![]() |
(on Wikipedia)
https://mplayerhq.hu/
Pretty much the de-facto video player on Linux, as it comes with most Linux distributions. It can play both audio and video, and works at the commandline.
Although it’s great, it’s a last resort compared to other audio playing software.
Although it can play without one, the common frontends are:
- gMPlayer (GTK+) is the official frontend.
- SMPlayer (Qt) is my preferred frontend.
-
MEncoder is one of it’s tools.
-
TODO – explore Edit Decision Lists (EDL) to bookmark the insides of files!
—
- 2016-04-03 – phonon-mplayer-1b1fd1f_20110823git-i486-1 on Slackware 14.1 32bit
- 2016-03-26 – 2.0-701-gd4c5b7f-2ubuntu2 on Lubuntu 14.04.4 LTS
- 2009-12-31 – SVN-0.rc4.0.r29964.1-4.4.1 on Unity Linux 64bit-beta1
- SVN-r29347-4.4.0 on Unity Linux 0.99-alpha2
- 2009-04-18 – 1.0rc2-4.1.1 on PCLinuxOS 2007
Usage notes ∞
- command names:
mplayer -input cmdlist - key names:
mplayer -input keylist - Hotkeys
- For playing DVDs, it was reported that
mplayer -nocache dvdnav://is better thandvd://to play “new movies”. -
For widescreen: 1920×1200, 1280×800, 1440×900 or other 16:10 resolution, edit
~/.mplayer/configand add the linemonitoraspect=16:10
Double size works like so:
mplayer -vo x11 -zoom -loop 0 -fsmode 0 -xy 2 "%s"
Full screen works like so:
mplayer -vo x11 -zoom -loop 0 -fsmode 0 "%s"
Seeking in a broken/incomplete AVI ∞
This starts mplayer way faster:
\mplayer -demuxer lavf
Resizing ruins the aspect ratio ∞
Go to properties, and change the video driver to x11. Some people say to use gl, but that’s slow for me.
I eventually switched it back to xv because x11 seems to run slower and slower with multiple videos. Boo.
Fixing audio sync ∞
One of these will work..
mplayer -autosync 30 -mc 2.0 <filename> mplayer -autosync 0 -mc 0 <filename>
Set autoloop ∞
In one of:
/etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf
~/.mplayer/config
loop = 0
Sigh, why isn’t this a default? =/
Limiting optical drive speeds (to reduce noise) ∞
See Quiet computing
Playing video at the true console (TTY) ∞
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/vidix.html#vidix-nvidia
Not really known.. it messes up for me.
Another try was a success:
mplayer -vo fbdev2 -xy 2 -fs video.avi
fbdevwas a bit slow.- Stuff like
-xy 1920would not work. - The above combination with
-zoomwouldn’t work. So I use-xy 2to double up the screen. Fractions don’t work, but this happened to be good with my test video. - This test was perfectly smooth as compared to the
xvI had been using before. -
fbdev2would have the background bleed through, so I switched to console 8 (alt-F8).- With gpm, the mouse would always appear so I would move it to the middle and the video would overwrite it.
- Click in the middle to have the mouse highlight block appear there instead and it’ll get hidden too.
- The cursor would be at the top-left, but after some time the console screen saver would kick in and hide it. The video would continue playing normally.
2009-12-31 – SVN-0.rc4.0.r29964.1-4.4.1 ∞
-
Resizing honours the aspect ratio now..
SVN-r29347-4.4.0 ∞
-
Resizing does not honour the aspect ratio. I have no clue how to fix this.
2009-04-18 – 1.0rc2-4.1.1 ∞
Configuration ∞
/etc/mplayerplug-in.conf
Several options are not sane. =/
Spoiler
# Enable debugging if set to 1 (default=0)
debug=0
# File to write debug info to
logfile=$HOME/tmp/mplayerplug-in.log
# Video output
vo=x11
# Audio output
ao=esd,alsa,oss,arts,null
# Passes display to show output to, useful for multiple monitor setups
#display=[display name]
# Tells mplayer to allow default video post processing or not (default=0)
# novop=1
# Pass special video post processing
#vopopt=[mplayer vop options]
# Option for rtsp streams, set to 1 when behind proxy (default=0)
#rtsp-use-tcp=1
# OSD Level (default=0)
osdlevel=0
# When set to 1 uses the aspect of movie no matter what (default=1)
prefer-aspect=1
# If set to 1, forces mplayer to be in it's own window (default=0)
noembed=1
# Where to store the downloaded movies
dload-dir=$HOME/tmp
# Download file before playing (default=0)
#download=1
# Set to 1 if you want to keep downloaded media (default=0)
#keep-download=1
# Cache Size in kB. This is the buffer size before the video plays (default=512)
cachesize=1024
# Percent of file to load into cache (default=25)
#cache-percent=10
# Read mime types to handle from $HOME/{.mplayer,.mozilla},/etc/mplayerplug-in.types
use-mimetypes=0
# Set QT Speeed, use "low" for dialup, "med" (default) for DSL, "high" for more
#qt-speed=low
# Enable/Disable Mpeg mime-types (default=1)
#enable-mpeg=0
# Enable/Disable Ogg mime-types (default=1)
#enable-ogg=0
# Enable/Disable Smil (default=1)
#enable-smil=0
# Enable/Disable Helix compatibility (not allowing nphelix.so to handle it's
# own mime types (default=1)
enable-helix=0
# For Live.com video behind a proxy
#rtsp-use-tcp=0
# Black background
#black-background=0
# Disable media cache
#nomediacache=0
# Skip displaying some frames
framedrop=1
# Gradually adjusts the A/V sync based on audio delay measurements
autosync=1
# Maximum A-V sync correction per frame
# mc=1
# User-Agent
#user-agent=NSPlayer
# Disable mouse button press/release input
#nomouseinput=0
# Disable reading key events from standard input
#noconsolecontrols=1
# Send cookies when making HTTP request
#cookies=1
# Pause Video when hidden
nopauseonhide=1
Customizing hotkeys ∞
-
key names:
mplayer -input keylist
The defaults ∞
Spoiler
<- and ->
Seek backward/forward 10 seconds.
up and down
Seek forward/backward 1 minute.
pgup and pgdown
Seek forward/backward 10 minutes.
[ and ]
Decrease/increase current playback speed by 10%.
{ and }
Halve/double current playback speed.
backspace
Reset playback speed to normal.
< and >
Go backward/forward in the playlist.
ENTER
Go forward in the playlist, even over the end.
HOME and END
next/previous playtree entry in the parent list
INS and DEL (ASX playlist only)
next/previous alternative source.
p / SPACE
Pause (pressing again unpauses).
.
Step forward. Pressing once will pause movie, every con‐
secutive press will play one frame and then go into pause
mode again (any other key unpauses).
q / ESC
Stop playing and quit.
+ and -
Adjust audio delay by +/- 0.1 seconds.
/ and *
Decrease/increase volume.
9 and 0
Decrease/increase volume.
( and )
Adjust audio balance in favor of left/right channel.
m
Mute sound.
_ (MPEG-TS, AVI and libavformat only)
Cycle through the available video tracks.
# (DVD, MPEG, Matroska, AVI and libavformat only)
Cycle through the available audio tracks.
TAB (MPEG-TS only)
Cycle through the available programs.
f
Toggle fullscreen (also see -fs).
T
Toggle stay-on-top (also see -ontop).
w and e
Decrease/increase pan-and-scan range.
o
Toggle OSD states: none / seek / seek + timer / seek +
timer + total time.
d
Toggle frame dropping states: none / skip display / skip
decoding (see -framedrop and -hardframedrop).
v
Toggle subtitle visibility.
j
Cycle through the available subtitles.
y and g
Step forward/backward in the subtitle list.
F
Toggle displaying "forced subtitles".
a
Toggle subtitle alignment: top / middle / bottom.
x and z
Adjust subtitle delay by +/- 0.1 seconds.
r and t
Move subtitles up/down.
i (-edlout mode only)
Set start or end of an EDL skip and write it out to the
given file.
s (-vf screenshot only)
Take a screenshot.
S (-vf screenshot only)
Start/stop taking screenshots.
I
Show filename on the OSD.
! and @
Seek to the beginning of the previous/next chapter.
D (-vo xvmc, -vf yadif, -vf kerndeint only)
Activate/deactivate deinterlacer.
(The following keys are valid only when using a hardware accel‐
erated video output (xv, (x)vidix, (x)mga, etc), the software
equalizer (-vf eq or -vf eq2) or hue filter (-vf hue).)
1 and 2
Adjust contrast.
3 and 4
Adjust brightness.
5 and 6
Adjust hue.
7 and 8
Adjust saturation.
(The following keys are valid only when using the quartz or ma‐
cosx video output driver.)
command + 0
Resize movie window to half its original size.
command + 1
Resize movie window to its original size.
command + 2
Resize movie window to double its original size.
command + f
Toggle fullscreen (also see -fs).
command + [ and command + ]
Set movie window alpha.
(The following keys are valid only when using the sdl video out‐
put driver.)
c
Cycle through available fullscreen modes.
n
Restore original mode.
(The following keys are valid if you have a keyboard with multi‐
media keys.)
PAUSE
Pause.
STOP
Stop playing and quit.
PREVIOUS and NEXT
Seek backward/forward 1 minute.
(The following keys are only valid if GUI support is compiled in
and will take precedence over the keys defined above.)
ENTER
Start playing.
ESC
Stop playing.
l
Load file.
t
Load subtitle.
c
Open skin browser.
p
Open playlist.
r
Open preferences.
(The following keys are only valid if you compiled with TV or
DVB input support and will take precedence over the keys defined
above.)
h and k
Select previous/next channel.
n
Change norm.
u
Change channel list.
(The following keys are only valid if you compiled with dvdnav
support: They are used to navigate the menus.)
keypad 8
Select button up.
keypad 2
Select button down.
keypad 4
Select button left.
keypad 6
Select button right.
keypad 5
Return to main menu.
keypad 7
Return to nearest menu (the order of preference is: chap‐
ter->title->root).
keypad ENTER
Confirm choice.
(The following keys are only valid if teletext support is en‐
abled during compilation: They are used for controlling TV tele‐
text.)
X Switch teletext on/off.
Q and W
Go to next/prev teletext page.
mouse control
button 3 and button 4
Seek backward/forward 1 minute.
button 5 and button 6
Decrease/increase volume.
joystick control
left and right
Seek backward/forward 10 seconds.
up and down
Seek forward/backward 1 minute.
button 1
Pause.
button 2
Toggle OSD states: none / seek / seek + timer / seek
+ timer + total time.
button 3 and button 4
Decrease/increase volume.
a failed attempt ∞
- shortcuts are inconsistent and shitty.
- I have no idea how to use control, shift, alt or win. Nobody else does either.
- I don’t know how to bind single keys
-
Half of what I try won’t work..
~/.mplayer/input.conf
Spoiler
RIGHT seek +10 LEFT seek -10 - audio_delay 0.100 + audio_delay -0.100 q quit > pt_step 1 < pt_step -1 ENTER pt_step 1 1
Spoiler
SPACE pause RIGHT seek +5 LEFT seek -5 BS seek -5 # CTRL_BS seek -30 # CTRL_LEFT seek -30 # CTRL_RIGHT seek +30 # control-shift-left - skip lots # control-shift-right - skip lots PGDWN seek_chapter +1 PGUP seek_chapter -1 v volume -1 V volume +1 - volume -1 + volume +1 m mute # CTRL_- panscan +1 # CTRL_+ panscan -1 UP speed_set 1 DOWN speed_set -1 # CTRL-o open # CTRL_q quit # CTRL_c screenshot PLAY gui_play PAUSE pause PLAYPAUSE pause STOP qui_stop FORWARD seek +5 REWIND seek -5 NEXT seek_chapter +1 PREV seek_chapter -1 VOLUME_UP volume +1 VOLUME_DOWN volume -1 MUTE mute XF86_PAUSE pause XF86_STOP gui_stop XF86_PREV seek_chapter -1 XF86_NEXT seek_chapter +1 CLOSE_WIN exit
(date unknown) ∞
-
mplayer -vo x11 -loop 0 %1
x11is default-vo vesawill allow the resizer, however this mode fucks everything over. DO NOT LOOP with this mode. (use-xy 2to double, etc..)
- Cannot properly have filenames with spaces used here. I’ve no idea why.. sigh.
-
Cannot have brackets
(and))- Though
[and]are ok.
- Though
- mplayer DOES work with spaces, and my file manager also worked with spaces, but the two together broke. How odd..
-
I can’t get things scaled up.. properly.. sigh
- I think I tried
-vo svga
- I think I tried


ported