diff options
author | Dave Chapman <dave@dchapman.com> | 2005-02-16 11:02:11 +0000 |
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committer | Dave Chapman <dave@dchapman.com> | 2005-02-16 11:02:11 +0000 |
commit | 3bd167771d23edbfcf11ea4d5f0f75faf53af0c9 (patch) | |
tree | 8caa153a8c30654e7488cbc50eaa650e6c43fe72 /apps/codecs/liba52/README | |
parent | 1f9610d43cefc10a1e47924ad65ce0f78c63bc66 (diff) |
Initial import of the unmodified version of liba52-0.7.5-cvs, checked out of the Sourceforge CVS repository today.
git-svn-id: svn://svn.rockbox.org/rockbox/trunk@5970 a1c6a512-1295-4272-9138-f99709370657
Diffstat (limited to 'apps/codecs/liba52/README')
-rw-r--r-- | apps/codecs/liba52/README | 180 |
1 files changed, 180 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/apps/codecs/liba52/README b/apps/codecs/liba52/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..eb6c64df84 --- /dev/null +++ b/apps/codecs/liba52/README @@ -0,0 +1,180 @@ + + +ABOUT LIBA52 + +liba52 is a free library for decoding ATSC A/52 streams. It is +released under the terms of the GPL license. The A/52 standard is used +in a variety of applications, including digital television and DVD. It +is also known as AC-3. + +The main goals in liba52 development are: + + * Portability - Currently all of the code is written in C, and + when we write platform-specific optimizations we will always + keep a generic C routine to fall back on. + + * Reuseability - we do not want liba52 to include any + project-specific code, but it should still include enough + features to be used by very diverse projects. + + * Precision - We are trying to implement all of the A/52 + standard, and to have a very precise output by doing all the + calculations in floating point. We have a test suite that + detects any deviation in the output when compared to previous + versions. We do not have access to official A/52 test vectors + though, so we have to use our judgement to ensure that such + deviations are only intruduced when we fix bugs ! + + * Speed - liba52 is really fast, on any modern PC it should take + only a few percent of CPU time. + +The project homepage is at http://liba52.sourceforge.net/ + + +A52DEC + +a52dec is a test program for liba52. It decodes ATSC A/52 streams, and +also includes a demultiplexer for mpeg-1 and mpeg-2 program streams. + +The liba52 source code is always distributed in the a52dec package, to +make sure it easier for people to test it. + +The basic usage is to just type "a52dec file" where file is an ATSC +A/52 file. + +The "-s" option must be used for multiplexed (audio and video) mpeg-2 +files. These files are usualy found on the internet or on unencrypted +DVDs. + +The "-o" option is used to select a given output layer. By default +a52dec does a stereo downmix and outputs to your speakers, but you can +try other choices using this option. This is also used for performance +testing and conformance testing. + +The "-c" option is used to disable all optimizations (currently only djbfft). + +The "-r" option is used to disable the dynamic range compression. + + +OTHER PROJECTS USING LIBA52 + +liba52 (and its ancestor libac3) is being used by various other +projects, including: + + * xine (http://xine.sourceforge.net/) - started as a simple + mpeg-2 audio and video decoder, but it since became a + full-featured DVD and video media player. + + * VideoLAN (http://www.videolan.org/) - video streaming over an + ethernet network, can also be used as a standalone player. + + * MPlayer (http://www.MPlayerHQ.hu) - another good player, it is + also very robust against damaged streams. + + * movietime (http://movietime.sourceforge.net/) - still quite + young, but it looks very promising ! + + * ffmpeg (http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net/) - a nice audio/video + encoder and transcoder, uses liba52 for decoding A/52 streams. + + * Ogle (http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd/) - a good DVD + player with menu support + + * a52decX (http://homepage1.nifty.com/~toku/software_en.html) - + a graphical interface for a52dec in macintosh osX. + + * TCVP (http://tcvp.sf.net) - video and music player for unix. + + * bd4go (http://denisx.dyndns.org/bd4go/) - another graphical + interface for macintosh osX. + + * drip (http://drip.sourceforge.net/) - a DVD to DIVX transcoder. + + * OMS (http://www.linuxvideo.org/oms/) + + * XMPS (http://xmps.sourceforge.net/) + + * GStreamer (http://www.gstreamer.net/) - a framework for + streaming media; it has an A/52 decoding plugin based on liba52. + + * mpeglib (http://mpeglib.sourceforge.net/) - a video decoding + library that usess liba52 when decoding A/52 streams. + +If you use liba52 in another project, let us know ! + + +TASKS + +There are several places where we could easily use some help: + + * Web design: This site sucks ! at the very least, we'd like to + come up with a nicer background picture and a logo. + + * Testing: If you find any stream that does not decode right + with liba52, let us know ! The best thing would be to mail to + the liba52-devel mailing list. Also if you have access to + encoders, we'd love to get test streams that would be free of + rights - so that we can put them on this server. + + * Coding: you can have a look in the TODO file first ! The most + important item is probably to make the code fully reentrant. + + * Porting: If you're porting to a new architecture, you might + want to experiment with the compile flags defined in + configure.in . When you figure out whats fastest on your + platform, send us a patch ! + + +REFERENCES + +The A/52 standard, as published by the ATSC, is available at +http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_52a.pdf + + +CVS SNAPSHOTS + +A daily snapshot is created using "make distcheck" every night and +uploaded to http://liba52.sourceforge.net/files/a52dec-snapshot.tar.gz . +It is easier to use than the CVS repository, because you do not need +to have the right versions of automake, autoconf and libtool +installed. It might be convenient when working on a liba52 port for +example. + + +CVS REPOSITORY + +The latest liba52 and a52dec source code can always be found by +anonymous CVS: + +# export CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.liba52.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/liba52 +# cvs login (Just press Return when prompted for a password) +# cvs checkout a52dec + +You can also browse the latest changes online at +http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/liba52/a52dec/ + +The other CVS modules are ac3dec-livid for the CVS history of the +project while it was still hosted on the linuxvideo.org servers, and +ac3dec for the CVS history of the project while the linuxvideo.org +servers were down and before the library switched its name to liba52. + + +MAILING LISTS + +See the subscription information at http://liba52.sourceforge.net/lists.html + +liba52-devel + +This is the main mailing list for technical discussion about +liba52. Anyone wanting to work on liba52, or maybe just stay informed +about the development process, should probably subscribe to this list. + +liba52-checkins + +All liba52 checkins are announced there. This is a good way to keep +track of what goes into CVS. + +liba52-announce + +This is a very low traffic mailing list, only for announcements of new +versions of liba52. Only project administrators can post there. |