[MPlayer-dev-eng] documentation: ati tvout...

[gabor]

hi,

imho the docs for ati tvout support should be updated.

i didn't send a patch, because i don't really know what should be
written, but here are the facts:

in 2.3.1.5.3. ATI cards:
"
PREAMBLE.  Currently ATI doesn't want to support any of its TV-out chips
under Linux, because of their licensed Macrovision technology.
"

that is simply not true..

there are imho 3 different drivers for ati cards (for X):
gatos: i don't know much about them..they're opensource and support
tvout in some cases 
radeon: the standard driver included in xfree, called 'radeon'
ati-driver: the binary-only driver developed by ati.

now, this ati-driver:
-is the only option if you want to play 3d games for example,because it
is the only one which has an opengl driver which offers the same
features as the windows one
-it is a little slower than the xfree driver in 2d
-it has problems with -vo xv when playing back HIGH resolution
(1400x1050 for example) files (btw. the official ati response is that
we-know-we-will-fix-it-for-now-use-vo-gl)
-it supports tvout:
	it has a small program called 'fglrxconfig' (fgl because the driver is
called firegl), which is a console program which asks you some simple
questions (about mouse, keyboard, whatever), and generates you an
XF86Config. it is like a customized version of the standard xf86config
program. among other things it also allows you to enable+configure
tvout. it supports two monitor mode, clone mode and so on. i
successfully used it on my laptop in tvout mode.
from the fglrxconfig program: the supported cards:
         - ATI Radeon 8500 / 9100
         - ATI FireGL 8700 / 8800 / E1
         - ATI FireGL T2
         - ATI Radeon 9000
         - ATI Radeon 9200
         - ATI Radeon 9500
         - ATI Radeon 9600
         - ATI Radeon 9700
         - ATI Radeon 9800
         - ATI FireGL Z1 / X1 / X2
         - ATI Mobility M9
         - ATI Mobility FireGL 9000
         - ATI Mobility M9PLUS

so, imho to the current atitvout docs a new entry should be added with
something like:"for the newer ati cards (8500+) you can (also) use the
binary-only ati driver (download from ati), and use the included
fglrxconfig program to generate an XF86config file with tvout enabled".

gabor