[MPlayer-users] Codec.conf, codecs and playback ratio

[Hiran Watson]

I have some questions regarding codecs, and playback ratios.

Firstly, the README states that codecs should be untarred to
/usr/local/lib/codecs, which is fine. However, does it matter if within
the codecs folder I keep the folder that each <codec-package>.tar.gz
untars to? For example, the extra-lite.tar.gz file untars the codecs to a
folder it creates called extralite. Should I move extralite to codecs or
the contents in extralite to codecs, or does it matter for mplayer to
recognize and use those codecs?

Secondly, I'm using Debian, so I created a .deb file. However, when I
installed it, there was no .conf files created in my $HOME/.mplayer
directory (ie, input-config.conf, or codecs.conf). Should I be concerned
about this? I see from the output of running mplayer that there are some
hardcoded settings used instead. What if want to change those settings?
How do I know the format to use for the .conf files? Is there like a
default example file on the website, or info about them in the
documentation (I couldn't find any)?

Lastly, I tried to play The Transporter (I'm in Canada if it makes a
diff), and the disc has one side for Widescreen and one for Fullscreen. I
compared both sides using the Normal Size, Double Size and Fullscreen
options in mplayer for playback ratios. It seems that the Fullscreen
playback ratio didn't really play the dvd at fullscreen for both disc
sides. For the widescreen side, the Normal and Double size used the ratio
of 16:9, and the fullscreen side used the ratio of 4:3 (or vice versa, I
can't remember exactly), and the Double size was just that - double the
normal size with the same ratio intact. The Fullscreen size cropped the
picture to the full width of the monitor and about a quarter of the length
for both disc sides. Why? Is it just the dvd?

Thanks for any help.

God bless
Hiran