[MPlayer-users] MPlayer newbie questions...

[Corey Hickey]

ARCTIC, N61L wrote:
> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> List, 
> Excuse me if this sounds dumb, but I'm new to the world of MPlayer. I have 2
> general questions. I have MPlayer installed on a Compaq Presario 2100
> Notebook running RedHat 9.0. The laptop has a ATI Radeon U1 card, but
> because of some issues, I had to use the Vesa driver for X to work
> correctly. With the current install I am able to play DVDs with no problem.
> I tried playing some video files, *.asf, *.avi, *.wma, and *mpgs. After a
> few errors of not being able to use selected video out (vo) device, I was
> able to pick one that eventually worked. Once the videos play however, they
> are a fixed size of about 3"x3". I am unable to resize the actual video
> window, as all that resizes is the MPlayer interface, leaving the video
> window intact. So my first question...is there anyway to alter the size of
> the video window itself (I've tried using the aspect ratio with no luck),
> and what is the factor that is keeping the video at a set size?
> 

Which vo method did you choose? From what you say, it sounds like you
chose x11. X11 video output is very compatible (it should work on
anything that can run X) but does not use the hardware scaling
capabilities of your video card. So, when you go to fullscreen or resize
the window, video is not scaled for you. You can use software scaling
(beware of higher CPU usage) with the -zoom option.

Alternatively, it would be better to get a different video output method
working. Xv is usually the best driver to use from within X. I'm not
familiar with Radeon cards (or RedHat) and can't help you specifically,
but you should probably post the _entire_ output of
$ xvinfo
-and-
$ mplayer -vo xv somevideofileyouhave

Before you do that, though, read here:
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/video.html

The Xv section is section 2.3.1.2.1, right near the top of the page.

> Second question. In the MPlayer properties window > Video tab. There are
> four video output devices listed. Maxtor something or other, 2 X11 ones, and
> 1 Vidix device. Are these the only available video output devices? If not,
> where can I find more, and how can I find out which output device would be
> suited best for a certain video type? Do the available options of Encoders
> in the Encoders and Demuxer tab have any effect on which video type I'm
> trying to play? I'm not too familiar with anything really related to
> audio/video and codecs, so if this sounds like something that I would have
> been able to figure out by RTFM, then please shoot me in the right direction
> of where I would actually find it. I skimmed over the documentation, and
> wasn't too understanding of everything. 
> 

You can see which video output drivers are compiled into your version of
mplayer by typing
$ mplayer -vo help

As far as demuxers and codecs are concerned, mplayer automatically
chooses the best for most situations, so for the most part you won't
need to concern yourself with this unless you're trying to do something
more advanced. I don't mean to imply that it's really difficult, but
rather that it isn't necessary most of the time.

Good luck, and mail back if you want more help or clarification. And
don't be afraid of the Docs, either. :)

-Corey