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a542fe47 HV |
1 | |
2 | ivtv release notes | |
3 | ================== | |
4 | ||
5 | This is a v4l2 device driver for the Conexant cx23415/6 MPEG encoder/decoder. | |
6 | The cx23415 can do both encoding and decoding, the cx23416 can only do MPEG | |
7 | encoding. Currently the only card featuring full decoding support is the | |
8 | Hauppauge PVR-350. | |
9 | ||
10 | NOTE: this driver requires the latest encoder firmware (version 2.06.039, size | |
11 | 376836 bytes). Get the firmware from here: | |
12 | ||
0ea6e611 | 13 | http://dl.ivtvdriver.org/ivtv/firmware/ |
a542fe47 HV |
14 | |
15 | NOTE: 'normal' TV applications do not work with this driver, you need | |
16 | an application that can handle MPEG input such as mplayer, xine, MythTV, | |
17 | etc. | |
18 | ||
19 | The primary goal of the IVTV project is to provide a "clean room" Linux | |
20 | Open Source driver implementation for video capture cards based on the | |
21 | iCompression iTVC15 or Conexant CX23415/CX23416 MPEG Codec. | |
22 | ||
23 | Features: | |
24 | * Hardware mpeg2 capture of broadcast video (and sound) via the tuner or | |
25 | S-Video/Composite and audio line-in. | |
26 | * Hardware mpeg2 capture of FM radio where hardware support exists | |
27 | * Supports NTSC, PAL, SECAM with stereo sound | |
28 | * Supports SAP and bilingual transmissions. | |
29 | * Supports raw VBI (closed captions and teletext). | |
30 | * Supports sliced VBI (closed captions and teletext) and is able to insert | |
31 | this into the captured MPEG stream. | |
32 | * Supports raw YUV and PCM input. | |
33 | ||
34 | Additional features for the PVR-350 (CX23415 based): | |
35 | * Provides hardware mpeg2 playback | |
36 | * Provides comprehensive OSD (On Screen Display: ie. graphics overlaying the | |
37 | video signal) | |
38 | * Provides a framebuffer (allowing X applications to appear on the video | |
39 | device) (this framebuffer is not yet part of the kernel. In the meantime it | |
40 | is available from www.ivtvdriver.org). | |
41 | * Supports raw YUV output. | |
42 | ||
43 | IMPORTANT: In case of problems first read this page: | |
44 | http://www.ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Troubleshooting | |
45 | ||
46 | See also: | |
47 | ||
48 | Homepage + Wiki | |
49 | http://www.ivtvdriver.org | |
50 | ||
51 | IRC | |
52 | irc://irc.freenode.net/ivtv-dev | |
53 | ||
54 | ---------------------------------------------------------- | |
55 | ||
56 | Devices | |
57 | ======= | |
58 | ||
59 | A maximum of 12 ivtv boards are allowed at the moment. | |
60 | ||
61 | Cards that don't have a video output capability (i.e. non PVR350 cards) | |
62 | lack the vbi8, vbi16, video16 and video48 devices. They also do not | |
63 | support the framebuffer device /dev/fbx for OSD. | |
64 | ||
65 | The radio0 device may or may not be present, depending on whether the | |
66 | card has a radio tuner or not. | |
67 | ||
68 | Here is a list of the base v4l devices: | |
69 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 0 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video0 | |
70 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 16 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video16 | |
71 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 24 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video24 | |
72 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 32 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video32 | |
73 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 48 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video48 | |
74 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 64 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/radio0 | |
75 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 224 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi0 | |
76 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 228 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi8 | |
77 | crw-rw---- 1 root video 81, 232 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi16 | |
78 | ||
79 | Base devices | |
80 | ============ | |
81 | ||
82 | For every extra card you have the numbers increased by one. For example, | |
83 | /dev/video0 is listed as the 'base' encoding capture device so we have: | |
84 | ||
85 | /dev/video0 is the encoding capture device for the first card (card 0) | |
86 | /dev/video1 is the encoding capture device for the second card (card 1) | |
87 | /dev/video2 is the encoding capture device for the third card (card 2) | |
88 | ||
89 | Note that if the first card doesn't have a feature (eg no decoder, so no | |
90 | video16, the second card will still use video17. The simple rule is 'add | |
91 | the card number to the base device number'. If you have other capture | |
92 | cards (e.g. WinTV PCI) that are detected first, then you have to tell | |
93 | the ivtv module about it so that it will start counting at 1 (or 2, or | |
94 | whatever). Otherwise the device numbers can get confusing. The ivtv | |
95 | 'ivtv_first_minor' module option can be used for that. | |
96 | ||
97 | ||
98 | /dev/video0 | |
99 | The encoding capture device(s). | |
100 | Read-only. | |
101 | ||
102 | Reading from this device gets you the MPEG1/2 program stream. | |
103 | Example: | |
104 | ||
105 | cat /dev/video0 > my.mpg (you need to hit ctrl-c to exit) | |
106 | ||
107 | ||
108 | /dev/video16 | |
109 | The decoder output device(s) | |
110 | Write-only. Only present if the MPEG decoder (i.e. CX23415) exists. | |
111 | ||
112 | An mpeg2 stream sent to this device will appear on the selected video | |
113 | display, audio will appear on the line-out/audio out. It is only | |
114 | available for cards that support video out. Example: | |
115 | ||
116 | cat my.mpg >/dev/video16 | |
117 | ||
118 | ||
119 | /dev/video24 | |
120 | The raw audio capture device(s). | |
121 | Read-only | |
122 | ||
123 | The raw audio PCM stereo stream from the currently selected | |
124 | tuner or audio line-in. Reading from this device results in a raw | |
125 | (signed 16 bit Little Endian, 48000 Hz, stereo pcm) capture. | |
126 | This device only captures audio. This should be replaced by an ALSA | |
127 | device in the future. | |
128 | Note that there is no corresponding raw audio output device, this is | |
129 | not supported in the decoder firmware. | |
130 | ||
131 | ||
132 | /dev/video32 | |
133 | The raw video capture device(s) | |
134 | Read-only | |
135 | ||
136 | The raw YUV video output from the current video input. The YUV format | |
137 | is non-standard (V4L2_PIX_FMT_HM12). | |
138 | ||
139 | Note that the YUV and PCM streams are not synchronized, so they are of | |
140 | limited use. | |
141 | ||
142 | ||
143 | /dev/video48 | |
144 | The raw video display device(s) | |
145 | Write-only. Only present if the MPEG decoder (i.e. CX23415) exists. | |
146 | ||
147 | Writes a YUV stream to the decoder of the card. | |
148 | ||
149 | ||
150 | /dev/radio0 | |
151 | The radio tuner device(s) | |
152 | Cannot be read or written. | |
153 | ||
154 | Used to enable the radio tuner and tune to a frequency. You cannot | |
155 | read or write audio streams with this device. Once you use this | |
156 | device to tune the radio, use /dev/video24 to read the raw pcm stream | |
157 | or /dev/video0 to get an mpeg2 stream with black video. | |
158 | ||
159 | ||
160 | /dev/vbi0 | |
161 | The 'vertical blank interval' (Teletext, CC, WSS etc) capture device(s) | |
162 | Read-only | |
163 | ||
164 | Captures the raw (or sliced) video data sent during the Vertical Blank | |
165 | Interval. This data is used to encode teletext, closed captions, VPS, | |
166 | widescreen signalling, electronic program guide information, and other | |
167 | services. | |
168 | ||
169 | ||
170 | /dev/vbi8 | |
171 | Processed vbi feedback device(s) | |
172 | Read-only. Only present if the MPEG decoder (i.e. CX23415) exists. | |
173 | ||
174 | The sliced VBI data embedded in an MPEG stream is reproduced on this | |
175 | device. So while playing back a recording on /dev/video16, you can | |
176 | read the embedded VBI data from /dev/vbi8. | |
177 | ||
178 | ||
179 | /dev/vbi16 | |
180 | The vbi 'display' device(s) | |
181 | Write-only. Only present if the MPEG decoder (i.e. CX23415) exists. | |
182 | ||
183 | Can be used to send sliced VBI data to the video-out connector. | |
184 | ||
185 | --------------------------------- | |
186 | ||
187 | Hans Verkuil <hverkuil@xs4all.nl> |