List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-09-11 18:20:04 There are new and updated Video for Linux Two files at the V4L2 website http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm What's new? - The Driver Writer's Guide! The DWG documents the driver method calls and the V4L2 kernel-mode driver helper API. It could stand more embellishment, but it covers all the basic info. - The way video standards are handled has been greatly enhanced. You can now specify any of the world's broadcast standards, as well as some non-standard formats. And it's extensible. - There is now a timecode structure in the video_buffer structure for SMPTE or similar timecodes, so now video can be captured with timecodes if the hardware supports it. I still want to make a software-only example driver, but for now the Winnov Videum driver serves as the sample code. The Winnov driver handles most of the things in the spec, including memory-mapped buffers, streaming capture, select() and read(). It doesn't handle frame buffer overlay, tuner or audio functions. New in the driver: - Streaming capture with frame rate control and correct buffer timestamping. - Uses new video standard structures. Bill. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-09-25 18:26:41 New V4L2 files are available at the V4L2 page http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm - The 2.1.118 f_ops change should be handled now in videodev.c, but I am still running an earlier kernel, so if someone (Erik?) could check that, I would appreciate it. - The queue functions now incorporate Erik's spinlock code. I also made separate structures for the queue root node and the element nodes. The element nodes are now struct v4l2_q_node. So in a driver you need to change your queue element structure, and you can remove any cli or spinlock code you might have had around the queue function calls. - The v4l2_video_std_tpf() function is implemented. [But I just realized I forgot to add it to videodev.h and export it. Argh.] - The 'mode' parameter of the V4L2 open() method is renamed to 'flags', and the value passed is an exact copy of the struct file.f_flags field. - The VIDIOC_NONCAP ioctl is gone. It is replaced by an open() flag O_NONCAP. It is better to declare if an open is capturing or non-capturing at open() time so the open can fail if the type of open cannot be handled. (O_NONCAP is really O_TRUNC, which is otherwise not used by drivers.) * Just a note that the video_standard stuff is currently in flux. I made some changes to Michael Schimek's contribution that were wrong. Also we are working on an overhaul of the "picture" controls. They should be individually enumeratable, and each have individual min, max, step and default values. Bill. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <bill.dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-10-02 19:16:43 Well, the next V4L2 Friday Morning Release is available at http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm - The id field is removed from struct video_standard, the VIDEO_STD_* symbols are gone, and the color subcarrier fields have been renamed. VIDIOC_QUERYSTD is renamed to VIDIOC_ENUMSTD, and struct video_querystd is renamed to struct video_enumstd. The 'standard' field of struct video_tuner is now a struct video_standard instead of a __u32. (Hopefully this stuff is stabilized now.) - VIDIOC_G_INPUT is renamed to VIDIOC_ENUMINPUT. - VIDIOC_G_PICT and VIDIOC_S_PICT and associated structures are gone. These are replaced by an extensible general-purpose interface for user-settable controls. See the spec. Being new, this part could go through some changes in the near future, but I think this is a significant improvement to V4L2. - There is now a preliminary /proc/videodev file. - The video_device.busy field reflects the current open count on the device, maintained automatically by videodev. - There is now a draft document for a CODEC device API. If you have any ideas or comments about a CODEC API I am interested in hearing them. Sorry about all the changes/renames to existing ioclts and structures. Bill. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: Re: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Alan Cox <alan () cymru ! net> Date: 1998-10-04 14:41:06 > FYI, I'm in the midst of adding /proc/videodev to the v4l2 code, which > will initially give you a list of devices registered by minor number, and > maybe some basic settings info. Eventually I thought it might be cool to Ok > have /proc/videodev/<cardnum>/* that can give you all the basic data, and > maybe even allow control of it, as a degenerate non-capturing device > (`echo 'brightness 45234' > /proc/videodev/0/picture`). Such things can > be done simply by having the proc functions call the ioctl method of the > device, since they're all standard. Don't expect that paticular idea to get past Linus ;) ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <bill.dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-10-12 23:36:31 The new server is set up now, and the latest stuff is available. http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm - New this week is v4l2cap.c, a pseudo capture device driver. It implements much of the V4L2 capture API, but uses no capture hardware. It generates synthetic test images in software instead. The test application that comes with the Videum capture driver will work with v4l2cap. So now anybody can start experimenting with V4L2 right away without the need for a V4L2 supported capture card! :-) v4l2cap.c handles most of the capture API, including capturing through read() or through memory-mapped buffers. It supports several image formats including RGB-16, RGB-24, RGB-32, YUV 4:2:2, YUV 4:2:0, and grayscale (not everything is tested). The captured images show standard color bars, plus a frame counter so each frame is different. v4l2cap.c does not implement frame buffer preview, or tuner or audio functions. Also, the brightness, contrast and saturation controls do not do anything. - There is nothing new in the API this week. The video_fmtdesc array (capture format enumeration array) in wnv.c had the flags and depth fields in the wrong order. The documentation listed the fields in the wrong order too. - Fixed a couple other bugs in the Videum driver. Bill. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <bill.dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-10-16 19:01:22 Updated some of the V4L2 stuff at http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm - Added a new field to video_queryctrl for the control type. This made the structure longer, so you will have to recompile your application if you are using queryctrl. - The sample capture driver now handles brightness, contrast and saturation controls, and adjusts the test images accordingly. - There is a new test program, vidpanel.c, in apps.tgz, which demonstrates using a non-capturing open on a capture driver to change brightness, contrast, etc. on a device. It is based on Athena widgets. (I'll be adding more controls to it in the near future.) You can run it simultaneouly with the xvideum.c capture test program, and manipulate the video image in the xvideum window. It's pretty cool. Works with the sample capture driver. Bill. BTW, I am using Athena widgets because that is what happened to be on my system, and because I wanted the test programs to be easy to compile on any system. But I am having a hard time finding information about how to program with them. It seems most books/tutorials use Motif widgets. Should I switch to Motif (or something else), or should I stick with Athena? What can most people compile? I am thinking mainly about driver test programs, which driver-writers will want to be able to recompile. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.
List: linux-video Subject: [video4linux] V4L2 update From: Bill Dirks <bill.dirks () rendition ! com> Date: 1998-10-30 19:05:33 New V4L2 files are available at http://millennium.diads.com/bdirks/v4l2.htm I haven't changed the API this week. There is a new file in apps.tgz called xcaptest.c, for testing video capture drivers. This is derived from the xvideum.c file that was included with the Videum drivers. Since last week I fixed a bug in the v4l2cap.c sample capture driver that caused RGB capture to not work, and probably also caused a deadlock on SMP-enabled kernels, but I did not confirm that. This fix was in the 10-27 update. The Videum driver had the same bug. The Videum driver now supports the ITT VPX video decoder chip. This was tough because I don't have one of these. Someone volunteered to be a tester for me, and if you can imagine a week and a half of me: "try this"; tester: "it didn't work, here's the log"; me: "ok, try this"; tester: "still no"; me: "ok, now try this"; and so on. :-) Anyway, thanks to Shawn Nocita for helping. Bill. ------------ To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@phunk.org with the line "unsubscribe video4linux" without the quotes in the body of the message.