtitles track" menu item is permanently disabled for some reason. You must manually specify the location of the subtitles file in the "Subpictures" pane of the preferences.

Unfortunately the default font for (srt-)subtitles doesn't include unicode characters (hexadezimal number) 2011 (non-breaking-hyphen), 2012 (figure dash) and 2a2f (cross-product) ...

=== Playing Windows Media files ===
VLC should be able to successfully play both audio and video in .wma and .wmv 1 and 2. For the newest version (wmv3) only the Windows version of VLC will be able to play it, since no open-source implementation of wmv3 has been made so far, so the Windows VLC plays it by using the Windows API. DRM-crippled files however cannot be played on any OS of VLC.

=== How to control the aspect ratio of the video ===
Using VLC, you can override the source aspect ratio. This is available both as a command line option and as an option in the Preference dialog in the graphical interface. The aspect ratio can be specified both in ratio format (16:9) or as a decimal number (1.33).

'''Command Line'''

When invoking VLC from the command line, use the option --aspect-ratio. For instance,

vlc --aspect-ratio 1:5

'''Graphical Interface'''

If using the graphical interface, the setting is In the Video section of the Preferences dialog. You may specify the aspect ratio in the field labeled "Source aspect ratio."

Here is a list of the more common aspect ratios.

* Fullscreen: 1.33 or 4:3
* Widescreen: 1.78 or 16:9
* Typical DVD: 1.85
* Cinemascope: 2.35

===Be remotely controlled===
VLC provides a series of interfaces which allow it to be controlled in various ways such as via telnet, a web browser, several iPhone apps desktop widgets and more. [[How_to#Remote_Control_for_VLC | Details are here]].

=== Announce What's Playing to IRC ===
Announce the currently playing track to mirc (an irc client). This is often referred to as a "now playing" script. To be able to get this functionality with vlc one approach would be to use the HTTP interface. With it you can create a simple file which will display "'Artist' with the song 'Title' from the album 'Album' the genre is 'Genre'" on a page in your browser. You can then pull that page from mirc with standard sockets and thereby use the text in a script in mirc. Below I will provide some VERY simple and very ugly examples on how you could use this. The examples are tested with vlc 0.8.5 and mirc 6.12. I can't guarantee the code work with any other versions (although it most likely will). Ok so here we go. You start with create a test.html file in the http interface directory (C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\http) inside this file paste the following to ONE line or it will not work:

<pre>
ANNOUNCE <vlc id="value" param1="'ARTIST' vlc_get_meta"/>
with the song <vlc id="value" param1="'TITLE' vlc_get_meta"/>
from the album <vlc id="value" param1="'ALBUM' vlc_get_meta"/>
, The genre is <vlc id="value" param1="'Genre' vlc_get_meta"/>
</pre>
-or for streaming server info-
<pre>
ANNOUNCE <vlc id="value" param1="'TITLE' vlc_get_meta"/>
with the song <vlc id="value" param1="'NOW_PLAYING' vlc_get_meta"/>
</pre>

Remember to leave an empty line behind the actual line of code, vlc/mirc seems to want this.
Then you must create a script in mirc under remote (alt+r) and paste in the following:

<pre>
alias now {
sockopen vlc_meta_info 127.0.0.1 8082
}

on *:SOCKOPEN:vlc_meta_info: {
sockwrite -n $sockname GET /test.html HTTP/1.1
sockwrite -n $sockname Host: localhost
;sockwrite -n $sockname Connection: Keep-Alive
sockwrite -n $sockname $crlf
sockwrite -n $sockname $null
}

on *:sockread:vlc_meta_info: {
if ($sockerr > 0) return
:nextread
sockread %temp
if ($sockbr == 0) return
if (%temp == $null) %temp = ---
if (ANNOUNCE isin %temp) {
%temp = $remove(%temp,ANNOUNCE )
describe $active is listening to %temp
}
goto nextread

sockclose vlc_meta_info
}
</pre>

Only things u might want to change is the port the http interface listens on, thats the first line and is port 8082 in my case. You might also want some other text than "is listening to" just change as you see fit.

Thats pretty much it. You should enable the http interface in vlc by default if u wanna use this on a regular basis. This is done under preferences in "Interface->Main interfaces"

Then with all this done (and vlc restarted) you can type /now in mirc and it will display your currently playing track.

This was made for mp3 tracks, so if it doesn't work with other types of media let me know.
You can reach me at: jonas (at) vrt.dk
(Im also regularly in the freenode videolan channel, nickname E-bola)

== Now Playing Script for mIRC by Jckf ==
Script and help for Inf3rn0's Now Playing script here: [http://home.no/inf3rn0/NowPlaying/ NowPlaying]

Based on E-Bola's Now Playing script.

Note: If anybody still uses this and wants to contact me, don't look for anyone named Inf3rn0. Look for Jckf ;)

== Streaming - client ==

=== Listen to online radio ===
You can of course always simply find a link to a radiostream and then open it as you would any other network stream in VLC. But if you would like to '''browse a list of online radios''', you can try the list of '''shoutcast''' radio stations VLC can download for you:
*First you need to open the playlist window: View->Playlist.
*Once you have the playlist window open chose: ''Manage->Service discovery->Shoutcast radio listings''. After 10 seconds or so the playlist should have become populated by radio station entries. You obviously require internet access for this to work!
*If you want the stations sorted alphabetically, you can chose: ''Sort->Sort by title''. Also note shoutcast have many thousands streams available, per default in 0.8.2 250 stations are downloaded, this can be changed in the preferences under: Playlist->Service discovery->Shoutcast. Note that the more stations you want to add, the longer delay you will see when the station list is downloaded, parsed, and added to the playlist. Also note you should see 2 "Folder nodes" in the playlist under shoutcast called Genres and bitrate where the stations will be listed under their respective areas. Note that most stations claim to be multi genre, so a station might be listed under both Top40, pop and rock.

For version 1.1.11 the following works fine.

*If not already visible, open the playlist window through ''View''->''Playlist''. On the left side you see the '''Media Browser''' on the right side the '''Playlist''' window which is probably empty.
*In the '''Media Browser''' double-click the entry ''Internet'' which will unfold a few options, one them being the ''Icecast Directory''. Of course, using any of these Internet options requires an active Internet connection.
*Double-click the entry ''Icecast Directory'' and after a few seconds a list of radio stations will be displayed in the '''Playlist''' window, which now has been renamed to '''Icecast Directory'''.

The other Internet related stream sources work similar, except the ''Podcasts'' which require you to enter the URL of a podcast you wish to subscribe to.

=== Online Radio Addition ===
For VLC 1.0.2 "Goldeneye" under Linux, I got the Shoutcast listing by (from the VLC tools) Media/Services Discovery/Shoutcast Radio listings. After checking that option, the playlist was populated with the Shoutcast list.

== Streaming - server ==

=== VLM ===

The VLM is the Video On Demand part of the VLC streaming server features. It lets you setup a bunch of entries and then let users ask for those streams and it then gives them to the users, it has A LOT of possibilities and I will try to cover them all here.

You can divide VLM entries into 2 general categories VOD and broadcast entries.

== See also ==
* [[timeshift|Timeshifting]]
* [[3D]]

Libcdio

2006-11-20T06:04:39Z

Rocky: Note libudf and Perl, Python, C++ and Ruby interraces.

{{website|libcdio|http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/}} The '''Compact Disc Input and Control Library''' (libcdio) encapsulates CD-ROM reading and control. The libcdio package contains a library which encapsulates CD-ROM reading and control. Applications wishing to be oblivious of the OS- and device-dependent properties of a CD-ROM can use this library.

Some support for on-disk CD-image types like CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and Nero's NRG format is available. Therefore, applications that use this library also have the ability to read on-disk CD images as though they were CDs.

A library for working with ISO-9660 filesystems (libiso9660) is included. A generic interface for issuing MMC (multimedia commands) is also part of the libcdio library.

A library for working with UDF filesystems (libudf) is included, although this is not fully complete.

The cdparanoia library and cdparanoia command are included making this the only single-source cdparanoia that works on FreeBSD, cygwin, Solaris, BSDI as well as GNU/Linux.

The core library is in C however there are libraries/modules are available in C++, Perl, Python and Ruby.

SVCD

2006-06-09T09:20:28Z

Rocky:

{{wikipedia|SVCD}}
'''SVCD''', or '''Super Video CD''' is a way of storing a video on a [[CD]] in a similar way to storing it on a [[DVD]]. It is (of course) generally lower quality than a DVD due to the smaller size of a CD rather than a DVD.

==Compatability==
SVCDs often do not work in VLC Player. VLC can sometimes play SVCDs using [[libcdio]] and [[libvcdinfo]] - the [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html features] page has more details. For a complete VCD/SVCD which includes menu selections, hot spots and playback control, see [http://www.xinehq.de xine]].

Libvcdinfo

2006-06-09T09:18:18Z

Rocky:

Libvcdinfo is a library that is part of [http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager vcdimager]. The library gives the ability to query properties about a VCD or SVCD such as information about the entries of a track and navigation information that is contained in the first ISO 9660 track .

Extensive documentation on the library and of its interface via doxygen is available in the vcdimager package. (It is also available online but www.vcdimager.org seems to be down again at the time of this writing.)

Xine

2006-02-09T08:02:43Z

Rocky: Add some missing links

{{website|Xine|http://www.xinehq.de}}

'''xine''' (pronounced as "maxine" without the "ma") is a multimedia playback engine for Unix released under the GNU General Public License. It can play CDDA, DVD-Video, and VCD, as well as common computer multimedia formats like [[AVI]], [[Windows Media Video|WMV]], [[MOV]], [[MP3]], [[FLAC]], [[Theora]], [[Speex]], and [[Vorbis]].

xine is built as a [[shared library]] (xine-lib) that supports different frontend player applications. To decode multimedia data xine uses libraries from the [[FFmpeg]] project or binary [[codec]]s.

At present, xine has the most complete [http://www.dvdrhelp.com/svcd SVCD] and [http://www.dvdrhelp.com/vcd VCD] support. (Anyone want to beef up support in vlc to make this not true?)
xine can handle VCD/SVCD menus, mouse hot spots, navigation (called PBC or playback control), and multiple audio channels. Many of these are missing or incomplete in vlc version 0.8.4. (Actually, pretty much all VCD/SVCD handling is broken in vlc version 0.8.4.) But one area where vlc may be a little ahead of xine is in SVCD and [http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/98177.php CVD] subtitle handling. SVCD and CVD subtitles in xine however require a [http://subhandler.sourceforge.net separate plugin] which is not part of xine whereas in vlc it is part of the main code base.

== External links ==
* [http://xinehq.de/ Home Page]
* [http://kaffeine.sourceforge.net/ Kaffeine] (xine-based frontend player)
* [http://xineplayer.berlios.de/ XinePlayer] ([[Mac OS X]] frontend)
* [http://subhandler.sourceforge.net/ xine plugin for handling SVCD and CVD subtitles]

Xine

2006-02-08T23:48:48Z

Rocky:

{{website|Xine|http://www.xinehq.de}}

'''xine''' (pronounced as "maxine" without the "ma") is a multimedia playback engine for Unix released under the GNU General Public License. It can play CDDA, DVD-Video, and VCD, as well as common computer multimedia formats like [[AVI]], [[Windows Media Video|WMV]], [[MOV]], [[MP3]], [[FLAC]], [[Theora]], [[Speex]], and [[Vorbis]].

xine is built as a [[shared library]] (xine-lib) that supports different frontend player applications. To decode multimedia data xine uses libraries from the [[FFmpeg]] project or binary [[codec]]s.

At present, xine has the most complete VCD and SVCD support. (Anyone want to beef up support in vlc to make this not true?)
xine can handle VCD/SVCD menus, mouse hot spots, navigation (called PBC or playback control), and multiple audio channels. Many of these are missing or incomplete in vlc version 0.8.4. (Actually, pretty much all VCD/SVCD handling is broken in vlc version 0.8.4.) But one area where vlc may be a little ahead of xine is in SVCD and CVD subtitle handling. SVCD and CVD subtitles in xine however require a separate plugin which is not part of xine whereas in vlc it is part of the main code base.

== External links ==
* [http://xinehq.de/ Home Page]
* [http://kaffeine.sourceforge.net/ Kaffeine] (xine-based frontend player)
* [http://xineplayer.berlios.de/ XinePlayer] ([[Mac OS X]] frontend)
* [http://subhandler.sourceforge.net/ xine plugin for handling SVCD and CVD subtitles]

CVD subtitles

2006-02-07T03:18:35Z

Rocky: Link to existing info rather than recreate anew.

[http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/cvd-subtitles.html CVD (Chaoji VCD) Subtitle Information]

Codec

2006-02-07T03:15:13Z

Rocky: Link to preexisting page rather than create anew.

''See Also the [http://www.videolan.org/doc/vlc-user-guide/en/ch02.html Official documentation: list of codecs]''

''For more information of codecs in general, look ar [[wikipedia:Codecs|wikipedia]] and [http://wiki.multimedia.cx wiki.multimedia.cx].''

Codec is short for coder/decoder.
For portability to almost all decoders, we recommend
using the [[MPEG-1]] standard of vcodec=mp1v, acodec=mpga, and mux=mpeg1.

To save a file in a different codec, you can use the transcoding [[wizard]] or [[transcode]] from the [[command prompt]] with a command like this:
:vlc file --sout='#transcode{vcodec=''mp1v'', vb=''1024'', acodec=''mpga'', ab=''128''}:std{access=file, mux=''mpeg1'', url=''C:\file_name.mpg''}'

==Video Codecs==
Use the "name" part in you vcodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mp1v'''
| [[MPEG-1]] Video - recommended for portability
|-
| '''mp2v'''
| [[MPEG-2]] Video - used in DVDs
|-
| '''mp4v'''
| [[MPEG-4]] Video
|-
| '''SVQ1'''
| [[Sorenson Video]] v1
|-
| '''SVQ3'''
| Sorenson Video v3
|-
| '''WMV1'''
| [[Windows Media Video]] v1
|-
| '''WMV2'''
| Windows Media Video v2
|-
| WMV3
| Windows Media Video v3 / VC9 ([[Common_Problems#WMV_files|unsupported]])
|-
| '''DVSD'''
| [[Digital Video]]
|-
| '''MJPG'''
| [[MJPEG]]
|-
| '''H263'''
| [[H263]]
|-
| '''h264'''
| [[H264]]
|-
| '''theo'''
| [[Theora]]
|-
| '''IV20'''
| [[Indeo Video]]
|-
| '''RV10'''
| [[Real Media Video]]
|-
| '''cvid'''
| [[Cinepak]]
|-
| '''VP31'''
| [[On2 VP]]
|-
| '''FLV1'''
| [[Flash Video]]
|-
| '''CYUV'''
| [[Creative YUV]]
|-
| '''HFYU'''
| [[Huffman YUV]]
|-
| '''MSVC'''
| [[Microsoft]] Video v1
|-
| '''MRLE'''
| Microsoft [[RLE]] Video
|-
| '''AASC'''
| [[Autodesc]] RLE Video
|-
| '''FLIC'''
| [[FLIC]] video
|-
| '''QPEG'''
| [[QPEG]] Video
|}

==Audio Codecs==
Use the "name" part in you acodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mpga'''
| [[MPEG audio]] (recommended for portability)
|-
| '''mp3'''
| [[MP3 audio|MPEG Layer 3 audio]]
|-
| '''mp4a'''
| [[MP4 audio]]
|-
| '''a52''' or '''ac3'''
| [[Dolby Digital]] ([[A52]] or [[AC3]])
|-
|
| [[DTS]]
|-
| '''vorb'''
| [[Vorbis]]
|-
| '''spx'''
| [[ Speex]]
|-
|
| [[AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)]]
|-
|
| [[Windows Media Audio]]
|-
|
| [[DV Audio]]
|-
| '''flac''' or '''fl32'''
| [[FLAC]]
|-
|
| [[LPCM]]
|-
|
| [[ADPCM]]
|-
|
| [[AMR]]
|-
|
| [[QuickTime Audio]]
|-
|
| [[Real Audio]]
|-
|
| [[MACE]]
|-
|
| [[MusePack]]
|}

==Subtitle Codecs==
{|
|-
| '''Chaoji VCD (CVD)'''
| [http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/cvd-subtitles.html CVD (Chaoji VCD) Subtitle Information]
|-
| '''SVCD (Overlay Graphics)'''
| [http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/svcd-ogt-subtitles.html SVCD Subtitle (OGT) Information]
|}

== Muxers ==
Use the "name" part in you mux=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''ts'''
| [[MPEG-TS|MPEG Transport Stream]], primarily used for streaming MPEG
|-
| '''ps'''
| [[MPEG-PS|MPEG Program Stream]], primarily used for saving MPEG data to disk
|-
| '''avi'''
| [[AVI]]
|-
| '''mp4'''
| [[MPEG-4]]
|-
| '''asf'''
| [[ASF]]
|-
| '''dummy'''
| [[dummy]] output, can be used in creation of [[MP3]] files.
|-
| '''ogg'''
| [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org's] [[ogg]] container format. Can contain audio, video, and metadata.
|}

{{stub}}

Subtitles

2006-02-07T03:10:34Z

Rocky: Really we should be linking to existing stuff rather than creating it again anew. It saves maintanance

'''''For more information see [[What_can_vlc_do#How_to_enable.2Fuse_subtitles|how to enable / use subtitles]]'''''

There 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.

* [[SubRip]]
* [[SubViewer]]
* [[SAMI]]
* [[MicroDVD]]
* [[VPlayer]]
* [[Sub Script Alpha]]
* [[JacoSub]]
* [[MPsub]]

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

* [[DVD subtitles]]
* [[DVB sutitles]]
* [[VobSub]]
* [http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/cvd-subtitles.html CVD (Chaoji VCD) Subtitle Information]
* [http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/manuals/0.7/svcd-ogt-subtitles.html SVCD Subtitle (OGT) Information]

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

* [[MOV]]
* [[MP4]]
* [[OGM]]
* [[Matroska]]

It is not easy to stream subtitles. DVB or DVD subtitles encapsulated in a TS MPEG stream is your best bet.

Codec

2006-02-07T02:27:33Z

Rocky: Add subtitle section

''See Also the [http://www.videolan.org/doc/vlc-user-guide/en/ch02.html Official documentation: list of codecs]''

''For more information of codecs in general, look ar [[wikipedia:Codecs|wikipedia]] and [http://wiki.multimedia.cx wiki.multimedia.cx].''

Codec is short for coder/decoder.
For portability to almost all decoders, we recommend
using the [[MPEG-1]] standard of vcodec=mp1v, acodec=mpga, and mux=mpeg1.

To save a file in a different codec, you can use the transcoding [[wizard]] or [[transcode]] from the [[command prompt]] with a command like this:
:vlc file --sout='#transcode{vcodec=''mp1v'', vb=''1024'', acodec=''mpga'', ab=''128''}:std{access=file, mux=''mpeg1'', url=''C:\file_name.mpg''}'

==Video Codecs==
Use the "name" part in you vcodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mp1v'''
| [[MPEG-1]] Video - recommended for portability
|-
| '''mp2v'''
| [[MPEG-2]] Video - used in DVDs
|-
| '''mp4v'''
| [[MPEG-4]] Video
|-
| '''SVQ1'''
| [[Sorenson Video]] v1
|-
| '''SVQ3'''
| Sorenson Video v3
|-
| '''WMV1'''
| [[Windows Media Video]] v1
|-
| '''WMV2'''
| Windows Media Video v2
|-
| WMV3
| Windows Media Video v3 / VC9 ([[Common_Problems#WMV_files|unsupported]])
|-
| '''DVSD'''
| [[Digital Video]]
|-
| '''MJPG'''
| [[MJPEG]]
|-
| '''H263'''
| [[H263]]
|-
| '''h264'''
| [[H264]]
|-
| '''theo'''
| [[Theora]]
|-
| '''IV20'''
| [[Indeo Video]]
|-
| '''RV10'''
| [[Real Media Video]]
|-
| '''cvid'''
| [[Cinepak]]
|-
| '''VP31'''
| [[On2 VP]]
|-
| '''FLV1'''
| [[Flash Video]]
|-
| '''CYUV'''
| [[Creative YUV]]
|-
| '''HFYU'''
| [[Huffman YUV]]
|-
| '''MSVC'''
| [[Microsoft]] Video v1
|-
| '''MRLE'''
| Microsoft [[RLE]] Video
|-
| '''AASC'''
| [[Autodesc]] RLE Video
|-
| '''FLIC'''
| [[FLIC]] video
|-
| '''QPEG'''
| [[QPEG]] Video
|}

==Audio Codecs==
Use the "name" part in you acodec=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''mpga'''
| [[MPEG audio]] (recommended for portability)
|-
| '''mp3'''
| [[MP3 audio|MPEG Layer 3 audio]]
|-
| '''mp4a'''
| [[MP4 audio]]
|-
| '''a52''' or '''ac3'''
| [[Dolby Digital]] ([[A52]] or [[AC3]])
|-
|
| [[DTS]]
|-
| '''vorb'''
| [[Vorbis]]
|-
| '''spx'''
| [[ Speex]]
|-
|
| [[AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)]]
|-
|
| [[Windows Media Audio]]
|-
|
| [[DV Audio]]
|-
| '''flac''' or '''fl32'''
| [[FLAC]]
|-
|
| [[LPCM]]
|-
|
| [[ADPCM]]
|-
|
| [[AMR]]
|-
|
| [[QuickTime Audio]]
|-
|
| [[Real Audio]]
|-
|
| [[MACE]]
|-
|
| [[MusePack]]
|}

==Subtitle Codecs==
{|
|-
| '''Chaoji VCD (CVD)'''
| [[CVD]]
|-
| '''SVCD (Overlay Graphics)'''
| [[OGT]]
|}

== Muxers ==
Use the "name" part in you mux=... commands

{|
| '''''name'''''
| ''description''
|-
| '''ts'''
| [[MPEG-TS|MPEG Transport Stream]], primarily used for streaming MPEG
|-
| '''ps'''
| [[MPEG-PS|MPEG Program Stream]], primarily used for saving MPEG data to disk
|-
| '''avi'''
| [[AVI]]
|-
| '''mp4'''
| [[MPEG-4]]
|-
| '''asf'''
| [[ASF]]
|-
| '''dummy'''
| [[dummy]] output, can be used in creation of [[MP3]] files.
|-
| '''ogg'''
| [http://www.xiph.org/ Xiph.org's] [[ogg]] container format. Can contain audio, video, and metadata.
|}

{{stub}}

What can VLC do?

2006-02-07T02:09:18Z

Rocky: /* Play CD-DA/SVCD/VCD Compact Disc Images */

This area of the wiki contains a list with the possibilities videolan gives you. It was made to help ppl better realize the potential vlc has. Some entries will simply mention the possibility, others try to explain how to do it as well. Let me start by apologising for my horrible spelling, but i hope you will be able to decipher the texts anyway :)

== Mediaplayer ==

=== Compact Disc (CD) Images ===
If you have a CD-DA (audio CD) SVCD or VCD packaged inside CD-image, in some cases vlc can play this without you having to mount it or extract it. You can simply choose "open file"
and pick the CD-image. For CD-image support vlc has to be [[compile]]d using [[libcdio]] (<tt>--enable-libcdio</tt>) and the various plugins which use libcdio need to be selected (<tt>--enable-cddax</tt>, <tt>--enable-vcdx</tt>). Some of these enablements may not be the default for your OS.

The kinds of Compact Disc formats supported are CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.

(''[[libcdio]] also supports ISO-9660 image reading but at present there is no vlc access plugin which uses it. DVD's images follow the UDF format and at present there is no support in libcdio for that, although some limited progress has been made in that direction. It is possible that will get added in the future; volunteers are most welcome).

=== How to enable/use subtitles ===

Before you try to enable subtitles make sure the subtitles you have are in a format that VLC can read! You can find the list of compatible subtitle formats [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html here].
If VLC has detected any sort of subtitles available, you will be able to turn them on under the menu: ''Video->Subtitles track->Track 1''

Auto detection of subtitles files uses a 'fuzziness' logic which you can specify. If this is wrongly specified you may end up with more subtitle file options than really exist or miss some that are provided. By default it allows any file in the right place which exactly matches the video name and may have some extra characters. If you are not seeing the number of subtitle options you expect you might want to allow more 'fuzziness' by changing the preference in video/subtitles/subtitle autodetection fuzziness where help is available if you 'hover' over the field.

If you mainly use .srt subtitles or .sub, you can get them turned on automatically when they are detected, by setting the ''Input/Codecs->Advanced->Choose subtitle track'' to 0, it will automaticly turn on the subtitle track. You can also experiment with the ''Choose subtitle language'' on the same page. But if u experiment a bit with the settings u should be able to get subtitles turned on automatically.

'''Note:''' On Mac OS X, the "Video->Subtitles track" menu item is permanently disabled for some reason. You must manually specify the location of the subtitles file in the "Subpictures" pane of the preferences.

=== Playing windows media files ===
VLC should be able to succesfully play both audio and video in wma and wmv 1 and 2, for the newest version (wmv3) only the windows version of vlc will be able to play it, since no opensource implementation of wmv3 have been made so far, so the windows vlc plays it by using the windows api. DRM files however can not be played on any OS.

=== How to adjust picture brightness/colors/contrast.. ===

'''If you are using the wxwindows userinterface:'''

You can adjust the typical values to tweak the picture of your video source by turning on the extended GUI. This is done in the menu: ''Settings->Extended GUI''. That will give you some extended control options for the video picture as well as an equalizer for the audio.

'''If you use Mac OS X or a skinned version of VLC:'''
You need to enter the preference menu: ''Settings->Preferences''. Once you have the preferences window open you go to: Video->Filters->Image adjust. Here you can adjust the different values. Note before they take effect you need to turn on the "Image adjust" filter in: Video->Filters

=== How to control the aspect ratio of the video ===
Using VLC, you can override the source aspect ratio. This is available both as a command line option and as an option in the Preference dialog in the graphical interface. The aspect ratio can be specified both in ratio format (16:9) or as a decimal number (1.33).

'''Command Line'''

When invoking VLC from the command line, use the option --aspect-ratio. For instance,

vlc --aspect-ratio 1.85

'''Graphical Interface'''

If using the graphical interface, the setting is In the Video section of the Preferences dialog. You may specify the aspect ratio in the field labeled "Source aspect ratio."

Here is a list of the more common aspect ratios.

* Fullscreen: 1.33 or 4:3
* Widescreen: 1.78 or 16:9
* Typical dvd: 1.85
* Cinemascope: 2.35

== Streaming - client ==

=== Listen to online radio ===
You can ofcourse always simply find a link to a radiostream and then open it as you would any other network stream in vlc. But if u would like to browse a list of online radios, you can try the list of shoutcast radio stations vlc can download for you. First you need top open the playlist window: View->Playlist. Once you have the playlist window open chose: ''Manage->Service discovery->Shoutcast radio listings''. After 10 seconds or so the playlist should have become populated by radio station entries. You obviously require internet access for this to work! If you want the stations sorted alphabetically, you can chose: ''Sort->Sort by title''. Also note shoutcast have many thousands stream availeble, per default in 0.8.2 250 stations are downloaded, this can be changed in the preferences under: Playlist->Service discovery->Shoutcast. Note that the more stations u want to add, the longer delay u will see when the station list is downloaded parsed and added to the playlist. Also note you should see 2 "Folder nodes" in the playlist under shoutcast called Genres and bitrate where the stations will be listed under their respective areas. Note that most stations claim to be multi genre, so a station might be listed under both Top40, pop and rock.

== Streaming - server ==

=== VLM ===

The VLM is the Video On Demand part of the VLC streaming server features. It lets u setup a bunch of entries and then let users ask for those streams and it then gives them to the users, it has ALOT of possibilities and i will try to cover them all here.

You can devide VLM entries into 2 general categories VOD and broadcast entries.

== Capture / Record things==

Talk:What can VLC do?

2006-02-07T02:07:47Z

Rocky:

Shouldn't we just go back to the version before Noki774V. I'm not sure thqt the content is the same --[[User:Xtophe|Xtophe]] 23:55, 20 January 2006 (CET)
: It's a copy of [[What can vlc do]] I think --[[User:H2g2bob|H2g2bob]] 00:36, 21 January 2006 (CET)
:No it was not, it was more of the other being a branch of this, and this one contained MUCH more. I support reverting it. --[[User:Tonsofpcs|tonsofpcs]] 09:39, 21 January 2006 (CET)
:: You're right, sorry about that :( Restored :), set other to redirect.

libcdio ''can'' understand some Nero cd images. It also can understand cdrdao too. If libcdio is ''not'' enabled for vlc, is it really true that VCD (or CD-DA) compact disc images can be read? And if libcdio is installed, is it true that DVD images can be read? I don't think so, because I don't recall any code directly in vlc to handle BIN/CUE or even ISO.
: Yes, that appears to be the case - I've added a brief sentence to this effect, but please feel free to change it! --[[User:H2g2bob|H2g2bob]] 19:48, 6 February 2006 (CET)
:: I've made some corrections. First, the mention of proprietary formats has been dropped: BIN/CUE and NRG ''are'' proprietary. Second, DVD's use UDF format, something libcdio doesn't handle. Maybe vlc handles this, but if so I have a feeling it's via some magic on your OS, not something that's built in to vlc. So if such a thing works, I think you should mention on what OS's it works. On my GNU/Linux box, I opening a UDF ISO image with vlc 0.8.4 and that didn't work. Likewise I'm not sure what's with img. Some media players like mplayer work on such things because the beginning of the file looks like a MPEG (after possiblly skipping over null bytes). It's possible vlc has this behavior too. But if that's the case there is a little difference which should be noted. When libcdio reads images it gets whatever meta information is there. So for example when it reads CD-DA the track information is there but also say CD-Text information. Likewise with VCD's when libcdio reads the CD image it has the potential to get VCD navigation information and meta information, not just the MPEG tracks. A problem with trying to read a the BIN part without CUE, or TOC is that if there were say multiple MPEG tracks (or audio tracks) you wouldn't know were one stopped an the next started.

What can VLC do?

2006-02-07T01:49:32Z

Rocky: Tentatitive correction on what CD image formats are supported and what aren't

This area of the wiki contains a list with the possibilities videolan gives you. It was made to help ppl better realize the potential vlc has. Some entries will simply mention the possibility, others try to explain how to do it as well. Let me start by apologising for my horrible spelling, but i hope you will be able to decipher the texts anyway :)

== Mediaplayer ==

=== Play CD-DA/SVCD/VCD Compact Disc Images ===
If you have a CD-DA (audio CD) SVCD or VCD packaged inside CD-image, in some cases vlc can play this without you having to mount it or extract it. You can simply choose "open file"
and pick the CD-image. For CD-image support vlc has to be [[compile]]d using [[libcdio]] (<tt>--enable-libcdio</tt>) and the various plugins which use libcdio need to be selected (<tt>--enable-cddax</tt>, <tt>--enable-vcdx</tt>). Some of these enablements may not be the default for your OS.

The kinds of Compact Disc formats supported are CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.

(''[[libcdio]] also supports ISO-9660 image reading but at present there is no vlc access plugin which uses it. DVD's images follow the UDF format and at present there is no support in libcdio for that, although some limited progress has been made in that direction. It is possible that will get added in the future; volunteers are most welcome).

=== How to enable/use subtitles ===

Before you try to enable subtitles make sure the subtitles you have are in a format that VLC can read! You can find the list of compatible subtitle formats [http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html here].
If VLC has detected any sort of subtitles available, you will be able to turn them on under the menu: ''Video->Subtitles track->Track 1''

Auto detection of subtitles files uses a 'fuzziness' logic which you can specify. If this is wrongly specified you may end up with more subtitle file options than really exist or miss some that are provided. By default it allows any file in the right place which exactly matches the video name and may have some extra characters. If you are not seeing the number of subtitle options you expect you might want to allow more 'fuzziness' by changing the preference in video/subtitles/subtitle autodetection fuzziness where help is available if you 'hover' over the field.

If you mainly use .srt subtitles or .sub, you can get them turned on automatically when they are detected, by setting the ''Input/Codecs->Advanced->Choose subtitle track'' to 0, it will automaticly turn on the subtitle track. You can also experiment with the ''Choose subtitle language'' on the same page. But if u experiment a bit with the settings u should be able to get subtitles turned on automatically.

'''Note:''' On Mac OS X, the "Video->Subtitles track" menu item is permanently disabled for some reason. You must manually specify the location of the subtitles file in the "Subpictures" pane of the preferences.

=== Playing windows media files ===
VLC should be able to succesfully play both audio and video in wma and wmv 1 and 2, for the newest version (wmv3) only the windows version of vlc will be able to play it, since no opensource implementation of wmv3 have been made so far, so the windows vlc plays it by using the windows api. DRM files however can not be played on any OS.

=== How to adjust picture brightness/colors/contrast.. ===

'''If you are using the wxwindows userinterface:'''

You can adjust the typical values to tweak the picture of your video source by turning on the extended GUI. This is done in the menu: ''Settings->Extended GUI''. That will give you some extended control options for the video picture as well as an equalizer for the audio.

'''If you use Mac OS X or a skinned version of VLC:'''
You need to enter the preference menu: ''Settings->Preferences''. Once you have the preferences window open you go to: Video->Filters->Image adjust. Here you can adjust the different values. Note before they take effect you need to turn on the "Image adjust" filter in: Video->Filters

=== How to control the aspect ratio of the video ===
Using VLC, you can override the source aspect ratio. This is available both as a command line option and as an option in the Preference dialog in the graphical interface. The aspect ratio can be specified both in ratio format (16:9) or as a decimal number (1.33).

'''Command Line'''

When invoking VLC from the command line, use the option --aspect-ratio. For instance,

vlc --aspect-ratio 1.85

'''Graphical Interface'''

If using the graphical interface, the setting is In the Video section of the Preferences dialog. You may specify the aspect ratio in the field labeled "Source aspect ratio."

Here is a list of the more common aspect ratios.

* Fullscreen: 1.33 or 4:3
* Widescreen: 1.78 or 16:9
* Typical dvd: 1.85
* Cinemascope: 2.35

== Streaming - client ==

=== Listen to online radio ===
You can ofcourse always simply find a link to a radiostream and then open it as you would any other network stream in vlc. But if u would like to browse a list of online radios, you can try the list of shoutcast radio stations vlc can download for you. First you need top open the playlist window: View->Playlist. Once you have the playlist window open chose: ''Manage->Service discovery->Shoutcast radio listings''. After 10 seconds or so the playlist should have become populated by radio station entries. You obviously require internet access for this to work! If you want the stations sorted alphabetically, you can chose: ''Sort->Sort by title''. Also note shoutcast have many thousands stream availeble, per default in 0.8.2 250 stations are downloaded, this can be changed in the preferences under: Playlist->Service discovery->Shoutcast. Note that the more stations u want to add, the longer delay u will see when the station list is downloaded parsed and added to the playlist. Also note you should see 2 "Folder nodes" in the playlist under shoutcast called Genres and bitrate where the stations will be listed under their respective areas. Note that most stations claim to be multi genre, so a station might be listed under both Top40, pop and rock.

== Streaming - server ==

=== VLM ===

The VLM is the Video On Demand part of the VLC streaming server features. It lets u setup a bunch of entries and then let users ask for those streams and it then gives them to the users, it has ALOT of possibilities and i will try to cover them all here.

You can devide VLM entries into 2 general categories VOD and broadcast entries.

== Capture / Record things==

CVD subtitles

2006-02-06T13:25:07Z

Rocky: Document the CVD subtitle format

The following information is culled by Rocky Bernstein from information provided by Julio Sanchez Fernandez in [http://subhandler.sourceforge.net http://subhandler.sourceforge.net]

We do not have information on the subtitle format used on CVD's except the submux sample code and a couple of samples of dubious origin. Thus, the information below is result of reading some code whose correctness is not known and some experimentation.

CVD subtitles are different in several ways from [[OGT|SVCD OGT]] subtitles.

The image data comes first and meta data is at the end. So that the metadata can be found easily, the subtitle packet starts with two bytes (everything is big-endian again) that the image data comes interlaced and is run-length encoded (RLE). Each field is a four-bit nibbles that is further subdivided in a two-bit repeat count and a two-bit color number - up to three pixels can be described in four bits. What a 0 repeat count means not known. It
might be used for RLE extension. There is a special case of a 0 repeat count that has been inferred: when the full nibble is zero, the rest of the line is filled with the color value in the next nibble. It is unknown what happens if the color value is greater than three.
The rest seems to use a 4-entries palette. It is possible that the fill-line general case above is not as described and the zero repeat count means fill line. But since this hasn't been ever seen, the preceding is only conjecture.

Here is information given at the start of a subtitle:

* SPU size 2 bytes
* metadata offset 2 bytes

Although metadata information does come in a fixed field order, every metadata field consists of a tag byte followed by parameters. In all cases seen, the size including the tag byte is exactly four bytes.

{|
! code !! Meaning
|-
| 0x0c ||Unknown
|-
| 0x04 || 24-bit subtitle duration in 1/90000ths of a second
|-
| 0x17 ||upper left x, y position, each a 10-bit value, encoded:
x = ((p[1]&0x0f)<<6) + (p[2]>>2)
y = ((p[2]&0x03)<<8) + p[3];
|-
| 0x1f || lower right x, y position, each a 10-bit (0-1023) value, encoded as above
|-
| 0x24 || 3 bytes primary palette 0 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x25 || 3 bytes primary palette 1 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x26 || 3 bytes primary palette 2 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x27 || 3 bytes primary palette 3 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x2c || 3 bytes highlight palette 0 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x2d || 3 bytes highlight palette 1 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x2e || 3 bytes highlight palette 2 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x2f || 3 bytes highlight palette 3 - 1 byte for each of y, u, and v
|-
| 0x37 || 3 bytes transparency for primary palette - 1 byte for each of y, u and v
|-
| 0x3f || 3 bytes transparency for highlight palette - 1 byte for each of y, u and v
|-
| 0x47 || Offset to start of even rows of interlaced image.
|-
| 0x4f || Offset to start of odd rows of interlaced image.
|}

Talk:What can VLC do?

2006-02-06T13:08:32Z

Rocky: What really is the extent of CD image reading in vlc?

Libcdio

2006-02-06T12:52:53Z

Rocky: Information about libcdio

[http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/ The Compact Disc Input and Control Library] (libcdio) encapsulates CD-ROM reading and control. The libcdio package contains a library which encapsulates CD-ROM reading and control. Applications wishing to be oblivious of the OS- and device-dependent properties of a CD-ROM can use this library.

Some support for on-disk CD-image types like CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and Nero's NRG format is available. Therefore, applications that use this library also have the ability to read on-disk CD images as though they were CDs.

A library for working with ISO-9660 filesystems (libiso9660) is included. A generic interface for issuing MMC (multimedia commands) is also part of the libcdio library.

The cdparanoia library and cdparanoia command are included making this the only single-source cdparanoia that works on FreeBSD, cygwin, Solaris, BSDI as well as GNU/Linux.