[MPlayer-DOCS] [PATCH] framerate updates

[Corey Hickey]

D Richard Felker III wrote:
> 
> I'm very undecided on these changes. IMO it's important to use the
> correct rational values whenever there are command lines involved, but
> in the actual documentation to be read, it's very cumbersome. It's
> kinda like the whole kilobyte/kabibyte crap.. You CAN use really
> awkward precise wording if you like, but people "in the field" prefer
> to just know what's meant by context. As such, I would just call the
> video "24 fps" or "30 fps" unless there's a real need to be specific
> that it's 24000/1001 or 30000/1001.

Yes, I see your point. The numbers do look unwieldy and I suspect they
will confuse some newcomers. I was perplexed myself the first time I ran
across "-ofps 23.976". This was not because the number looked strange,
however, but simply because I'd read somewhere and therefore
"understood" that movies were 24 frames per second. In this case, I
think it's best to refer to the values exactly, especially because many
other documents on the Internet fail to note there is a distinction.

While someone already versed in the field will know that 24 means
24000/1001, a newbie will have no idea. We'd have to either teach them
the "hidden" meaning and the real number, or just the real number from
the start. Readers who want to understand the reason the numbers aren't
integers can read the section in the telecine introduction (I could move
that section somewhere else if there's a more suitable place).

I guess what it comes down to is that I'd rather run the risk of
confusing new members slightly than potentially leave them with a
damaging misconception. If we say the framerate is 24 and give them an
example that says "-ofps 24000/1001", users who see it out of context
might think the fraction is mencoder's weirness rather than the actual
framerate.


> Or we could do like SI crap and come up with silly-sounding new
> words... like call it 24000 mibifps or something. ;)))))

I have mixed feeling about those SI units.... :)

>>Parts including changes I'm not sure of:
>>- mplayer.1: -lavcopts vframerate
> 
> 
> You mean mpegopts...

Oops. Right.

 > Wrong. This is a string variable, and you have to use the exact
> strings the muxer wants! :( I agree it's bad. IMO it should take a
> float (mplayer also accepts rationals for floats) and convert it to
> the closest matching mpeg framerate.

Ok. I'll remove this change in the next patch I send.

Once we come to consensus on the numbers I'll write a new one.

-Corey