[MPlayer-users] [draft] mplayer quickstart guide

[Arpi]

Hi,

> 2) A discussion of the pros and cons of various MPEG4 codecs to help
> the user decide which one(s) to use:
> 
> libavcodec -- overall the most bugfree/compatible and fastest, but
> needs to be downloaded separately it using CVS. Plays almost all MPEG4
> variants: msmpeg4v2, msmpeg4v3 (DivX 3.x), mpeg4 (DivX 4/5, OpenDivX,
> ISO MPEG4), and h263(+), etc. GPL.
it's included in release versions. only cvs users need to get it from ffmpeg
cvs

> XVID -- Based on the last version of OpenDivX (GPL), with DivX 4/5
> functionality reimplemented. Does not play DivX 3.x files.

does it play divx5 at all?
it failed even to play some divx4 files i have...
imho xvid is encoder only, at leats its decoder is buggy and slower than
libavcodec

> Divx5Linux -- official ProjectMayo codec. Can decode DivX 3/4/5,
> OpenDivX, and (maybe?) ISO MPEG4. Apparently has bugs handling certain
> patterns of B frames (...can someone confirm or deny this?). Binary
> only.
> 
> Win32 codecs -- mostly obsoleted, but some buggy DivX 3.x files that
> display weird artifacts (bars, hue shift, etc.) when played with newer
> codecs might look right with the original DivX 3 dll. Also includes
> internal postprocessing.
and it is REQUIRED for playback of .wmv (7/8), and many divx avis/asf
with 'divx audio' (really .wma).

> Someone else should check all this info, since I just put it together
> from memory. Maybe also mention how to switch between compiled-in
> codecs at runtime with -vc.

> Finally, wouldn't this discussion be more appropriate on -dev-eng? I'm
not, as it should be commented by teh users, who actually will use/read this
text. you know, developers are too cubehead tech ppl to comment such thing


A'rpi / Astral & ESP-team

--
Developer of MPlayer, the Movie Player for Linux - http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu