<linuxdoc><article>
<titlepag>
<title>VLC HOWTO</title>
- <author>by the Videolan Team<tt><htmlurl url="mailto:videolan@videlan.org" name="videolan@videlan.org"></tt></author>
+ <author>Originally written by Henri Fallon, maintained by Johan Bilien<tt><htmlurl url="mailto:jobi@videolan.org" name="<jobi@videolan.org>"></tt></author>
<date>v0.0.9, 16 april 2002</date>
<abstract>
- This document describes how to use the vlc (VideoLAN client) to read DVDs and mpeg files and DVDs.
+ This document describes how to use the vlc (VideoLAN client) to read DVDs and mpeg files, locally or from a network.
</abstract>
</titlepag>
<heading>What is VideoLAN ?</heading>
<p>
VideoLAN is a project of sudents of the École Centrale Paris which aims
- to broadcast video on the campus, and provide the students with a MPEG2
+ at broadcasting video on the campus, and providing the students with an MPEG-2
software-only decoder. VideoLAN is an OpenSource project which will thus
allow anyone to watch DVD movies under Linux, BeOS, MacOS X, Windows
- and most Unix
- systems
+ and most UNIX systems. Recent additions allow to read .avi files,
+ and MPEG-4/DivX-encoded movies.
</p>
<p>
You may want to look at the port section on our website :
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <heading>What is the vlc</heading>
+ <heading>What is the VideoLAN project ?</heading>
<p>
- Vlc stands for VideoLAN client. It is the name of the program which is
- capable of decoding MPEG streams, and displaying them onto your screen,
- so you can watch you favourite movies, confortably sit in your armchair
- :-).
+
+ VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming, developed
+ by students at the <htmlurl url="http://www.ecp.fr" name="Ecole Centrale
+ Paris"> and contributors from all over the world, under the <htmlurl
+ url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" name="General Public License
+ (GPL)">. It has been designed for streaming MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 videos on
+ local area networks (LAN), but it can be extended to metropolitan or
+ wide area networks (MAN, WAN), thanks to the multicast technology.
+
+ The VideoLAN solution includes a server, which can stream video from
+ various sources (file, DVD, satellite and MPEG 2 encoder), a client, which can
+ receive, decode and display MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 streams and, if necessary,
+ a channel server which tells automatically to the client the parameters
+ needed to receive the stream.
+
+ Here is an illustration of the complete VideoLAN solution :
+
+ <verb>
+
+ DVD --->- Unicast/Broadcast/Multicast
+ \ ---
+ File --->-- -------- / \ --------
+ |->-| Server |=====>====| LAN |---->-----| Client |
+ Satellite ->-- | (VLS) | \ / | (VLC) |
+ / -------- --- --------
+ MPEG2 -->- ^
+ encoder |
+ v
+ ----------------
+ | Channel Server |
+ | (VLCS) |
+ ----------------
+ </verb>
+
+ More details about the project can be found on the
+ <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org" name="VideoLAN Web site">.
+
</p>
</sect1>
+ <sect1>
+ <heading>The documentation of the project</heading>
+ <p>
+ There are four main documents :
+<itemize>
+<item>the <htmlurl
+url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/videolan-quickstart/videolan-quickstart.html"
+name="VideoLAN Quickstart">,
+<item>the <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/network/doc/videolan-howto.html"
+name="VideoLAN HOWTO">,
+<item>the <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/vls/doc/vls-guide.html"
+name="VideoLAN Server user guide">,
+<item>this VideoLAN Client Howto.
+</itemize>
+
+The up-to-date version of these documents can be found on the <htmlurl
+url="http://www.videolan.org/doc" name="VideoLAN Web Site">.
<sect1>
<heading>Translated versions of this document</heading>
<p>
The English version is maintained by Henri Fallon,
Johan Bilien, and the VideoLAN team. It can be found at:
- <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/doc.html"
- name="http://www.videolan.org/doc.html">.
+ <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/index.html"
+ name="http://www.videolan.org/doc/index.html">.
+ </p>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1>
+ <heading>Requirements</heading>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Operating system</heading>
+ <p>
+ VLC works under the following systems :
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <itemize>
+ <item> Linux (all distributions, including iPAQ Familiar Linux)
+ <item> Windows (all 32bit versions)
+ <item> Mac OS X
+ <item> FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS
+ <item> BeOS
+ <item> QNX RTOS
+ <item> Solaris
+ </itemize>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Please note that the Linux, Windows and MacOS X versions are generally the most
+ up-to-date ones.
</p>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Software requirements</heading>
+ <p>
+ Depending on the outputs and inputs you are using, you may need
+ additional libraries. Please see <ref id="modules" name="description">.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ For playing encrypted DVDs, you will need libdvdcss, which you can find
+ on this page :
+ <htmlurl name="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download.html"
+ url="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download.html">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Hardware requirements</heading>
+ <p>
+ The hardware power needed depends a lot of the type of stream.
+ For reading a DVD, a CPU working at around 450 MHz is required.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ VLC can benefits from hardware acceleration from modern video cards
+ for YUV transformation and window rescaling. it also uses MMX, MMX EXT,
+ SSE, 3Dnow! optimizations if available.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
</sect1>
+
<sect1>
<heading>Disclaimer</heading>
</p>
<p>
- In this HOWTO, we consider you already have a little knowledge about
- Linux, and you know how to use a DVD. If not, good howtos can be
- found on the Linux Documentation Projet.
+
+ In this HOWTO, we consider you already have a little knowledge
+ about Linux, and you know how to use a DVD. If not, good howtos
+ can be found on the <htmlurl url="http://www.tldp.org" name="Linux
+ Documentation Projet">.
+
</p>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<heading>Legal</heading>
<p>
- Copyright (©) 2001 by the VideoLAN project. This document may be
- distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in
- <htmlurl url="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/LDP-COPYRIGHT.html"
- name="the LDP license">.
+
+ Copyright (©) 2002 by the VideoLAN project.
+
+ Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
+ under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version
+ 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation ;
+ with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
+ Back-Cover Texts. The text of the license can be found on <htmlurl
+ url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">.
+
</p>
</sect1>
</sect>
<heading>Which package to chose ?</heading>
<p>
There are different packages because vlc has "plugins" which provide
- features but also enlarge the executable and require external libs.
+ features but also enlarge the executable and require external libraries.
</p>
<p>
SDL is a lib which allows you to have an accelerated video output.
</p>
<p>
Depending on the package you have downloaded, you may have dependency
- problems. You have to solve them, by installing the required libs.
+ problems. You have to solve them, by installing the required libraries.
</p>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<heading>RPM package</heading>
<p>
- Install vlc just as you would install any rpm package :
+ Install vlc just as you would install any RPM package :
<verb>
rpm -i vlc-x.x.x.rpm
</verb>
</p>
<p>
- You may have to install external libs to meet dependencies, depending on
+ You may have to install external libraries to meet dependencies, depending on
the package you downloaded (gnome, gtk, esd, ...).
</p>
</sect2>
<p>
Double-click on the archive. It should open your favorite archive extracter.
You can then execute the vlc from there, or extract the archive to a
- diretory and run it from there.
+ directory and run it from there.
</p>
</sect2>
<sect2>
- <heading>MacOS X users</heading>
+ <heading>Mac OS X users</heading>
<p>
- To be completed
+ Double-click on the archive, and copy the vlc file to your Applications
+ folder.
</p>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<heading>Windows users</heading>
<p>
- Decompress the archive with your favourite extracter in a directory of your
- choice.
+ Launch the installer by double-clicking on it, and follow the installation
+ instructions. Please note that in most cases you will need administrator
+ rights to install it under Windows NT, 2000 and XP.
</p>
</sect2>
</sect1>
In order to read CSSsrambled DVDs, you will need libdvdcss.
You can find binary
packages for your distribution here : <htmlurl
- name="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download/index.html"
- url="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download/index.html">
+ name="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download.html"
+ url="http://www.videolan.org/libdvdcss/download.html">
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ For Windows, BeOS and Mac OS X users, libdvdcss is statically linked in the
+ Windows binary, so you don't have to install it.
</p>
</sect1>
<sect2>
<heading>Linux users</heading>
<p>
- Usually, you dvd device is /dev/hd? (if you have an ide drive).
+ Usually, your dvd device is /dev/hd? (if you have an ide drive).
For instance, if you DVD player is master on the second IDE device,
it will be /dev/hdc.
</p>
<sect2>
<heading>Windows users</heading>
<p>
- The path to your DVD drive usually is D: or E:. You may have a look
+ The path to your DVD drive usually is D:\ or E:\. You may have a look
in "My Computer" and look to which letter your DVD drive is assigned.
</p>
</sect2>
start.
</p>
<p>
- If nothing appears and you are sure that a program is broadcasted in
+ If nothing appears and you are sure that a program is streamed in
this channel, you may try once again, because a problem of communication
- with the channel server could have occured (in you launched vlc from
+ with the channel server could have occurred (if you launched vlc from
a terminal, you should see "Network error: no answer from vlcs").
</p>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<heading>Without VideoLAN Channel Server</heading>
<p>
- Simply choose clicking on the network button, then on ok should be
+ Simply clicking on the network button, then on ok should be
sufficient in most cases.
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
In every tab, you may click on "Save" to store your settings in your
- ~/.videolan/vlrrc file.
+ ~/.videolan/vlcrc file.
</p>
<sect2>
<heading>Interface tab</heading>
<sect>
<heading>Command line options</heading>
<p>
- Many options are only available through command line. They are detailled here.
+ Many options are only available through command line. They are detailed here.
</p>
<sect1>
<heading>Opening streams</heading>
<verb> vlc udpstream:</verb> should be sufficient. If the stream
is multicasted, you must specify the multicast address, for example
<verb> vlc udpstream:@239.255.255.42 </verb>
+ <p>
+ To receive a http stream, start vlc with <tt>vlc <your URL></tt>.
</p>
<p> <verb>--intf <interface module></verb>
allows you to select the interface module </p>
- <p> <verb>--input <input module></verb>
- allows you to select the input module.</p>
-
<p> <verb>--vout <video output module></verb>
allows you to select the video output.</p>
<p> <verb>--filter <video filter module></verb>
allows you to add a video filter module.</p>
- <p> <verb>--mpeg_adec <MPEG audio decoder module></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--mpeg-adec <MPEG audio decoder module></verb>
allows you to select the audio MPEG decoder.</p>
- <p> <verb>--ac3_adec <AC3 audio decoder module></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--ac3-adec <AC3 audio decoder module></verb>
allows you to select the audio AC3 decoder.</p>
</sect1>
gives you information about the current version.</p>
<p> <verb>--list</verb>
gives you the list of all available plugins.</p>
- <p> <verb>--warning X or -vvvv (X times)</verb>
+ <p> <verb>-vvvv (X times)</verb>
set the level of warning messages.</p>
- <p> <verb>--stat</verb>
+ <p> <verb>--stats</verb>
gives statistic outputs.</p>
</sect2>
<p> <verb>--network-channel</verb>
Start with channel server enabled.</p>
- <p> <verb>--channel_server <string></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--channel-server <string></verb>
Specify the channel server address.</p>
- <p> <verb>--channel_port <integer></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--channel-port <integer></verb>
Specify the channel server port.</p>
<p> <verb>--iface <string></verb>
Select the network interface to use.</p>
- <p> <verb>--input_program <integer></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--input-program <integer></verb>
Select the program to use (for streams with
several programs, as those coming from satellite).</p>
- <p> <verb>--input_audio <integer></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--audio-type <integer></verb>
Select the audio channel to use.</p>
- <p> <verb>--input_subtitle <integer></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--subtitle-channel <integer></verb>
Select the subtitle.</p>
- <p> <verb>--input_channel <integer></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--audio_channel <integer></verb>
Select the channel number.</p>
- <p> <verb>--dvd_device <string></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--dvd <string></verb>
Specify the default dvd device.</p>
- <p> <verb>--vcd_device <string></verb>
+ <p> <verb>--vcd <string></verb>
Specify the default vcd device.</p>
- <p> <verb>--ipv4</verb>
+ <p> <verb>-4, --ipv4</verb>
Force IPv4.</p>
- <p> <verb>--ipv6</verb>
+ <p> <verb>-6, --ipv6</verb>
Force IPv6.</p>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<heading>Directly from CVS</heading>
<p> <label id="cvs">
- Firs log in as suer anonymous with an empty password :
+ First log in as user anonymous with an empty password :
<verb>
cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@anoncvs.videolan.org:/var/cvs/videolan login
</verb>
make
</verb>
It should compile without any error. If there are, please check you
- have the required libs
+ have the required libraries
installed on your system, as the configure script can't check them all.
</p>
<p>
<p>
This is the basic x11 video output. It only requires a
working X11 server. You will need xlibs headers to compile it
- (xlibs-dev packet on Debian systems).
+ (xlibs-dev package on Debian systems).
</p>
</sect2>
<heading>deinterlace</heading>
<p>default: enabled</p>
<p>
- This filter deinterlaces video. It is usefull with streams coming
+ This filter deinterlaces video. It is useful with streams coming
from a satellite broadcast.
</p>
</sect2>
This is the VideoCD input.
</p>
</sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>http</heading>
+ <p>default: enabled</p>
+ <p>
+ This is the http input. You can use it for Video On Demand.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
<sect2>
<heading>satellite</heading>
<p>default: disabled</p>
<htmlurl url="http://www.linuxtv.org/" name="linuxtv.org">.
</p>
</sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>avi</heading>
+ <p>default: enabled</p>
+ <p>
+ This input module allows to read .avi files.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
</sect1>
<sect1>
</p>
</sect2>
</sect1>
+ <sect1>
+ <heading>Codec modules</heading>
+ <p> The following modules add codec support. </p>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>a52</heading>
+ <p>default: disabled</p>
+ <p>
+ This is a better AC3/A52 decoder than the built-in one, based on
+ liba52 :
+ <htmlurl url="http://liba52.sf.net/" name="liba52">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>ffmpeg</heading>
+ <p>default: disabled</p>
+ <p>
+ This is a free MPEG-4/DivX/OpenDivX codec :
+ <htmlurl url="http://ffmpeg.sf.net/" name="ffmpeg">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+
<sect1>
<heading>OS support modules</heading>
<p> The following modules add support or different OSs. </p>
<heading>Get more help</heading>
<p>
First of all, it something seems to go wrong, read and try to
- understand the error messages. If you are a confirmed user, you
- may try the "-vvv" option which makes the vlc very verbose.
+ understand the error messages. You can have detailed messages by
+ choosing messages in the view menu, in GTK, Gnome and Win32 interfaces.
</p>
<p>
There is a FAQ page on our website :
- <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/doc.html" name="http://www.videolan.org/doc.html">.
+ <htmlurl url="http://www.videolan.org/doc/index.html" name="http://www.videolan.org/doc/index.html">.
If you think one question should be in the FAQ, please contact
- <htmlurl url="mailto:videolan@videlan.org" name="videolan@videlan.org">
+ <htmlurl url="mailto:videolan@videolan.org" name="videolan@videolan.org">
</p>
<p>
- Finally, there's a users mailing list (English speaking). To subscribe, send a mail to
+ Finally, there's a users mailing list (English-speaking). To subscribe, send a mail to
<htmlurl url="mailto:listar@videlan.org" name="listar@videlan.org"> containing
"subscribe vlc" as message body.
</p>
projects / vlc / blobdiff