Based on kernel version 3.9. Page generated on 2013-05-02 23:03 EST.
1 <title>Common API Elements</title> 2 3 <para>Programming a V4L2 device consists of these 4 steps:</para> 5 6 <itemizedlist> 7 <listitem> 8 <para>Opening the device</para> 9 </listitem> 10 <listitem> 11 <para>Changing device properties, selecting a video and audio 12 input, video standard, picture brightness a. o.</para> 13 </listitem> 14 <listitem> 15 <para>Negotiating a data format</para> 16 </listitem> 17 <listitem> 18 <para>Negotiating an input/output method</para> 19 </listitem> 20 <listitem> 21 <para>The actual input/output loop</para> 22 </listitem> 23 <listitem> 24 <para>Closing the device</para> 25 </listitem> 26 </itemizedlist> 27 28 <para>In practice most steps are optional and can be executed out of 29 order. It depends on the V4L2 device type, you can read about the 30 details in <xref linkend="devices" />. In this chapter we will discuss 31 the basic concepts applicable to all devices.</para> 32 33 <section id="open"> 34 <title>Opening and Closing Devices</title> 35 36 <section> 37 <title>Device Naming</title> 38 39 <para>V4L2 drivers are implemented as kernel modules, loaded 40 manually by the system administrator or automatically when a device is 41 first opened. The driver modules plug into the "videodev" kernel 42 module. It provides helper functions and a common application 43 interface specified in this document.</para> 44 45 <para>Each driver thus loaded registers one or more device nodes 46 with major number 81 and a minor number between 0 and 255. Assigning 47 minor numbers to V4L2 devices is entirely up to the system administrator, 48 this is primarily intended to solve conflicts between devices.<footnote> 49 <para>Access permissions are associated with character 50 device special files, hence we must ensure device numbers cannot 51 change with the module load order. To this end minor numbers are no 52 longer automatically assigned by the "videodev" module as in V4L but 53 requested by the driver. The defaults will suffice for most people 54 unless two drivers compete for the same minor numbers.</para> 55 </footnote> The module options to select minor numbers are named 56 after the device special file with a "_nr" suffix. For example "video_nr" 57 for <filename>/dev/video</filename> video capture devices. The number is 58 an offset to the base minor number associated with the device type. 59 <footnote> 60 <para>In earlier versions of the V4L2 API the module options 61 where named after the device special file with a "unit_" prefix, expressing 62 the minor number itself, not an offset. Rationale for this change is unknown. 63 Lastly the naming and semantics are just a convention among driver writers, 64 the point to note is that minor numbers are not supposed to be hardcoded 65 into drivers.</para> 66 </footnote> When the driver supports multiple devices of the same 67 type more than one minor number can be assigned, separated by commas: 68 <informalexample> 69 <screen> 70 > insmod mydriver.o video_nr=0,1 radio_nr=0,1</screen> 71 </informalexample></para> 72 73 <para>In <filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename> this may be 74 written as: <informalexample> 75 <screen> 76 alias char-major-81-0 mydriver 77 alias char-major-81-1 mydriver 78 alias char-major-81-64 mydriver <co id="alias" /> 79 options mydriver video_nr=0,1 radio_nr=0,1 <co id="options" /> 80 </screen> 81 <calloutlist> 82 <callout arearefs="alias"> 83 <para>When an application attempts to open a device 84 special file with major number 81 and minor number 0, 1, or 64, load 85 "mydriver" (and the "videodev" module it depends upon).</para> 86 </callout> 87 <callout arearefs="options"> 88 <para>Register the first two video capture devices with 89 minor number 0 and 1 (base number is 0), the first two radio device 90 with minor number 64 and 65 (base 64).</para> 91 </callout> 92 </calloutlist> 93 </informalexample> When no minor number is given as module 94 option the driver supplies a default. <xref linkend="devices" /> 95 recommends the base minor numbers to be used for the various device 96 types. Obviously minor numbers must be unique. When the number is 97 already in use the <emphasis>offending device</emphasis> will not be 98 registered. <!-- Blessed by Linus Torvalds on 99 linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, 2002-11-20. --></para> 100 101 <para>By convention system administrators create various 102 character device special files with these major and minor numbers in 103 the <filename>/dev</filename> directory. The names recommended for the 104 different V4L2 device types are listed in <xref linkend="devices" />. 105 </para> 106 107 <para>The creation of character special files (with 108 <application>mknod</application>) is a privileged operation and 109 devices cannot be opened by major and minor number. That means 110 applications cannot <emphasis>reliable</emphasis> scan for loaded or 111 installed drivers. The user must enter a device name, or the 112 application can try the conventional device names.</para> 113 114 <para>Under the device filesystem (devfs) the minor number 115 options are ignored. V4L2 drivers (or by proxy the "videodev" module) 116 automatically create the required device files in the 117 <filename>/dev/v4l</filename> directory using the conventional device 118 names above.</para> 119 </section> 120 121 <section id="related"> 122 <title>Related Devices</title> 123 124 <para>Devices can support several related functions. For example 125 video capturing, video overlay and VBI capturing are related because 126 these functions share, amongst other, the same video input and tuner 127 frequency. V4L and earlier versions of V4L2 used the same device name 128 and minor number for video capturing and overlay, but different ones 129 for VBI. Experience showed this approach has several problems<footnote> 130 <para>Given a device file name one cannot reliable find 131 related devices. For once names are arbitrary and in a system with 132 multiple devices, where only some support VBI capturing, a 133 <filename>/dev/video2</filename> is not necessarily related to 134 <filename>/dev/vbi2</filename>. The V4L 135 <constant>VIDIOCGUNIT</constant> ioctl would require a search for a 136 device file with a particular major and minor number.</para> 137 </footnote>, and to make things worse the V4L videodev module 138 used to prohibit multiple opens of a device.</para> 139 140 <para>As a remedy the present version of the V4L2 API relaxed the 141 concept of device types with specific names and minor numbers. For 142 compatibility with old applications drivers must still register different 143 minor numbers to assign a default function to the device. But if related 144 functions are supported by the driver they must be available under all 145 registered minor numbers. The desired function can be selected after 146 opening the device as described in <xref linkend="devices" />.</para> 147 148 <para>Imagine a driver supporting video capturing, video 149 overlay, raw VBI capturing, and FM radio reception. It registers three 150 devices with minor number 0, 64 and 224 (this numbering scheme is 151 inherited from the V4L API). Regardless if 152 <filename>/dev/video</filename> (81, 0) or 153 <filename>/dev/vbi</filename> (81, 224) is opened the application can 154 select any one of the video capturing, overlay or VBI capturing 155 functions. Without programming (e. g. reading from the device 156 with <application>dd</application> or <application>cat</application>) 157 <filename>/dev/video</filename> captures video images, while 158 <filename>/dev/vbi</filename> captures raw VBI data. 159 <filename>/dev/radio</filename> (81, 64) is invariable a radio device, 160 unrelated to the video functions. Being unrelated does not imply the 161 devices can be used at the same time, however. The &func-open; 162 function may very well return an &EBUSY;.</para> 163 164 <para>Besides video input or output the hardware may also 165 support audio sampling or playback. If so, these functions are 166 implemented as OSS or ALSA PCM devices and eventually OSS or ALSA 167 audio mixer. The V4L2 API makes no provisions yet to find these 168 related devices. If you have an idea please write to the linux-media 169 mailing list: &v4l-ml;.</para> 170 </section> 171 172 <section> 173 <title>Multiple Opens</title> 174 175 <para>In general, V4L2 devices can be opened more than once. 176 When this is supported by the driver, users can for example start a 177 "panel" application to change controls like brightness or audio 178 volume, while another application captures video and audio. In other words, panel 179 applications are comparable to an OSS or ALSA audio mixer application. 180 When a device supports multiple functions like capturing and overlay 181 <emphasis>simultaneously</emphasis>, multiple opens allow concurrent 182 use of the device by forked processes or specialized applications.</para> 183 184 <para>Multiple opens are optional, although drivers should 185 permit at least concurrent accesses without data exchange, &ie; panel 186 applications. This implies &func-open; can return an &EBUSY; when the 187 device is already in use, as well as &func-ioctl; functions initiating 188 data exchange (namely the &VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctl), and the &func-read; 189 and &func-write; functions.</para> 190 191 <para>Mere opening a V4L2 device does not grant exclusive 192 access.<footnote> 193 <para>Drivers could recognize the 194 <constant>O_EXCL</constant> open flag. Presently this is not required, 195 so applications cannot know if it really works.</para> 196 </footnote> Initiating data exchange however assigns the right 197 to read or write the requested type of data, and to change related 198 properties, to this file descriptor. Applications can request 199 additional access privileges using the priority mechanism described in 200 <xref linkend="app-pri" />.</para> 201 </section> 202 203 <section> 204 <title>Shared Data Streams</title> 205 206 <para>V4L2 drivers should not support multiple applications 207 reading or writing the same data stream on a device by copying 208 buffers, time multiplexing or similar means. This is better handled by 209 a proxy application in user space. When the driver supports stream 210 sharing anyway it must be implemented transparently. The V4L2 API does 211 not specify how conflicts are solved. <!-- For example O_EXCL when the 212 application does not want to be preempted, PROT_READ mmapped buffers 213 which can be mapped twice, what happens when image formats do not 214 match etc.--></para> 215 </section> 216 217 <section> 218 <title>Functions</title> 219 220 <para>To open and close V4L2 devices applications use the 221 &func-open; and &func-close; function, respectively. Devices are 222 programmed using the &func-ioctl; function as explained in the 223 following sections.</para> 224 </section> 225 </section> 226 227 <section id="querycap"> 228 <title>Querying Capabilities</title> 229 230 <para>Because V4L2 covers a wide variety of devices not all 231 aspects of the API are equally applicable to all types of devices. 232 Furthermore devices of the same type have different capabilities and 233 this specification permits the omission of a few complicated and less 234 important parts of the API.</para> 235 236 <para>The &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl is available to check if the kernel 237 device is compatible with this specification, and to query the <link 238 linkend="devices">functions</link> and <link linkend="io">I/O 239 methods</link> supported by the device.</para> 240 241 <para>Starting with kernel version 3.1, VIDIOC-QUERYCAP will return the 242 V4L2 API version used by the driver, with generally matches the Kernel version. 243 There's no need of using &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; to check if an specific ioctl is 244 supported, the V4L2 core now returns ENOIOCTLCMD if a driver doesn't provide 245 support for an ioctl.</para> 246 247 <para>Other features can be queried 248 by calling the respective ioctl, for example &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; 249 to learn about the number, types and names of video connectors on the 250 device. Although abstraction is a major objective of this API, the 251 ioctl also allows driver specific applications to reliable identify 252 the driver.</para> 253 254 <para>All V4L2 drivers must support 255 <constant>VIDIOC_QUERYCAP</constant>. Applications should always call 256 this ioctl after opening the device.</para> 257 </section> 258 259 <section id="app-pri"> 260 <title>Application Priority</title> 261 262 <para>When multiple applications share a device it may be 263 desirable to assign them different priorities. Contrary to the 264 traditional "rm -rf /" school of thought a video recording application 265 could for example block other applications from changing video 266 controls or switching the current TV channel. Another objective is to 267 permit low priority applications working in background, which can be 268 preempted by user controlled applications and automatically regain 269 control of the device at a later time.</para> 270 271 <para>Since these features cannot be implemented entirely in user 272 space V4L2 defines the &VIDIOC-G-PRIORITY; and &VIDIOC-S-PRIORITY; 273 ioctls to request and query the access priority associate with a file 274 descriptor. Opening a device assigns a medium priority, compatible 275 with earlier versions of V4L2 and drivers not supporting these ioctls. 276 Applications requiring a different priority will usually call 277 <constant>VIDIOC_S_PRIORITY</constant> after verifying the device with 278 the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl.</para> 279 280 <para>Ioctls changing driver properties, such as &VIDIOC-S-INPUT;, 281 return an &EBUSY; after another application obtained higher priority. 282 An event mechanism to notify applications about asynchronous property 283 changes has been proposed but not added yet.</para> 284 </section> 285 286 <section id="video"> 287 <title>Video Inputs and Outputs</title> 288 289 <para>Video inputs and outputs are physical connectors of a 290 device. These can be for example RF connectors (antenna/cable), CVBS 291 a.k.a. Composite Video, S-Video or RGB connectors. Only video and VBI 292 capture devices have inputs, output devices have outputs, at least one 293 each. Radio devices have no video inputs or outputs.</para> 294 295 <para>To learn about the number and attributes of the 296 available inputs and outputs applications can enumerate them with the 297 &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; and &VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl, respectively. The 298 &v4l2-input; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMINPUT</constant> 299 ioctl also contains signal status information applicable when the 300 current video input is queried.</para> 301 302 <para>The &VIDIOC-G-INPUT; and &VIDIOC-G-OUTPUT; ioctl return the 303 index of the current video input or output. To select a different 304 input or output applications call the &VIDIOC-S-INPUT; and 305 &VIDIOC-S-OUTPUT; ioctl. Drivers must implement all the input ioctls 306 when the device has one or more inputs, all the output ioctls when the 307 device has one or more outputs.</para> 308 309 <!-- 310 <figure id=io-tree> 311 <title>Input and output enumeration is the root of most device properties.</title> 312 <mediaobject> 313 <imageobject> 314 <imagedata fileref="links.pdf" format="ps" /> 315 </imageobject> 316 <imageobject> 317 <imagedata fileref="links.gif" format="gif" /> 318 </imageobject> 319 <textobject> 320 <phrase>Links between various device property structures.</phrase> 321 </textobject> 322 </mediaobject> 323 </figure> 324 --> 325 326 <example> 327 <title>Information about the current video input</title> 328 329 <programlisting> 330 &v4l2-input; input; 331 int index; 332 333 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &index)) { 334 perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT"); 335 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 336 } 337 338 memset (&input, 0, sizeof (input)); 339 input.index = index; 340 341 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &input)) { 342 perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMINPUT"); 343 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 344 } 345 346 printf ("Current input: %s\n", input.name); 347 </programlisting> 348 </example> 349 350 <example> 351 <title>Switching to the first video input</title> 352 353 <programlisting> 354 int index; 355 356 index = 0; 357 358 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-INPUT;, &index)) { 359 perror ("VIDIOC_S_INPUT"); 360 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 361 } 362 </programlisting> 363 </example> 364 </section> 365 366 <section id="audio"> 367 <title>Audio Inputs and Outputs</title> 368 369 <para>Audio inputs and outputs are physical connectors of a 370 device. Video capture devices have inputs, output devices have 371 outputs, zero or more each. Radio devices have no audio inputs or 372 outputs. They have exactly one tuner which in fact 373 <emphasis>is</emphasis> an audio source, but this API associates 374 tuners with video inputs or outputs only, and radio devices have 375 none of these.<footnote> 376 <para>Actually &v4l2-audio; ought to have a 377 <structfield>tuner</structfield> field like &v4l2-input;, not only 378 making the API more consistent but also permitting radio devices with 379 multiple tuners.</para> 380 </footnote> A connector on a TV card to loop back the received 381 audio signal to a sound card is not considered an audio output.</para> 382 383 <para>Audio and video inputs and outputs are associated. Selecting 384 a video source also selects an audio source. This is most evident when 385 the video and audio source is a tuner. Further audio connectors can 386 combine with more than one video input or output. Assumed two 387 composite video inputs and two audio inputs exist, there may be up to 388 four valid combinations. The relation of video and audio connectors 389 is defined in the <structfield>audioset</structfield> field of the 390 respective &v4l2-input; or &v4l2-output;, where each bit represents 391 the index number, starting at zero, of one audio input or output.</para> 392 393 <para>To learn about the number and attributes of the 394 available inputs and outputs applications can enumerate them with the 395 &VIDIOC-ENUMAUDIO; and &VIDIOC-ENUMAUDOUT; ioctl, respectively. The 396 &v4l2-audio; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDIO</constant> ioctl 397 also contains signal status information applicable when the current 398 audio input is queried.</para> 399 400 <para>The &VIDIOC-G-AUDIO; and &VIDIOC-G-AUDOUT; ioctl report 401 the current audio input and output, respectively. Note that, unlike 402 &VIDIOC-G-INPUT; and &VIDIOC-G-OUTPUT; these ioctls return a structure 403 as <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDIO</constant> and 404 <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDOUT</constant> do, not just an index.</para> 405 406 <para>To select an audio input and change its properties 407 applications call the &VIDIOC-S-AUDIO; ioctl. To select an audio 408 output (which presently has no changeable properties) applications 409 call the &VIDIOC-S-AUDOUT; ioctl.</para> 410 411 <para>Drivers must implement all input ioctls when the device 412 has one or more inputs, all output ioctls when the device has one 413 or more outputs. When the device has any audio inputs or outputs the 414 driver must set the <constant>V4L2_CAP_AUDIO</constant> flag in the 415 &v4l2-capability; returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl.</para> 416 417 <example> 418 <title>Information about the current audio input</title> 419 420 <programlisting> 421 &v4l2-audio; audio; 422 423 memset (&audio, 0, sizeof (audio)); 424 425 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-AUDIO;, &audio)) { 426 perror ("VIDIOC_G_AUDIO"); 427 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 428 } 429 430 printf ("Current input: %s\n", audio.name); 431 </programlisting> 432 </example> 433 434 <example> 435 <title>Switching to the first audio input</title> 436 437 <programlisting> 438 &v4l2-audio; audio; 439 440 memset (&audio, 0, sizeof (audio)); /* clear audio.mode, audio.reserved */ 441 442 audio.index = 0; 443 444 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-AUDIO;, &audio)) { 445 perror ("VIDIOC_S_AUDIO"); 446 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 447 } 448 </programlisting> 449 </example> 450 </section> 451 452 <section id="tuner"> 453 <title>Tuners and Modulators</title> 454 455 <section> 456 <title>Tuners</title> 457 458 <para>Video input devices can have one or more tuners 459 demodulating a RF signal. Each tuner is associated with one or more 460 video inputs, depending on the number of RF connectors on the tuner. 461 The <structfield>type</structfield> field of the respective 462 &v4l2-input; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; ioctl is set to 463 <constant>V4L2_INPUT_TYPE_TUNER</constant> and its 464 <structfield>tuner</structfield> field contains the index number of 465 the tuner.</para> 466 467 <para>Radio input devices have exactly one tuner with index zero, no 468 video inputs.</para> 469 470 <para>To query and change tuner properties applications use the 471 &VIDIOC-G-TUNER; and &VIDIOC-S-TUNER; ioctl, respectively. The 472 &v4l2-tuner; returned by <constant>VIDIOC_G_TUNER</constant> also 473 contains signal status information applicable when the tuner of the 474 current video or radio input is queried. Note that 475 <constant>VIDIOC_S_TUNER</constant> does not switch the current tuner, 476 when there is more than one at all. The tuner is solely determined by 477 the current video input. Drivers must support both ioctls and set the 478 <constant>V4L2_CAP_TUNER</constant> flag in the &v4l2-capability; 479 returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl when the device has one or 480 more tuners.</para> 481 </section> 482 483 <section> 484 <title>Modulators</title> 485 486 <para>Video output devices can have one or more modulators, uh, 487 modulating a video signal for radiation or connection to the antenna 488 input of a TV set or video recorder. Each modulator is associated with 489 one or more video outputs, depending on the number of RF connectors on 490 the modulator. The <structfield>type</structfield> field of the 491 respective &v4l2-output; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl is 492 set to <constant>V4L2_OUTPUT_TYPE_MODULATOR</constant> and its 493 <structfield>modulator</structfield> field contains the index number 494 of the modulator.</para> 495 496 <para>Radio output devices have exactly one modulator with index 497 zero, no video outputs.</para> 498 499 <para>A video or radio device cannot support both a tuner and a 500 modulator. Two separate device nodes will have to be used for such 501 hardware, one that supports the tuner functionality and one that supports 502 the modulator functionality. The reason is a limitation with the 503 &VIDIOC-S-FREQUENCY; ioctl where you cannot specify whether the frequency 504 is for a tuner or a modulator.</para> 505 506 <para>To query and change modulator properties applications use 507 the &VIDIOC-G-MODULATOR; and &VIDIOC-S-MODULATOR; ioctl. Note that 508 <constant>VIDIOC_S_MODULATOR</constant> does not switch the current 509 modulator, when there is more than one at all. The modulator is solely 510 determined by the current video output. Drivers must support both 511 ioctls and set the <constant>V4L2_CAP_MODULATOR</constant> flag in 512 the &v4l2-capability; returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl when the 513 device has one or more modulators.</para> 514 </section> 515 516 <section> 517 <title>Radio Frequency</title> 518 519 <para>To get and set the tuner or modulator radio frequency 520 applications use the &VIDIOC-G-FREQUENCY; and &VIDIOC-S-FREQUENCY; 521 ioctl which both take a pointer to a &v4l2-frequency;. These ioctls 522 are used for TV and radio devices alike. Drivers must support both 523 ioctls when the tuner or modulator ioctls are supported, or 524 when the device is a radio device.</para> 525 </section> 526 </section> 527 528 <section id="standard"> 529 <title>Video Standards</title> 530 531 <para>Video devices typically support one or more different video 532 standards or variations of standards. Each video input and output may 533 support another set of standards. This set is reported by the 534 <structfield>std</structfield> field of &v4l2-input; and 535 &v4l2-output; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; and 536 &VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl, respectively.</para> 537 538 <para>V4L2 defines one bit for each analog video standard 539 currently in use worldwide, and sets aside bits for driver defined 540 standards, ⪚ hybrid standards to watch NTSC video tapes on PAL TVs 541 and vice versa. Applications can use the predefined bits to select a 542 particular standard, although presenting the user a menu of supported 543 standards is preferred. To enumerate and query the attributes of the 544 supported standards applications use the &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD; ioctl.</para> 545 546 <para>Many of the defined standards are actually just variations 547 of a few major standards. The hardware may in fact not distinguish 548 between them, or do so internal and switch automatically. Therefore 549 enumerated standards also contain sets of one or more standard 550 bits.</para> 551 552 <para>Assume a hypothetic tuner capable of demodulating B/PAL, 553 G/PAL and I/PAL signals. The first enumerated standard is a set of B 554 and G/PAL, switched automatically depending on the selected radio 555 frequency in UHF or VHF band. Enumeration gives a "PAL-B/G" or "PAL-I" 556 choice. Similar a Composite input may collapse standards, enumerating 557 "PAL-B/G/H/I", "NTSC-M" and "SECAM-D/K".<footnote> 558 <para>Some users are already confused by technical terms PAL, 559 NTSC and SECAM. There is no point asking them to distinguish between 560 B, G, D, or K when the software or hardware can do that 561 automatically.</para> 562 </footnote></para> 563 564 <para>To query and select the standard used by the current video 565 input or output applications call the &VIDIOC-G-STD; and 566 &VIDIOC-S-STD; ioctl, respectively. The <emphasis>received</emphasis> 567 standard can be sensed with the &VIDIOC-QUERYSTD; ioctl. Note that the parameter of all these ioctls is a pointer to a &v4l2-std-id; type (a standard set), <emphasis>not</emphasis> an index into the standard enumeration.<footnote> 568 <para>An alternative to the current scheme is to use pointers 569 to indices as arguments of <constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant> and 570 <constant>VIDIOC_S_STD</constant>, the &v4l2-input; and 571 &v4l2-output; <structfield>std</structfield> field would be a set of 572 indices like <structfield>audioset</structfield>.</para> 573 <para>Indices are consistent with the rest of the API 574 and identify the standard unambiguously. In the present scheme of 575 things an enumerated standard is looked up by &v4l2-std-id;. Now the 576 standards supported by the inputs of a device can overlap. Just 577 assume the tuner and composite input in the example above both 578 exist on a device. An enumeration of "PAL-B/G", "PAL-H/I" suggests 579 a choice which does not exist. We cannot merge or omit sets, because 580 applications would be unable to find the standards reported by 581 <constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant>. That leaves separate enumerations 582 for each input. Also selecting a standard by &v4l2-std-id; can be 583 ambiguous. Advantage of this method is that applications need not 584 identify the standard indirectly, after enumerating.</para><para>So in 585 summary, the lookup itself is unavoidable. The difference is only 586 whether the lookup is necessary to find an enumerated standard or to 587 switch to a standard by &v4l2-std-id;.</para> 588 </footnote> Drivers must implement all video standard ioctls 589 when the device has one or more video inputs or outputs.</para> 590 591 <para>Special rules apply to devices such as USB cameras where the notion of video 592 standards makes little sense. More generally for any capture or output device 593 which is: <itemizedlist> 594 <listitem> 595 <para>incapable of capturing fields or frames at the nominal 596 rate of the video standard, or</para> 597 </listitem> 598 <listitem> 599 <para>that does not support the video standard formats at all.</para> 600 </listitem> 601 </itemizedlist> Here the driver shall set the 602 <structfield>std</structfield> field of &v4l2-input; and &v4l2-output; 603 to zero and the <constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant>, 604 <constant>VIDIOC_S_STD</constant>, 605 <constant>VIDIOC_QUERYSTD</constant> and 606 <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMSTD</constant> ioctls shall return the 607 &ENOTTY;.<footnote> 608 <para>See <xref linkend="buffer" /> for a rationale.</para> 609 <para>Applications can make use of the <xref linkend="input-capabilities" /> and 610 <xref linkend="output-capabilities"/> flags to determine whether the video standard ioctls 611 are available for the device.</para> 612 613 <para>See <xref linkend="buffer" /> for a rationale. Probably 614 even USB cameras follow some well known video standard. It might have 615 been better to explicitly indicate elsewhere if a device cannot live 616 up to normal expectations, instead of this exception.</para> 617 </footnote></para> 618 619 <example> 620 <title>Information about the current video standard</title> 621 622 <programlisting> 623 &v4l2-std-id; std_id; 624 &v4l2-standard; standard; 625 626 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-STD;, &std_id)) { 627 /* Note when VIDIOC_ENUMSTD always returns ENOTTY this 628 is no video device or it falls under the USB exception, 629 and VIDIOC_G_STD returning ENOTTY is no error. */ 630 631 perror ("VIDIOC_G_STD"); 632 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 633 } 634 635 memset (&standard, 0, sizeof (standard)); 636 standard.index = 0; 637 638 while (0 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD;, &standard)) { 639 if (standard.id & std_id) { 640 printf ("Current video standard: %s\n", standard.name); 641 exit (EXIT_SUCCESS); 642 } 643 644 standard.index++; 645 } 646 647 /* EINVAL indicates the end of the enumeration, which cannot be 648 empty unless this device falls under the USB exception. */ 649 650 if (errno == EINVAL || standard.index == 0) { 651 perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMSTD"); 652 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 653 } 654 </programlisting> 655 </example> 656 657 <example> 658 <title>Listing the video standards supported by the current 659 input</title> 660 661 <programlisting> 662 &v4l2-input; input; 663 &v4l2-standard; standard; 664 665 memset (&input, 0, sizeof (input)); 666 667 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &input.index)) { 668 perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT"); 669 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 670 } 671 672 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &input)) { 673 perror ("VIDIOC_ENUM_INPUT"); 674 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 675 } 676 677 printf ("Current input %s supports:\n", input.name); 678 679 memset (&standard, 0, sizeof (standard)); 680 standard.index = 0; 681 682 while (0 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD;, &standard)) { 683 if (standard.id & input.std) 684 printf ("%s\n", standard.name); 685 686 standard.index++; 687 } 688 689 /* EINVAL indicates the end of the enumeration, which cannot be 690 empty unless this device falls under the USB exception. */ 691 692 if (errno != EINVAL || standard.index == 0) { 693 perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMSTD"); 694 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 695 } 696 </programlisting> 697 </example> 698 699 <example> 700 <title>Selecting a new video standard</title> 701 702 <programlisting> 703 &v4l2-input; input; 704 &v4l2-std-id; std_id; 705 706 memset (&input, 0, sizeof (input)); 707 708 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &input.index)) { 709 perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT"); 710 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 711 } 712 713 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &input)) { 714 perror ("VIDIOC_ENUM_INPUT"); 715 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 716 } 717 718 if (0 == (input.std & V4L2_STD_PAL_BG)) { 719 fprintf (stderr, "Oops. B/G PAL is not supported.\n"); 720 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 721 } 722 723 /* Note this is also supposed to work when only B 724 <emphasis>or</emphasis> G/PAL is supported. */ 725 726 std_id = V4L2_STD_PAL_BG; 727 728 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-STD;, &std_id)) { 729 perror ("VIDIOC_S_STD"); 730 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 731 } 732 </programlisting> 733 </example> 734 </section> 735 <section id="dv-timings"> 736 <title>Digital Video (DV) Timings</title> 737 <para> 738 The video standards discussed so far have been dealing with Analog TV and the 739 corresponding video timings. Today there are many more different hardware interfaces 740 such as High Definition TV interfaces (HDMI), VGA, DVI connectors etc., that carry 741 video signals and there is a need to extend the API to select the video timings 742 for these interfaces. Since it is not possible to extend the &v4l2-std-id; due to 743 the limited bits available, a new set of IOCTLs was added to set/get video timings at 744 the input and output: </para><itemizedlist> 745 <listitem> 746 <para>DV Timings: This will allow applications to define detailed 747 video timings for the interface. This includes parameters such as width, height, 748 polarities, frontporch, backporch etc. The <filename>linux/v4l2-dv-timings.h</filename> 749 header can be used to get the timings of the formats in the <xref linkend="cea861" /> and 750 <xref linkend="vesadmt" /> standards. 751 </para> 752 </listitem> 753 <listitem> 754 <para>DV Presets: Digital Video (DV) presets (<emphasis role="bold">deprecated</emphasis>). 755 These are IDs representing a 756 video timing at the input/output. Presets are pre-defined timings implemented 757 by the hardware according to video standards. A __u32 data type is used to represent 758 a preset unlike the bit mask that is used in &v4l2-std-id; allowing future extensions 759 to support as many different presets as needed. This API is deprecated in favor of the DV Timings 760 API.</para> 761 </listitem> 762 </itemizedlist> 763 <para>To enumerate and query the attributes of the DV timings supported by a device, 764 applications use the &VIDIOC-ENUM-DV-TIMINGS; and &VIDIOC-DV-TIMINGS-CAP; ioctls. 765 To set DV timings for the device, applications use the 766 &VIDIOC-S-DV-TIMINGS; ioctl and to get current DV timings they use the 767 &VIDIOC-G-DV-TIMINGS; ioctl. To detect the DV timings as seen by the video receiver applications 768 use the &VIDIOC-QUERY-DV-TIMINGS; ioctl.</para> 769 <para>To enumerate and query the attributes of DV presets supported by a device, 770 applications use the &VIDIOC-ENUM-DV-PRESETS; ioctl. To get the current DV preset, 771 applications use the &VIDIOC-G-DV-PRESET; ioctl and to set a preset they use the 772 &VIDIOC-S-DV-PRESET; ioctl. To detect the preset as seen by the video receiver applications 773 use the &VIDIOC-QUERY-DV-PRESET; ioctl.</para> 774 <para>Applications can make use of the <xref linkend="input-capabilities" /> and 775 <xref linkend="output-capabilities"/> flags to decide what ioctls are available to set the 776 video timings for the device.</para> 777 </section> 778 779 &sub-controls; 780 781 <section id="format"> 782 <title>Data Formats</title> 783 784 <section> 785 <title>Data Format Negotiation</title> 786 787 <para>Different devices exchange different kinds of data with 788 applications, for example video images, raw or sliced VBI data, RDS 789 datagrams. Even within one kind many different formats are possible, 790 in particular an abundance of image formats. Although drivers must 791 provide a default and the selection persists across closing and 792 reopening a device, applications should always negotiate a data format 793 before engaging in data exchange. Negotiation means the application 794 asks for a particular format and the driver selects and reports the 795 best the hardware can do to satisfy the request. Of course 796 applications can also just query the current selection.</para> 797 798 <para>A single mechanism exists to negotiate all data formats 799 using the aggregate &v4l2-format; and the &VIDIOC-G-FMT; and 800 &VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctls. Additionally the &VIDIOC-TRY-FMT; ioctl can be 801 used to examine what the hardware <emphasis>could</emphasis> do, 802 without actually selecting a new data format. The data formats 803 supported by the V4L2 API are covered in the respective device section 804 in <xref linkend="devices" />. For a closer look at image formats see 805 <xref linkend="pixfmt" />.</para> 806 807 <para>The <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl is a major 808 turning-point in the initialization sequence. Prior to this point 809 multiple panel applications can access the same device concurrently to 810 select the current input, change controls or modify other properties. 811 The first <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> assigns a logical stream 812 (video data, VBI data etc.) exclusively to one file descriptor.</para> 813 814 <para>Exclusive means no other application, more precisely no 815 other file descriptor, can grab this stream or change device 816 properties inconsistent with the negotiated parameters. A video 817 standard change for example, when the new standard uses a different 818 number of scan lines, can invalidate the selected image format. 819 Therefore only the file descriptor owning the stream can make 820 invalidating changes. Accordingly multiple file descriptors which 821 grabbed different logical streams prevent each other from interfering 822 with their settings. When for example video overlay is about to start 823 or already in progress, simultaneous video capturing may be restricted 824 to the same cropping and image size.</para> 825 826 <para>When applications omit the 827 <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl its locking side effects are 828 implied by the next step, the selection of an I/O method with the 829 &VIDIOC-REQBUFS; ioctl or implicit with the first &func-read; or 830 &func-write; call.</para> 831 832 <para>Generally only one logical stream can be assigned to a 833 file descriptor, the exception being drivers permitting simultaneous 834 video capturing and overlay using the same file descriptor for 835 compatibility with V4L and earlier versions of V4L2. Switching the 836 logical stream or returning into "panel mode" is possible by closing 837 and reopening the device. Drivers <emphasis>may</emphasis> support a 838 switch using <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant>.</para> 839 840 <para>All drivers exchanging data with 841 applications must support the <constant>VIDIOC_G_FMT</constant> and 842 <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl. Implementation of the 843 <constant>VIDIOC_TRY_FMT</constant> is highly recommended but 844 optional.</para> 845 </section> 846 847 <section> 848 <title>Image Format Enumeration</title> 849 850 <para>Apart of the generic format negotiation functions 851 a special ioctl to enumerate all image formats supported by video 852 capture, overlay or output devices is available.<footnote> 853 <para>Enumerating formats an application has no a-priori 854 knowledge of (otherwise it could explicitly ask for them and need not 855 enumerate) seems useless, but there are applications serving as proxy 856 between drivers and the actual video applications for which this is 857 useful.</para> 858 </footnote></para> 859 860 <para>The &VIDIOC-ENUM-FMT; ioctl must be supported 861 by all drivers exchanging image data with applications.</para> 862 863 <important> 864 <para>Drivers are not supposed to convert image formats in 865 kernel space. They must enumerate only formats directly supported by 866 the hardware. If necessary driver writers should publish an example 867 conversion routine or library for integration into applications.</para> 868 </important> 869 </section> 870 </section> 871 872 &sub-planar-apis; 873 874 <section id="crop"> 875 <title>Image Cropping, Insertion and Scaling</title> 876 877 <para>Some video capture devices can sample a subsection of the 878 picture and shrink or enlarge it to an image of arbitrary size. We 879 call these abilities cropping and scaling. Some video output devices 880 can scale an image up or down and insert it at an arbitrary scan line 881 and horizontal offset into a video signal.</para> 882 883 <para>Applications can use the following API to select an area in 884 the video signal, query the default area and the hardware limits. 885 <emphasis>Despite their name, the &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &VIDIOC-G-CROP; 886 and &VIDIOC-S-CROP; ioctls apply to input as well as output 887 devices.</emphasis></para> 888 889 <para>Scaling requires a source and a target. On a video capture 890 or overlay device the source is the video signal, and the cropping 891 ioctls determine the area actually sampled. The target are images 892 read by the application or overlaid onto the graphics screen. Their 893 size (and position for an overlay) is negotiated with the 894 &VIDIOC-G-FMT; and &VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctls.</para> 895 896 <para>On a video output device the source are the images passed in 897 by the application, and their size is again negotiated with the 898 <constant>VIDIOC_G/S_FMT</constant> ioctls, or may be encoded in a 899 compressed video stream. The target is the video signal, and the 900 cropping ioctls determine the area where the images are 901 inserted.</para> 902 903 <para>Source and target rectangles are defined even if the device 904 does not support scaling or the <constant>VIDIOC_G/S_CROP</constant> 905 ioctls. Their size (and position where applicable) will be fixed in 906 this case. <emphasis>All capture and output device must support the 907 <constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant> ioctl such that applications can 908 determine if scaling takes place.</emphasis></para> 909 910 <section> 911 <title>Cropping Structures</title> 912 913 <figure id="crop-scale"> 914 <title>Image Cropping, Insertion and Scaling</title> 915 <mediaobject> 916 <imageobject> 917 <imagedata fileref="crop.pdf" format="PS" /> 918 </imageobject> 919 <imageobject> 920 <imagedata fileref="crop.gif" format="GIF" /> 921 </imageobject> 922 <textobject> 923 <phrase>The cropping, insertion and scaling process</phrase> 924 </textobject> 925 </mediaobject> 926 </figure> 927 928 <para>For capture devices the coordinates of the top left 929 corner, width and height of the area which can be sampled is given by 930 the <structfield>bounds</structfield> substructure of the 931 &v4l2-cropcap; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant> 932 ioctl. To support a wide range of hardware this specification does not 933 define an origin or units. However by convention drivers should 934 horizontally count unscaled samples relative to 0H (the leading edge 935 of the horizontal sync pulse, see <xref linkend="vbi-hsync" />). 936 Vertically ITU-R line 937 numbers of the first field (<xref linkend="vbi-525" />, <xref 938 linkend="vbi-625" />), multiplied by two if the driver can capture both 939 fields.</para> 940 941 <para>The top left corner, width and height of the source 942 rectangle, that is the area actually sampled, is given by &v4l2-crop; 943 using the same coordinate system as &v4l2-cropcap;. Applications can 944 use the <constant>VIDIOC_G_CROP</constant> and 945 <constant>VIDIOC_S_CROP</constant> ioctls to get and set this 946 rectangle. It must lie completely within the capture boundaries and 947 the driver may further adjust the requested size and/or position 948 according to hardware limitations.</para> 949 950 <para>Each capture device has a default source rectangle, given 951 by the <structfield>defrect</structfield> substructure of 952 &v4l2-cropcap;. The center of this rectangle shall align with the 953 center of the active picture area of the video signal, and cover what 954 the driver writer considers the complete picture. Drivers shall reset 955 the source rectangle to the default when the driver is first loaded, 956 but not later.</para> 957 958 <para>For output devices these structures and ioctls are used 959 accordingly, defining the <emphasis>target</emphasis> rectangle where 960 the images will be inserted into the video signal.</para> 961 962 </section> 963 964 <section> 965 <title>Scaling Adjustments</title> 966 967 <para>Video hardware can have various cropping, insertion and 968 scaling limitations. It may only scale up or down, support only 969 discrete scaling factors, or have different scaling abilities in 970 horizontal and vertical direction. Also it may not support scaling at 971 all. At the same time the &v4l2-crop; rectangle may have to be 972 aligned, and both the source and target rectangles may have arbitrary 973 upper and lower size limits. In particular the maximum 974 <structfield>width</structfield> and <structfield>height</structfield> 975 in &v4l2-crop; may be smaller than the 976 &v4l2-cropcap;.<structfield>bounds</structfield> area. Therefore, as 977 usual, drivers are expected to adjust the requested parameters and 978 return the actual values selected.</para> 979 980 <para>Applications can change the source or the target rectangle 981 first, as they may prefer a particular image size or a certain area in 982 the video signal. If the driver has to adjust both to satisfy hardware 983 limitations, the last requested rectangle shall take priority, and the 984 driver should preferably adjust the opposite one. The &VIDIOC-TRY-FMT; 985 ioctl however shall not change the driver state and therefore only 986 adjust the requested rectangle.</para> 987 988 <para>Suppose scaling on a video capture device is restricted to 989 a factor 1:1 or 2:1 in either direction and the target image size must 990 be a multiple of 16 × 16 pixels. The source cropping 991 rectangle is set to defaults, which are also the upper limit in this 992 example, of 640 × 400 pixels at offset 0, 0. An 993 application requests an image size of 300 × 225 994 pixels, assuming video will be scaled down from the "full picture" 995 accordingly. The driver sets the image size to the closest possible 996 values 304 × 224, then chooses the cropping rectangle 997 closest to the requested size, that is 608 × 224 998 (224 × 2:1 would exceed the limit 400). The offset 999 0, 0 is still valid, thus unmodified. Given the default cropping 1000 rectangle reported by <constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant> the 1001 application can easily propose another offset to center the cropping 1002 rectangle.</para> 1003 1004 <para>Now the application may insist on covering an area using a 1005 picture aspect ratio closer to the original request, so it asks for a 1006 cropping rectangle of 608 × 456 pixels. The present 1007 scaling factors limit cropping to 640 × 384, so the 1008 driver returns the cropping size 608 × 384 and adjusts 1009 the image size to closest possible 304 × 192.</para> 1010 1011 </section> 1012 1013 <section> 1014 <title>Examples</title> 1015 1016 <para>Source and target rectangles shall remain unchanged across 1017 closing and reopening a device, such that piping data into or out of a 1018 device will work without special preparations. More advanced 1019 applications should ensure the parameters are suitable before starting 1020 I/O.</para> 1021 1022 <example> 1023 <title>Resetting the cropping parameters</title> 1024 1025 <para>(A video capture device is assumed; change 1026 <constant>V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE</constant> for other 1027 devices.)</para> 1028 1029 <programlisting> 1030 &v4l2-cropcap; cropcap; 1031 &v4l2-crop; crop; 1032 1033 memset (&cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap)); 1034 cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1035 1036 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &cropcap)) { 1037 perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP"); 1038 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1039 } 1040 1041 memset (&crop, 0, sizeof (crop)); 1042 crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1043 crop.c = cropcap.defrect; 1044 1045 /* Ignore if cropping is not supported (EINVAL). */ 1046 1047 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-CROP;, &crop) 1048 && errno != EINVAL) { 1049 perror ("VIDIOC_S_CROP"); 1050 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1051 } 1052 </programlisting> 1053 </example> 1054 1055 <example> 1056 <title>Simple downscaling</title> 1057 1058 <para>(A video capture device is assumed.)</para> 1059 1060 <programlisting> 1061 &v4l2-cropcap; cropcap; 1062 &v4l2-format; format; 1063 1064 reset_cropping_parameters (); 1065 1066 /* Scale down to 1/4 size of full picture. */ 1067 1068 memset (&format, 0, sizeof (format)); /* defaults */ 1069 1070 format.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1071 1072 format.fmt.pix.width = cropcap.defrect.width >> 1; 1073 format.fmt.pix.height = cropcap.defrect.height >> 1; 1074 format.fmt.pix.pixelformat = V4L2_PIX_FMT_YUYV; 1075 1076 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-FMT;, &format)) { 1077 perror ("VIDIOC_S_FORMAT"); 1078 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1079 } 1080 1081 /* We could check the actual image size now, the actual scaling factor 1082 or if the driver can scale at all. */ 1083 </programlisting> 1084 </example> 1085 1086 <example> 1087 <title>Selecting an output area</title> 1088 1089 <programlisting> 1090 &v4l2-cropcap; cropcap; 1091 &v4l2-crop; crop; 1092 1093 memset (&cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap)); 1094 cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_OUTPUT; 1095 1096 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, VIDIOC_CROPCAP;, &cropcap)) { 1097 perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP"); 1098 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1099 } 1100 1101 memset (&crop, 0, sizeof (crop)); 1102 1103 crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_OUTPUT; 1104 crop.c = cropcap.defrect; 1105 1106 /* Scale the width and height to 50 % of their original size 1107 and center the output. */ 1108 1109 crop.c.width /= 2; 1110 crop.c.height /= 2; 1111 crop.c.left += crop.c.width / 2; 1112 crop.c.top += crop.c.height / 2; 1113 1114 /* Ignore if cropping is not supported (EINVAL). */ 1115 1116 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, VIDIOC_S_CROP, &crop) 1117 && errno != EINVAL) { 1118 perror ("VIDIOC_S_CROP"); 1119 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1120 } 1121 </programlisting> 1122 </example> 1123 1124 <example> 1125 <title>Current scaling factor and pixel aspect</title> 1126 1127 <para>(A video capture device is assumed.)</para> 1128 1129 <programlisting> 1130 &v4l2-cropcap; cropcap; 1131 &v4l2-crop; crop; 1132 &v4l2-format; format; 1133 double hscale, vscale; 1134 double aspect; 1135 int dwidth, dheight; 1136 1137 memset (&cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap)); 1138 cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1139 1140 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &cropcap)) { 1141 perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP"); 1142 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1143 } 1144 1145 memset (&crop, 0, sizeof (crop)); 1146 crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1147 1148 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-CROP;, &crop)) { 1149 if (errno != EINVAL) { 1150 perror ("VIDIOC_G_CROP"); 1151 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1152 } 1153 1154 /* Cropping not supported. */ 1155 crop.c = cropcap.defrect; 1156 } 1157 1158 memset (&format, 0, sizeof (format)); 1159 format.fmt.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE; 1160 1161 if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-FMT;, &format)) { 1162 perror ("VIDIOC_G_FMT"); 1163 exit (EXIT_FAILURE); 1164 } 1165 1166 /* The scaling applied by the driver. */ 1167 1168 hscale = format.fmt.pix.width / (double) crop.c.width; 1169 vscale = format.fmt.pix.height / (double) crop.c.height; 1170 1171 aspect = cropcap.pixelaspect.numerator / 1172 (double) cropcap.pixelaspect.denominator; 1173 aspect = aspect * hscale / vscale; 1174 1175 /* Devices following ITU-R BT.601 do not capture 1176 square pixels. For playback on a computer monitor 1177 we should scale the images to this size. */ 1178 1179 dwidth = format.fmt.pix.width / aspect; 1180 dheight = format.fmt.pix.height; 1181 </programlisting> 1182 </example> 1183 </section> 1184 </section> 1185 1186 &sub-selection-api; 1187 1188 <section id="streaming-par"> 1189 <title>Streaming Parameters</title> 1190 1191 <para>Streaming parameters are intended to optimize the video 1192 capture process as well as I/O. Presently applications can request a 1193 high quality capture mode with the &VIDIOC-S-PARM; ioctl.</para> 1194 1195 <para>The current video standard determines a nominal number of 1196 frames per second. If less than this number of frames is to be 1197 captured or output, applications can request frame skipping or 1198 duplicating on the driver side. This is especially useful when using 1199 the &func-read; or &func-write;, which are not augmented by timestamps 1200 or sequence counters, and to avoid unnecessary data copying.</para> 1201 1202 <para>Finally these ioctls can be used to determine the number of 1203 buffers used internally by a driver in read/write mode. For 1204 implications see the section discussing the &func-read; 1205 function.</para> 1206 1207 <para>To get and set the streaming parameters applications call 1208 the &VIDIOC-G-PARM; and &VIDIOC-S-PARM; ioctl, respectively. They take 1209 a pointer to a &v4l2-streamparm;, which contains a union holding 1210 separate parameters for input and output devices.</para> 1211 1212 <para>These ioctls are optional, drivers need not implement 1213 them. If so, they return the &EINVAL;.</para> 1214 </section>