[darkie]

dvd-video player core/library (alpha!

as you may have heard, the initial version of our new dvd-player core code with menu and navigation support has now been put into the public cvs on sourceforge, it's still in an very early alpha stage and thus is not enabled by default, please note and respect that we will not yet accept any bug-reports from non-developers for this core at this stage, (as for now there is still plenty of things still to be worked out and enough bugs left which we know of to keep us busy for a good while), in fact; we do not recommend you even try to use it at this point if you are an end-user, (we will let you know when that time comes). the only reason we moved it to public cvs now is that we feel it's time to get more developers involved in this sub-project, we hope that with your assistance the development may progress and mature more quickly. so please, get stuck in there and give it a go, please submit patches the usual way. by the way recomend you read iso138181 if you like to help on on the video-playback part.

some technical-info on this new dvd-player core:
the core is made for the directx api and is framework dependent, it's currently based on libmpeg2 (for mpeg-1/2 video decoding), liba52 (for ac3 audio decoding), libdts/libdca (for dts audio decoding), libmad (for mpeg audio decoding, ported from madxlib), and libavcodec (ffmpeg) (for other audio formats decoding), plus libavformat (ffmpeg) for all file/media-container demuxing/splitting. css-decryption is done with libdvdcss, and the menu/navigation is handled by a ported version of libdvdnav and dvdread (which is part of libdvdnav, but was originally ported/forked by them from libdvdread), (libdvdnav is available as a stand-alone library from dvd.sourceforge.net which is what we used, however keep in mind that it is also available as integrated into xine which is libdvdnav's reference player). (if you've been following the xbmc/xbmp project from the beginning you might remember that grompf back in the summer of 2003 already partially ported libdvdnav from xine to xbmp, however grompf never finished libdvdnav for xbmp because it was too hard to hook it up to the mplayer-core in xbmp, which is partially why we now created a new core from scatch for dvd-video playback in xbmc). the only other open source projects we know of that have native dvd-menu/navigation support are xine, vlc, tcvp and ogle so it might be a good idea to look at those for reference if you get stuck or need ideas. another good idea (on the decoding side) might be to also look at libmpeg2 derivatives (like the ones in xine, mplayer, and vcl) as many other projects which use libmpeg2 may have improved on its code but not actively feed those improvements back to the original libmpeg2 project. by the way the reason libmpeg2 was chosen over ffmpeg's mpeg-decoders is that libmpeg2 currently have better support for anamophic resolutions and aspect-ratios, plus is a little bit faster in decoding mpeg-2 video.  

overview of what this core currently features:
- video demuxing and decoding (working, but demuxing needs work/replacing as currently using ffmpeg to demux mpeg which isn't optimal)
- audio demuxing and decoding (working, but ffmpeg needs more dvd audio codecs/formats)
- video output (working, but needs work and aspect-ratio is not always correct)
- audio output (working, but needs work, currently only analog-stereo-output is supported)
- selectable subtitles without the need for a restart (working)
- selectable audio streams without the need for a restart (working)
- synchronised video / audio playback (buggy)
- dvd menus (buggy)
- menu overlay's (working, but needs work)
- dvd playback from harddrive and samba-shares (working, but needs work)

===== classes =====
 * ""inputstreams""
   * ""factoryinputstream"", creates an inputstream based on the filename
   * ""file"", general file access (hd, cdrom, samba)
   * ""http""
   * ""navigator"", for accessing dvd
 * ""demuxers""
   * ""factorydemuxer"", creates a demuxer based on inputstream information
   * ""ffmpeg"", ffmpeg demuxer wrapper (supports all ffmpeg demuxers)
   * ""shoutcast"", for demuxing shoutcast streams
 * ""codecs""
   * ""factorycodec"", creates audio and video codecs based upon demuxer information
   * audio
     * ""ffmpeg"", ffmpeg audio decoder wrapper
     * ""liba52"", liba52 wrapper
     * ""libdts"", libdca wrapper
     * ""libfaad"", libfaad wrapper
     * ""libmad"", libmad wrapper (for mp1, mp2, mp3 decoding)
     * ""lpcm"", lpcm decoding
     * ""passthrough"", for digital passthrough
   * video
     * ""libmpeg2""
     * ""ffmpeg"", ffmpeg video decoder wrapper
 * ""subtitles""

===== modules =====

the  player is devided up into a few modules

====== main module ======
runs in a seperate thread
reads data from one of the input streams and sends it over to one of the other modules listed below
handle dvd events (such as audio / subtitle / video stream changes)
handle events from xbmc (such as audio / subtitle changes)

====== audio module ======
runs in a seperate thread.
decodes audio data and outputs it to the xbox video audio renderer

====== video module ======
runs in a seperate thread.
decodes raw video data into video frames and outputs them to the xbox video renderer

====== --subtitle module-- ======
process subtitles
==== building libraries (audio / video codecs) ====
the dvdplayer depends on other libraries to function. these libraries are included in cvs by default as dll's in (//[xbmcfolder]/system/players/dvdplayer subfolder//). all sources of these libraries can be found in //""/cvs/xbmc/docs/sources/dvdplayer/""//
to build these dll's youself you need to have the following installed.
 1. ""mingw""
 1. ""msys""
 1. unrar

all dll's can be build the following way.
startup msys and browse to the extracted sources. make sure you are in the root of these sources (a directory xbox resides in it) and give the follwing commands.
 1. xbox/configure.sh
 1. xbox/compile.sh

configure.sh ocnfigures the library with its needed options
compile.sh issues a make command, strips the dll's of unnessecary information which makes them smaller and copy's the dll to the xbox

and since the core has the option to use ffmpeg for audio / video decoding, it should be able to play most formats that ffmpeg supports too, (though using ffmpeg demuxer 'as is' is probebly not optimal as it has much we not need for dvd-video, better would be to make our own, especially for mpeg2-video based materials).

developers; specs, docs, source code, and other resources for dvd-playback:
- mpeg software simulation group's mpeg-2 faq v3.4 (v3.8 is newer, but that information is a bit mis-formatted).
- mpucoder.com, very updated and precise dvd information (specs and how-to).
- dvd.sourceforge.net, the home of libdvdnav and dvd info.
- technical notes on dvd-video (by billy biggs).
- dvd.wwwdotorg.org some information on the dvd vm command structure, (plus an interactive disassembler).
- dvd-replica.com, site with a lot of dvd technical information.
- dvd demystified (home of the dvd faq)
- mpeg.org dvd technical notes
- alain bismuth's paper on dvd navigation issues (trick plays)
- joe clark's accessible dvds (talking dvd menus)
- xine, libdvdnav reference player (more up-to-date?)
- mplayer, keep in mind that mplayer has libmpdvdkit & libmpdvdkit2 (for reference).
- vlc/videolan-client, also supports dvd menus (via plugin).
- ogle, a open-source (gpl) dvd player with menu support.
- tcvp, audio and video player with experimental dvd menu support.
- dvdpreview/vobblanker, open source (c/c++) dvd vob tools.
- videohelp.com simple dvd-video technical info explained
...many more links to other dvd resources can be found here:
http://www.mpeg.org/mpeg/dvd.html
http://www.robertsdvd.com

technical inoformation video/audio decoding and processing:
- neuron2.net technical library (development documentations).

projects we know of that contains libmpeg2 derivatives (but no one looked at yet for our new dvdlayer):
- xine, (two forked variations; "xine-lib/src/libmpeg2/" and "xine-lib/src/libmpeg2new/").
- mplayer.
- vemp (via enhanced mplayer), (also contain via hardware-specific mpeg-2 decoding acceleration).
- vexp (via enhanced xine player), (also contain via hardware-specific mpeg-2 decoding acceleration).
- ffmpeg (libavcodec/libavformat), (yes ffmpeg do contain mpeg1/mpeg2 code derivitive from libmpeg2).
- mpc (media player classic).
- vlc (videolan-client).
- tcvp, (also has experimental dvd menu support).
- dscaler deinterlacer/scaler(deinterlace)

information on most other xbmc/xbox development resources that could be of help for this project can be found over here.

though not required we would appreciate if you try to document (with doxygen tags/comments) any patches that you submit for this core, (thanks in advance).
compiling dvdplayer-core is similar to how you compile (configure/make) mplayer.dll for xbmc with mingw/msys, (btw, ffmpeg is under 'docs\sources\dvdplayer').

ps! @non-developers; please do not clog up this developer discussion with feature or functions suggestions/requests, instead keep posting them over here.
and again, please respect that we will not accept any bug-reports at this stage, only developers may discuss coding issues and how to solve them so far), tia all)

[Gamester17]

this is a pleade to all and any available programmer interested in helping coding for this new core, pretty please with suger on top!!! :bowdown: please, please help us! i am here bellow going to list most of the existing suggestions/requests in the hope that both official team-xbmc developers and programmers that are not members of the xbmc project will help us enhance the existing dvd-navigation/playback features and add additional new ones. this new core is meant to become a highly optimized for mpeg playback in xbmc, (foremost aimed at dvd-video playback), the reason for starting a new dedicated core in the first place are; it will be small (thus customizable and easier to program for) and resource-efficient (thus fast). bellow are 'a few' things that we hope you can help us achieve, ...we don't expect any miracles or for any of these for happen over night, realisticly maybe most of the major basic features will be in before the end of this year, (then again maybe not but my fingers are crossed). so come on, step up and do your best, every little helps!

note! these are only suggestions/requests so please assume noone is working on them and feel free to jump in and program/code it yourself.

some wanted for the audio/video playback-core part (a few things of this is already in the cvs code):
- software a/v sync clock (soft pll scr system clock like mplayer, so work with all cpu's, ei not like dvdx2.0/xboxdash),
  (a software pts/dts audio/video sync clock is important so audio/video syncronization will work on dreamx-1400 too).
- optimize core code and compiling for sse (or mmx/mmx2?) idct/dct (for the xbox intel x86 pentium iii cpu) and directx.
- cache/buffer for unnoticeable layer skip (for dual-layer dvd's, a.k.a. dvd9 for originals, and dvd+r dual-layer 8.5gb for backups)
- error resilience/tolerance/concealment or correction (skip/drop/mark bad sectors and corrupt frames without stopping playback)
  (mplayer is a good example of a player which has this as it's "rock solid playing damaged mpeg files")
- yv12 to rgb conversion in hardware (such as butcher/jmarshall has for the mplayer-core in xbmc),
  (xbmc's existing mplayer-core runs through a high quality pixel shader in two passes using bilinear filtering).
- implement 1/2 pel ("half-pixel") and/or 1/4 pel ("quarter pixel") motion-compensation (again via the gpu).
- if possible implement hardware motion compensation and/or alphablending via the nvidia gpu.
   (noted should be that the xbox and the xdk/drivers do not have native support for dxva nor xvmc).
- if possible(?) implement gpu assisted video decoding of mpeg-2 (link) via nvidia's "hdvp" feature (link).
- if possible code a wrapper that process some floating-point cycles in the gpu (i know that is a pipedream, i put on this list just in case).
- option for interlaced output without conversion (pass-through interlaced video to tv) (link).
- high-quality software (weave/bob) deinterlace (for interlaced dvd's on progessive tv's) (port deinterlacer from dscaler or y4mscaler?)
- chroma upsampling bug-fix filter (for correct playback and deinterlace of interlaced video  on progressive displays and hdtv's).
- implement a configurable hardware/gpu flicker-filter (via the xdk) for video playback with this core as well (like for mplayer.dll)
  (flicker-filter should be disabled by default for video-playback, however  should maybe be enabled for dvd-menus by default?).
- implement a configurable software flicker-filter (temporal-smoother) as an alternative because should get better visual quality from it(?).
- several optional post-processing filters to enhance visual quality and remove artifacts, etc. (port mainly from mplayer and ffdshow?),
  ssp (statistical-post-proc.), deblocking, deringing, sharpen, soften, requantization, auto-luminance, blurring/denoising, and pde(?).
- 2:3 pull-down / ivtc (inverse telecine) process for 24 progressive-frames on 30 fps tv's (use dscaler, y4mscaler, or gpu pixel shader?)
- ntsc => pal, and pal => ntsc frame-rate (fps) adjust and reclock filter for ntsc <=> pal conversion, (link to tip, and a other tip).
  (ntsc <=> pal frame-rate adjust fps ratios?: 23.97 <=> 25, 24 <=> 25, 30 <=> 25, 25 <=> 30)
- implement automatic and manual; zoom, 'pan and scan', cropping and auto-widescreen filters.
- implement ac3, dts and pcm spdif/optic-out pass-through, plus ac3 and dts software decoding to analog-out.
- implement dts software-decoding and re-encoding into ac3 in hardware for spdif/optic-out.
- implement dpl ii (dolby pro logic ii) decoding/upmixing (stereo to ac3) in software before send to spdif/optic-out (as 'pass-through').
- implement a dymamic-recompression software filter for on-the-fly dymamic-range-compression for analog-out.
- implement a dymamic-recompression software filter for on-the-fly dymamic-range-compression + ac3-encode for spdif/optic-out.
- implement a audio-normalization software-filter for on-the-fly normilization for analog-out.
- implement .iso, .img, .nrg and .bin dvd-image 'mount' support for the dvdplayer via libcdio (like for mplayer).
- region-free (0) (and support 'region masking', ie set the region to what the disc reports it is from if available to fool it if it checks).
- option to manually set a specific dvd region (so can always in the future play those disc that can't be fooled by 'region masking').
- status/error debug-logging into xbmc's log file (disabled by default, like mplayer logging but separate so can enable only for dvdplayer).
- option to play a dvd with or without menus (without menus should still use dvdplayer and support title and chapters selection).
- external subtitle support when playing dvd's (.srt/.sub text-based and .idx/.sub bitmap-based subtitles support for dvd-video),
  including a option to manualy browse for external subtitle (to select subtitle with different name and from any hdd/share location).
- dual-subtitle-display (display two subtitles/languages at the same time, one at the bottom as normal plus one at the top of the screen).

the codec/container and related functions it should hopefully support some day (with your help):
video:
   - mpeg-1
   - mpeg-2
   - mpeg-ps (dvd-video, like vob)
   - mpeg-ts (transport stream)
audio (both pass-through and decode to analog options):
   - mpeg audio layer 1 (libmad or ffmpeg) (including option to upsample mono/stereo to surround)
   - mpeg audio layer 2 (libmad or ffmpeg) (including option to upsample mono/stereo to surround)
   - ac3 2.0 (liba52) (including option to upmix mono/stereo to surround)
   - ac3 5.1 (liba52) (including option to downmix surround to stereo for analog-out)
   - dts (libdca) (including option to downmix surround to stereo for analog-out)
   - pcm (ffmpeg) (including option to upmix mono/stereo to surround, and downmix surround to stereo)
   - lpcm (16/20/24-bit) (specs, + see ogle code) (inc. option to upmix mono/stereo to surround, and downmix surround to stereo)
   - mlp (meridian lossless packing) also known as ppcm (packed pulse code modulation) (dvd-a/dvd-audio)
   - cppm (copy protection for prerecorded media) dvd-a/dvd-audio protection circumvention
   - sdmi (verance watermark secure digital music initiative) dvd-a/dvd-audio protection circumvention
   - audio 44.1khz/88.2khz/96khz/192khz to 48khz re-sampler (sample rate coverter) ("src"?, has already been ported to xbox/xbmc)
demuxer/splitter (container):
   - vob (dvd-video)
   - ifo (parsing/dumping)
   - dat/bin (vcd)
   - cd/dvd-image parsing (via libcdio)
   - dvd-video tags/meta reading (collect and display ifo/mpeg/ac3/dts tags)
   - dvd-video codec-info reading (collect and display encoding-info like codecs, resolution, aspect, fps, bitrate, sample-rate, channels)

some wanted 'basic/standard' video playback functions (a few of this is already in our cvs code):
- play and pause (by the way 'unpause' should be possible with both the play and the pause button)
- fast-forward and rewind/reverse (2x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x?) (link to potential source code)
- skip +/- (5 minutes at a time?, i don't like % skip) (only when dvd-chapter is not available)
- timestamp-based seeking (jump to a given time)
- instant-replay (repeat) jump 5-seconds back, map to "back" button on remote.
- display current playback-time + total duration, title, chapter, subtitle, angle, aspect-ratio, audio-source, and dvd volume info,
  (plus under "advanced" also display: disc-region, resolution, frames-per-second, bitrate, sample-rate, and codecs/filters in use)
- color control, (contrast, brightness, gamma, saturation, and hue adjustments)

some wanted 'advanced/extended' video playback functions (none of these is currently being worked on):
- slow-motion, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 speed (usually linked to the pause button) (link to potential source code)
- frame-by-frame skip (a.k.a. frame stepping), usually a part of the slow-motion function (link to potential source code here and here)
- screenshot, capture and save as a (uncompressed) bmp on demand
- bookmarks, save and restore to any position on the dvd (preferably as "picturesmarks", ie; capture screenshot and save with a tumbnail-picture)
- auto-resume support, if press 'pause' before 'stop' then position is save, like a hidded bookmark,
  (when insert/play the same dvd again check discid and give option to resume, like powerdvd)

some wanted dvd-video specific features (a few things of this is already in the initial cvs code):
- title and chapter support (including next/previous chapter option, mapped to remote skip buttons)
- detect and use correct aspect for movie and menus
- ifo-parsing
- stills (ex. from special features)
- multiple-angle support (and selection both from main menu, and during playback) (link to potential source code)
- audio stream switching support ("dubbing"), dvd-video standard supports seven streams (plus the main language)
- subpicture (from "spu streams") support (fyi, both xine and ogle have a separate spu decoder for subpictures, xine is better?)
   * enable moving of subtitle
   * decoding and displaying multiple subtitles at once
   * handle advanced subpicture commands such as fade/scroll and wipe
   * checkout the dvd movie "back to the future" extra features ;-)
- dvd bitmap subtitles (from "32 streams", a.k.a. vobsubs) support
   * including selectable colors for  vobsub display
   * select/set shadows and outlines for vobsubs
   * subtitle scaling/rescaling options (small/media/large)
- closed captions pass-through (like dvdx2/xboxdash), and software-decoding (from 32 streams) for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  (fyi, xine has support for spu decoder for subpictures, for closed captions software decoding).
- dvddiscid, dvdudfvolumeinfo and dvdisovolumeinfo reading (and displaying) support
- decode and/or decrypt css decryption protection (via libdvdcss)
- use discid to cache css-keys in libdvdcss (supported by libdvdcss version 1.2.9 and later)
- implement txtdt (text data) support
- option to 'bypass' puo (prohibited user operations), disabled by default
  an option to skip fbi/copyright-warnings, ads and 'pre-menu' trailers and jump directly to the main title-menu
  (or at least be able for fast-forward through them all), (alternativly option to jump directly to main movie)
- parental control, set parental-level: g, level-2, pg, pg-13, level-5, r, nc-17, level-8, unlimited (default)


ps! off-topic (should really be in a new speparate feature suggestion thread): it might be interesting later (when the dvdplayer-core is enabled by default) if someone could program and implement a dvdloc8.com database scraper for dvd-video (including dvd-video discs, video_ts.ifo in folder and iso/img images). dvdloc8.com (a.k.a. dvdlocate.com) is a movie lookup database similar to imdb, difference being that dvdloc8.com is for full dvd-video only as it includes all dvd disc information such as available languages, subtitles, extra features and more,  ...any volenteers?

[Gamester17]

@developers, fyi; ratdvd has released source code to their extended/modified libdvdnav which might be worth a look, (@non-developers, note that this is not a request for ratdvd support, no such discussion in this thread).

libdvdnav source code

the playback filters uses the libdvdnav for navigating within the ratdvd. i have extended the dvdnav with
several methods for audio and spu stream control as you can see, if you compare the dvdnav.h file against
the original file. additionally i implemented the part_play_auto_stop and time_search methods of libdvdnav.
i hope the libdvdnav team will find these additions useful. this package contains all the sources for building
the dvdnav library on a windows environment.

[elupus]

hey, that's pretty interesting.. probably would allow us to add support for it in the dvdplayer quite quickly as it's based around libdvdnav. only thing would now be the decoder as he seem to be using his own.

[Gamester17]

fyi, an up-to-date mplayer's libdvdcss changes diffs can be found here (link), it is compared to the latest vlc's libdvdcss (which is what i believe is used in our dvd-player?)

link taken from libdvdcss-development mailing-list:

from:  system administration <[email protected]>
to:  [email protected]
sender:  diego biurrun <[email protected]>
reply-to:  [email protected]
date:  24 jun 2005, 06:03:45 pm  
subject: [patch] mplayer changes to libdvdcss

hi!

for some time we have had changes in mplayer for libdvdcss, it would be
nice if you could integrate it, so our versions do not differ as much
anymore.  it's not my code, but afaict it's mostly porting stuff and
small bug fixes.

regards

diego

p.s.: please cc me, i'm not subscribed.

the deleted attachment is at: <http://www.videolan.org/~admin....es.diff>

@devs, fyi; sam hocevar ([email protected]) of vlc's libdvdcss has now integrated above mplayer patches into the official (videolan) libdvdcss and released it as version 1.2.9
could we maybe have a voleenteer to port the code updates/changes to xbmc?

[ann] libdvdcss 1.2.9  

  we are happy to announce version 1.2.9 of libdvdcss, the universal
dvd decryption library. this is a minor release, bringing the following
fixes and improvements:

 * more robust key caching
 * support for the cache directory tags specification
 * improved seeking on windows
 * support for solaris libsmedia library

  you can download libdvdcss from the following location:
  http://download.videolan.org/pub/libdvdcss/1.2.9/

for the full changelog please see here (link), and for the full history of release-notes see here (link), ...i'm not sure which version is in xbmc cvs?


ps! slightly off-topic: i'm not sure if any developers have noticed but i have been updating and adding to my first post in this thread to keep it and the links up-to-date aint:

[darkie]

i will be on it, cause there is a bug in the current dvdplayer that could be fixed by this

[darkie]

@programmers: now that the dvdplayer-core has been made public the xbmc project needs more c/c++ programmers to actively assist with bug-fixing and the development of this new dvdplayer core, there are many ways in which you can help. for starters we advise you to make sure that you can compile xbmc gui and the dvdplayer-core separately by yourself, once you done that you probably want to setup a debug environment on your xbox with a debug-bios and xdk-launcher. once you can compile xbmc and the dvdplayer then we suggest that you start by simply playing all the dvd-video movies you and your friends own via the dvdplayer-core (testing all menu and playback functions), if and when you discover a bug/glitch then you try to fix it and submit a patch for it, if you can't fix it yourself then please submit a bug-report (with detailed problem/symptom description). alternatively you go right ahead and either code gui/playback optimizations or additional features/functions for the dvdplayer, ...there are many wanted features, some big and others small or semi-small that would probably even be good for c/c++ beginners and hobby programmers to get started on. more recommended reading can be found here, here, and here.

ps! again, please do not post any feature request/suggestions in this topic thread, instead keep those in the existing topic thread linked here!

[Gamester17]

@developers; fyi, a programmer called "ötvös attila" <[email="[email protected]"][email protected][/email]> is currently hard at work porting libdvdnav to work with mplayer (for linux) under the project name "mplayer dvdnav patch" and is posting the progress on his website and the mplayer-dev-eng mailing-list,  ...though this is not directly related to the dvdplayer in xbmc i thought it could be of interest to us as he is using the same libdvdnav (dvdnav library) as we use as the base for xbmc's dvdplayer and he is improving/extending it (plus bug-fixing it) as he goes along, adding and/or fixing functions which are not yet in xbmc's dvdplayer so maybe these could be ported over to xbmc's dvdplayer for the xbox, or?