What are all the modules?

[Samuel Hocevar]

On Sun, Jul 08, 2001, Chris Jensen wrote:

> There seems to be no reference as to what all the different output modules
> are and what their advantages are, is this information available anywhere?
> For instance I can only use the x11 module, but I've read suggestions to use
> sdl or xvideo - what is the difference in how these modules access the video
> hardware and how would these change the performance?
> Similarly I would like to find out what the difference is with all the other
> modules, eg yuv and yuvmmx.

   Ok, here is a little list:

Modules with the INPUT capability
---------------------------------
  dvd: allows for DVD access, chapter support, and so on
  ps: reads MPEG1 and MPEG2 Program Stream files (most common MPEG
      encapsulation format)
  ts: reads MPEG1 and MPEG2 Transport Stream files (used by DVB and
      satellite TV)
  es: reads MPEG1 and MPEG2 Elementary streams (some files with only
      video and no audio)
  dummy: doesn't read any files, but recognizes special input patterns
         such as `vlc:quit' or `vlc:pause:2'

Modules with the VOUT (video output) capability
-----------------------------------------------
  x11: displays in an X Window System RGB window, needs an YUV to RGB
       transformation module
  xvideo: displays in an X Window System XVideo window, doesn't need
          an YUV module since it is done in hardware; performances are
          excellent
  fb: displays on a Linux RGB framebuffer, needs an YUV module; can be
      a bit faster than X11 on certain machines
  beos: displays in a BeOS window; can use hardware YUV if available,
        otherwise will fallback to using an YUV module
  macosx: displays in a MacOS X window; currently needs an YUV module
  sdl: displays using the SDL library; uses X11 or (if available) XVideo
       under Unix, uses DirectX under Win32, or any other supported
       output layer
  directx: displays in a DirectX window; can use hardware YUV if
           available, otherwise will fallback to using an YUV module
  ggi: uses the GGI library; performances are poor but it might be
       useful to people who know what they do; needs an YUV module
  glide: uses the Glide library; same remarks as for ggi
  dummy: displays in a memory buffer which won't be displayed on
         screen; for testing purposes

Modules with the AOUT (audio output) capability
-----------------------------------------------
  dsp: standard Linux and BSD OSS /dev/dsp support
  alsa: uses the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
  esd: uses the Esound daemon; doesn't work properly due to latency issues
  sdl: uses the SDL library; /dev/dsp under Unix, DirectSound under Win32
  macosx: uses the OSX API
  directx: uses DirectSound
  beos: uses the BeOS API
  dummy: plays sound in a memory buffer which won't be sent to the
         soundcard; for testing purposes

Modules with the INTF (interface) capability
--------------------------------------------
  gtk,gnome: most up-to-date interfaces, use either Gtk or GNOME
  qt,kde: use the Qt or KDE libraries; haven't been updated for a while
  beos: uses the BeOS API
  macosx: minimal MacOS X GUI
  rc: remote command interface
  dummy: displays no interface, for testing purposes

Other modules
-------------
  YUV modules: yuv, yuvmmx; used for YUV to RGB transformations
  downmix modules: downmix, downmix3dn, downmixsse; used by the AC3 decoder
  IMDCT modules: imdct, imdct3dn, imdctsse; used by the AC3 decoder
  motion compensation modules: motion, motionmmx, motionmmxext; used by
                               the video decoder
  IDCT modules: idct, idctclassic, idctmmx, idctmmxext; used by the
                video decoder

  mmx, mmxext, sse and 3dn are accelerated versions of the different
  modules. vlc automatically chooses what it thinks is the best
  implementation (assuming MMX and 3dn are faster than C, and assuming
  MMX EXT and SSE are faster than MMX).


  Hope everything was clear enough.

-- 
Sam.