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Based on kernel version 3.0.4. Page generated on 2011-10-03 22:07 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.&nbsp;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	&gt; 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.&nbsp;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. Other features can be queried
240	by calling the respective ioctl, for example &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;
241	to learn about the number, types and names of video connectors on the
242	device. Although abstraction is a major objective of this API, the
243	ioctl also allows driver specific applications to reliable identify
244	the driver.</para>
245	
246	    <para>All V4L2 drivers must support
247	<constant>VIDIOC_QUERYCAP</constant>. Applications should always call
248	this ioctl after opening the device.</para>
249	  </section>
250	
251	  <section id="app-pri">
252	    <title>Application Priority</title>
253	
254	    <para>When multiple applications share a device it may be
255	desirable to assign them different priorities. Contrary to the
256	traditional "rm -rf /" school of thought a video recording application
257	could for example block other applications from changing video
258	controls or switching the current TV channel. Another objective is to
259	permit low priority applications working in background, which can be
260	preempted by user controlled applications and automatically regain
261	control of the device at a later time.</para>
262	
263	    <para>Since these features cannot be implemented entirely in user
264	space V4L2 defines the &VIDIOC-G-PRIORITY; and &VIDIOC-S-PRIORITY;
265	ioctls to request and query the access priority associate with a file
266	descriptor. Opening a device assigns a medium priority, compatible
267	with earlier versions of V4L2 and drivers not supporting these ioctls.
268	Applications requiring a different priority will usually call
269	<constant>VIDIOC_S_PRIORITY</constant> after verifying the device with
270	the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl.</para>
271	
272	    <para>Ioctls changing driver properties, such as &VIDIOC-S-INPUT;,
273	return an &EBUSY; after another application obtained higher priority.
274	An event mechanism to notify applications about asynchronous property
275	changes has been proposed but not added yet.</para>
276	  </section>
277	
278	  <section id="video">
279	    <title>Video Inputs and Outputs</title>
280	
281	    <para>Video inputs and outputs are physical connectors of a
282	device. These can be for example RF connectors (antenna/cable), CVBS
283	a.k.a. Composite Video, S-Video or RGB connectors. Only video and VBI
284	capture devices have inputs, output devices have outputs, at least one
285	each. Radio devices have no video inputs or outputs.</para>
286	
287	    <para>To learn about the number and attributes of the
288	available inputs and outputs applications can enumerate them with the
289	&VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; and &VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl, respectively. The
290	&v4l2-input; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMINPUT</constant>
291	ioctl also contains signal status information applicable when the
292	current video input is queried.</para>
293	
294	    <para>The &VIDIOC-G-INPUT; and &VIDIOC-G-OUTPUT; ioctl return the
295	index of the current video input or output. To select a different
296	input or output applications call the &VIDIOC-S-INPUT; and
297	&VIDIOC-S-OUTPUT; ioctl. Drivers must implement all the input ioctls
298	when the device has one or more inputs, all the output ioctls when the
299	device has one or more outputs.</para>
300	
301	    <!--
302	    <figure id=io-tree>
303	      <title>Input and output enumeration is the root of most device properties.</title>
304	      <mediaobject>
305		<imageobject>
306		  <imagedata fileref="links.pdf" format="ps" />
307		</imageobject>
308		<imageobject>
309		  <imagedata fileref="links.gif" format="gif" />
310		</imageobject>
311		<textobject>
312		  <phrase>Links between various device property structures.</phrase>
313		</textobject>
314	      </mediaobject>
315	    </figure>
316	    -->
317	
318	    <example>
319	      <title>Information about the current video input</title>
320	
321	      <programlisting>
322	&v4l2-input; input;
323	int index;
324	
325	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &amp;index)) {
326		perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT");
327		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
328	}
329	
330	memset (&amp;input, 0, sizeof (input));
331	input.index = index;
332	
333	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &amp;input)) {
334		perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMINPUT");
335		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
336	}
337	
338	printf ("Current input: %s\n", input.name);
339	      </programlisting>
340	    </example>
341	
342	    <example>
343	      <title>Switching to the first video input</title>
344	
345	      <programlisting>
346	int index;
347	
348	index = 0;
349	
350	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-INPUT;, &amp;index)) {
351		perror ("VIDIOC_S_INPUT");
352		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
353	}
354	      </programlisting>
355	    </example>
356	  </section>
357	
358	  <section id="audio">
359	    <title>Audio Inputs and Outputs</title>
360	
361	    <para>Audio inputs and outputs are physical connectors of a
362	device. Video capture devices have inputs, output devices have
363	outputs, zero or more each. Radio devices have no audio inputs or
364	outputs. They have exactly one tuner which in fact
365	<emphasis>is</emphasis> an audio source, but this API associates
366	tuners with video inputs or outputs only, and radio devices have
367	none of these.<footnote>
368		<para>Actually &v4l2-audio; ought to have a
369	<structfield>tuner</structfield> field like &v4l2-input;, not only
370	making the API more consistent but also permitting radio devices with
371	multiple tuners.</para>
372	      </footnote> A connector on a TV card to loop back the received
373	audio signal to a sound card is not considered an audio output.</para>
374	
375	    <para>Audio and video inputs and outputs are associated. Selecting
376	a video source also selects an audio source. This is most evident when
377	the video and audio source is a tuner. Further audio connectors can
378	combine with more than one video input or output. Assumed two
379	composite video inputs and two audio inputs exist, there may be up to
380	four valid combinations. The relation of video and audio connectors
381	is defined in the <structfield>audioset</structfield> field of the
382	respective &v4l2-input; or &v4l2-output;, where each bit represents
383	the index number, starting at zero, of one audio input or output.</para>
384	
385	    <para>To learn about the number and attributes of the
386	available inputs and outputs applications can enumerate them with the
387	&VIDIOC-ENUMAUDIO; and &VIDIOC-ENUMAUDOUT; ioctl, respectively. The
388	&v4l2-audio; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDIO</constant> ioctl
389	also contains signal status information applicable when the current
390	audio input is queried.</para>
391	
392	    <para>The &VIDIOC-G-AUDIO; and &VIDIOC-G-AUDOUT; ioctl report
393	the current audio input and output, respectively. Note that, unlike
394	&VIDIOC-G-INPUT; and &VIDIOC-G-OUTPUT; these ioctls return a structure
395	as <constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDIO</constant> and
396	<constant>VIDIOC_ENUMAUDOUT</constant> do, not just an index.</para>
397	
398	    <para>To select an audio input and change its properties
399	applications call the &VIDIOC-S-AUDIO; ioctl. To select an audio
400	output (which presently has no changeable properties) applications
401	call the &VIDIOC-S-AUDOUT; ioctl.</para>
402	
403	    <para>Drivers must implement all input ioctls when the device
404	has one or more inputs, all output ioctls when the device has one
405	or more outputs. When the device has any audio inputs or outputs the
406	driver must set the <constant>V4L2_CAP_AUDIO</constant> flag in the
407	&v4l2-capability; returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl.</para>
408	
409	    <example>
410	      <title>Information about the current audio input</title>
411	
412	      <programlisting>
413	&v4l2-audio; audio;
414	
415	memset (&amp;audio, 0, sizeof (audio));
416	
417	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-AUDIO;, &amp;audio)) {
418		perror ("VIDIOC_G_AUDIO");
419		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
420	}
421	
422	printf ("Current input: %s\n", audio.name);
423	      </programlisting>
424	    </example>
425	
426	    <example>
427	      <title>Switching to the first audio input</title>
428	
429	      <programlisting>
430	&v4l2-audio; audio;
431	
432	memset (&amp;audio, 0, sizeof (audio)); /* clear audio.mode, audio.reserved */
433	
434	audio.index = 0;
435	
436	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-AUDIO;, &amp;audio)) {
437		perror ("VIDIOC_S_AUDIO");
438		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
439	}
440	      </programlisting>
441	    </example>
442	  </section>
443	
444	  <section id="tuner">
445	    <title>Tuners and Modulators</title>
446	
447	    <section>
448	      <title>Tuners</title>
449	
450	      <para>Video input devices can have one or more tuners
451	demodulating a RF signal. Each tuner is associated with one or more
452	video inputs, depending on the number of RF connectors on the tuner.
453	The <structfield>type</structfield> field of the respective
454	&v4l2-input; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; ioctl is set to
455	<constant>V4L2_INPUT_TYPE_TUNER</constant> and its
456	<structfield>tuner</structfield> field contains the index number of
457	the tuner.</para>
458	
459	      <para>Radio devices have exactly one tuner with index zero, no
460	video inputs.</para>
461	
462	      <para>To query and change tuner properties applications use the
463	&VIDIOC-G-TUNER; and &VIDIOC-S-TUNER; ioctl, respectively. The
464	&v4l2-tuner; returned by <constant>VIDIOC_G_TUNER</constant> also
465	contains signal status information applicable when the tuner of the
466	current video input, or a radio tuner is queried. Note that
467	<constant>VIDIOC_S_TUNER</constant> does not switch the current tuner,
468	when there is more than one at all. The tuner is solely determined by
469	the current video input. Drivers must support both ioctls and set the
470	<constant>V4L2_CAP_TUNER</constant> flag in the &v4l2-capability;
471	returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl when the device has one or
472	more tuners.</para>
473	    </section>
474	
475	    <section>
476	      <title>Modulators</title>
477	
478	      <para>Video output devices can have one or more modulators, uh,
479	modulating a video signal for radiation or connection to the antenna
480	input of a TV set or video recorder. Each modulator is associated with
481	one or more video outputs, depending on the number of RF connectors on
482	the modulator. The <structfield>type</structfield> field of the
483	respective &v4l2-output; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl is
484	set to <constant>V4L2_OUTPUT_TYPE_MODULATOR</constant> and its
485	<structfield>modulator</structfield> field contains the index number
486	of the modulator. This specification does not define radio output
487	devices.</para>
488	
489	      <para>To query and change modulator properties applications use
490	the &VIDIOC-G-MODULATOR; and &VIDIOC-S-MODULATOR; ioctl. Note that
491	<constant>VIDIOC_S_MODULATOR</constant> does not switch the current
492	modulator, when there is more than one at all. The modulator is solely
493	determined by the current video output. Drivers must support both
494	ioctls and set the <constant>V4L2_CAP_MODULATOR</constant> flag in
495	the &v4l2-capability; returned by the &VIDIOC-QUERYCAP; ioctl when the
496	device has one or more modulators.</para>
497	    </section>
498	
499	    <section>
500	      <title>Radio Frequency</title>
501	
502	      <para>To get and set the tuner or modulator radio frequency
503	applications use the &VIDIOC-G-FREQUENCY; and &VIDIOC-S-FREQUENCY;
504	ioctl which both take a pointer to a &v4l2-frequency;. These ioctls
505	are used for TV and radio devices alike. Drivers must support both
506	ioctls when the tuner or modulator ioctls are supported, or
507	when the device is a radio device.</para>
508	    </section>
509	  </section>
510	
511	  <section id="standard">
512	    <title>Video Standards</title>
513	
514	    <para>Video devices typically support one or more different video
515	standards or variations of standards. Each video input and output may
516	support another set of standards. This set is reported by the
517	<structfield>std</structfield> field of &v4l2-input; and
518	&v4l2-output; returned by the &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT; and
519	&VIDIOC-ENUMOUTPUT; ioctl, respectively.</para>
520	
521	    <para>V4L2 defines one bit for each analog video standard
522	currently in use worldwide, and sets aside bits for driver defined
523	standards, &eg; hybrid standards to watch NTSC video tapes on PAL TVs
524	and vice versa. Applications can use the predefined bits to select a
525	particular standard, although presenting the user a menu of supported
526	standards is preferred. To enumerate and query the attributes of the
527	supported standards applications use the &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD; ioctl.</para>
528	
529	    <para>Many of the defined standards are actually just variations
530	of a few major standards. The hardware may in fact not distinguish
531	between them, or do so internal and switch automatically. Therefore
532	enumerated standards also contain sets of one or more standard
533	bits.</para>
534	
535	    <para>Assume a hypothetic tuner capable of demodulating B/PAL,
536	G/PAL and I/PAL signals. The first enumerated standard is a set of B
537	and G/PAL, switched automatically depending on the selected radio
538	frequency in UHF or VHF band. Enumeration gives a "PAL-B/G" or "PAL-I"
539	choice. Similar a Composite input may collapse standards, enumerating
540	"PAL-B/G/H/I", "NTSC-M" and "SECAM-D/K".<footnote>
541		<para>Some users are already confused by technical terms PAL,
542	NTSC and SECAM. There is no point asking them to distinguish between
543	B, G, D, or K when the software or hardware can do that
544	automatically.</para>
545	    </footnote></para>
546	
547	    <para>To query and select the standard used by the current video
548	input or output applications call the &VIDIOC-G-STD; and
549	&VIDIOC-S-STD; ioctl, respectively. The <emphasis>received</emphasis>
550	standard can be sensed with the &VIDIOC-QUERYSTD; ioctl. Note 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>
551		<para>An alternative to the current scheme is to use pointers
552	to indices as arguments of <constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant> and
553	<constant>VIDIOC_S_STD</constant>, the &v4l2-input; and
554	&v4l2-output; <structfield>std</structfield> field would be a set of
555	indices like <structfield>audioset</structfield>.</para>
556		<para>Indices are consistent with the rest of the API
557	and identify the standard unambiguously. In the present scheme of
558	things an enumerated standard is looked up by &v4l2-std-id;. Now the
559	standards supported by the inputs of a device can overlap. Just
560	assume the tuner and composite input in the example above both
561	exist on a device. An enumeration of "PAL-B/G", "PAL-H/I" suggests
562	a choice which does not exist. We cannot merge or omit sets, because
563	applications would be unable to find the standards reported by
564	<constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant>. That leaves separate enumerations
565	for each input. Also selecting a standard by &v4l2-std-id; can be
566	ambiguous. Advantage of this method is that applications need not
567	identify the standard indirectly, after enumerating.</para><para>So in
568	summary, the lookup itself is unavoidable. The difference is only
569	whether the lookup is necessary to find an enumerated standard or to
570	switch to a standard by &v4l2-std-id;.</para>
571	      </footnote> Drivers must implement all video standard ioctls
572	when the device has one or more video inputs or outputs.</para>
573	
574	    <para>Special rules apply to USB cameras where the notion of video
575	standards makes little sense. More generally any capture device,
576	output devices accordingly, which is <itemizedlist>
577		<listitem>
578		  <para>incapable of capturing fields or frames at the nominal
579	rate of the video standard, or</para>
580		</listitem>
581		<listitem>
582		  <para>where <link linkend="buffer">timestamps</link> refer
583	to the instant the field or frame was received by the driver, not the
584	capture time, or</para>
585		</listitem>
586		<listitem>
587		  <para>where <link linkend="buffer">sequence numbers</link>
588	refer to the frames received by the driver, not the captured
589	frames.</para>
590		</listitem>
591	      </itemizedlist> Here the driver shall set the
592	<structfield>std</structfield> field of &v4l2-input; and &v4l2-output;
593	to zero, the <constant>VIDIOC_G_STD</constant>,
594	<constant>VIDIOC_S_STD</constant>,
595	<constant>VIDIOC_QUERYSTD</constant> and
596	<constant>VIDIOC_ENUMSTD</constant> ioctls shall return the
597	&EINVAL;.<footnote>
598		<para>See <xref linkend="buffer" /> for a rationale. Probably
599	even USB cameras follow some well known video standard. It might have
600	been better to explicitly indicate elsewhere if a device cannot live
601	up to normal expectations, instead of this exception.</para>
602		    </footnote></para>
603	
604	    <example>
605	      <title>Information about the current video standard</title>
606	
607	      <programlisting>
608	&v4l2-std-id; std_id;
609	&v4l2-standard; standard;
610	
611	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-STD;, &amp;std_id)) {
612		/* Note when VIDIOC_ENUMSTD always returns EINVAL this
613		   is no video device or it falls under the USB exception,
614		   and VIDIOC_G_STD returning EINVAL is no error. */
615	
616		perror ("VIDIOC_G_STD");
617		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
618	}
619	
620	memset (&amp;standard, 0, sizeof (standard));
621	standard.index = 0;
622	
623	while (0 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD;, &amp;standard)) {
624		if (standard.id &amp; std_id) {
625		       printf ("Current video standard: %s\n", standard.name);
626		       exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
627		}
628	
629		standard.index++;
630	}
631	
632	/* EINVAL indicates the end of the enumeration, which cannot be
633	   empty unless this device falls under the USB exception. */
634	
635	if (errno == EINVAL || standard.index == 0) {
636		perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMSTD");
637		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
638	}
639	      </programlisting>
640	    </example>
641	
642	    <example>
643	      <title>Listing the video standards supported by the current
644	input</title>
645	
646	      <programlisting>
647	&v4l2-input; input;
648	&v4l2-standard; standard;
649	
650	memset (&amp;input, 0, sizeof (input));
651	
652	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &amp;input.index)) {
653		perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT");
654		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
655	}
656	
657	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &amp;input)) {
658		perror ("VIDIOC_ENUM_INPUT");
659		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
660	}
661	
662	printf ("Current input %s supports:\n", input.name);
663	
664	memset (&amp;standard, 0, sizeof (standard));
665	standard.index = 0;
666	
667	while (0 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMSTD;, &amp;standard)) {
668		if (standard.id &amp; input.std)
669			printf ("%s\n", standard.name);
670	
671		standard.index++;
672	}
673	
674	/* EINVAL indicates the end of the enumeration, which cannot be
675	   empty unless this device falls under the USB exception. */
676	
677	if (errno != EINVAL || standard.index == 0) {
678		perror ("VIDIOC_ENUMSTD");
679		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
680	}
681	      </programlisting>
682	    </example>
683	
684	    <example>
685	      <title>Selecting a new video standard</title>
686	
687	      <programlisting>
688	&v4l2-input; input;
689	&v4l2-std-id; std_id;
690	
691	memset (&amp;input, 0, sizeof (input));
692	
693	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-INPUT;, &amp;input.index)) {
694		perror ("VIDIOC_G_INPUT");
695		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
696	}
697	
698	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-ENUMINPUT;, &amp;input)) {
699		perror ("VIDIOC_ENUM_INPUT");
700		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
701	}
702	
703	if (0 == (input.std &amp; V4L2_STD_PAL_BG)) {
704		fprintf (stderr, "Oops. B/G PAL is not supported.\n");
705		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
706	}
707	
708	/* Note this is also supposed to work when only B
709	   <emphasis>or</emphasis> G/PAL is supported. */
710	
711	std_id = V4L2_STD_PAL_BG;
712	
713	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-STD;, &amp;std_id)) {
714		perror ("VIDIOC_S_STD");
715		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
716	}
717	      </programlisting>
718	    </example>
719	  <section id="dv-timings">
720		<title>Digital Video (DV) Timings</title>
721		<para>
722		The video standards discussed so far has been dealing with Analog TV and the
723	corresponding video timings. Today there are many more different hardware interfaces
724	such as High Definition TV interfaces (HDMI), VGA, DVI connectors etc., that carry
725	video signals and there is a need to extend the API to select the video timings
726	for these interfaces. Since it is not possible to extend the &v4l2-std-id; due to
727	the limited bits available, a new set of IOCTLs is added to set/get video timings at
728	the input and output: </para><itemizedlist>
729		<listitem>
730		<para>DV Presets: Digital Video (DV) presets. These are IDs representing a
731	video timing at the input/output. Presets are pre-defined timings implemented
732	by the hardware according to video standards. A __u32 data type is used to represent
733	a preset unlike the bit mask that is used in &v4l2-std-id; allowing future extensions
734	to support as many different presets as needed.</para>
735		</listitem>
736		<listitem>
737		<para>Custom DV Timings: This will allow applications to define more detailed
738	custom video timings for the interface. This includes parameters such as width, height,
739	polarities, frontporch, backporch etc.
740		</para>
741		</listitem>
742		</itemizedlist>
743		<para>To enumerate and query the attributes of DV presets supported by a device,
744	applications use the &VIDIOC-ENUM-DV-PRESETS; ioctl. To get the current DV preset,
745	applications use the &VIDIOC-G-DV-PRESET; ioctl and to set a preset they use the
746	&VIDIOC-S-DV-PRESET; ioctl.</para>
747		<para>To set custom DV timings for the device, applications use the
748	&VIDIOC-S-DV-TIMINGS; ioctl and to get current custom DV timings they use the
749	&VIDIOC-G-DV-TIMINGS; ioctl.</para>
750		<para>Applications can make use of the <xref linkend="input-capabilities" /> and
751	<xref linkend="output-capabilities"/> flags to decide what ioctls are available to set the
752	video timings for the device.</para>
753		</section>
754	  </section>
755	
756	  &sub-controls;
757	
758	  <section id="format">
759	    <title>Data Formats</title>
760	
761	    <section>
762	      <title>Data Format Negotiation</title>
763	
764	      <para>Different devices exchange different kinds of data with
765	applications, for example video images, raw or sliced VBI data, RDS
766	datagrams. Even within one kind many different formats are possible,
767	in particular an abundance of image formats. Although drivers must
768	provide a default and the selection persists across closing and
769	reopening a device, applications should always negotiate a data format
770	before engaging in data exchange. Negotiation means the application
771	asks for a particular format and the driver selects and reports the
772	best the hardware can do to satisfy the request. Of course
773	applications can also just query the current selection.</para>
774	
775	      <para>A single mechanism exists to negotiate all data formats
776	using the aggregate &v4l2-format; and the &VIDIOC-G-FMT; and
777	&VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctls. Additionally the &VIDIOC-TRY-FMT; ioctl can be
778	used to examine what the hardware <emphasis>could</emphasis> do,
779	without actually selecting a new data format. The data formats
780	supported by the V4L2 API are covered in the respective device section
781	in <xref linkend="devices" />. For a closer look at image formats see
782	<xref linkend="pixfmt" />.</para>
783	
784	      <para>The <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl is a major
785	turning-point in the initialization sequence. Prior to this point
786	multiple panel applications can access the same device concurrently to
787	select the current input, change controls or modify other properties.
788	The first <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> assigns a logical stream
789	(video data, VBI data etc.) exclusively to one file descriptor.</para>
790	
791	      <para>Exclusive means no other application, more precisely no
792	other file descriptor, can grab this stream or change device
793	properties inconsistent with the negotiated parameters. A video
794	standard change for example, when the new standard uses a different
795	number of scan lines, can invalidate the selected image format.
796	Therefore only the file descriptor owning the stream can make
797	invalidating changes. Accordingly multiple file descriptors which
798	grabbed different logical streams prevent each other from interfering
799	with their settings. When for example video overlay is about to start
800	or already in progress, simultaneous video capturing may be restricted
801	to the same cropping and image size.</para>
802	
803	      <para>When applications omit the
804	<constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl its locking side effects are
805	implied by the next step, the selection of an I/O method with the
806	&VIDIOC-REQBUFS; ioctl or implicit with the first &func-read; or
807	&func-write; call.</para>
808	
809	      <para>Generally only one logical stream can be assigned to a
810	file descriptor, the exception being drivers permitting simultaneous
811	video capturing and overlay using the same file descriptor for
812	compatibility with V4L and earlier versions of V4L2. Switching the
813	logical stream or returning into "panel mode" is possible by closing
814	and reopening the device. Drivers <emphasis>may</emphasis> support a
815	switch using <constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant>.</para>
816	
817	      <para>All drivers exchanging data with
818	applications must support the <constant>VIDIOC_G_FMT</constant> and
819	<constant>VIDIOC_S_FMT</constant> ioctl. Implementation of the
820	<constant>VIDIOC_TRY_FMT</constant> is highly recommended but
821	optional.</para>
822	    </section>
823	
824	    <section>
825	      <title>Image Format Enumeration</title>
826	
827	      <para>Apart of the generic format negotiation functions
828	a special ioctl to enumerate all image formats supported by video
829	capture, overlay or output devices is available.<footnote>
830		  <para>Enumerating formats an application has no a-priori
831	knowledge of (otherwise it could explicitly ask for them and need not
832	enumerate) seems useless, but there are applications serving as proxy
833	between drivers and the actual video applications for which this is
834	useful.</para>
835		</footnote></para>
836	
837	      <para>The &VIDIOC-ENUM-FMT; ioctl must be supported
838	by all drivers exchanging image data with applications.</para>
839	
840	      <important>
841		<para>Drivers are not supposed to convert image formats in
842	kernel space. They must enumerate only formats directly supported by
843	the hardware. If necessary driver writers should publish an example
844	conversion routine or library for integration into applications.</para>
845	      </important>
846	    </section>
847	  </section>
848	
849	  &sub-planar-apis;
850	
851	  <section id="crop">
852	    <title>Image Cropping, Insertion and Scaling</title>
853	
854	    <para>Some video capture devices can sample a subsection of the
855	picture and shrink or enlarge it to an image of arbitrary size. We
856	call these abilities cropping and scaling. Some video output devices
857	can scale an image up or down and insert it at an arbitrary scan line
858	and horizontal offset into a video signal.</para>
859	
860	    <para>Applications can use the following API to select an area in
861	the video signal, query the default area and the hardware limits.
862	<emphasis>Despite their name, the &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &VIDIOC-G-CROP;
863	and &VIDIOC-S-CROP; ioctls apply to input as well as output
864	devices.</emphasis></para>
865	
866	    <para>Scaling requires a source and a target. On a video capture
867	or overlay device the source is the video signal, and the cropping
868	ioctls determine the area actually sampled. The target are images
869	read by the application or overlaid onto the graphics screen. Their
870	size (and position for an overlay) is negotiated with the
871	&VIDIOC-G-FMT; and &VIDIOC-S-FMT; ioctls.</para>
872	
873	    <para>On a video output device the source are the images passed in
874	by the application, and their size is again negotiated with the
875	<constant>VIDIOC_G/S_FMT</constant> ioctls, or may be encoded in a
876	compressed video stream. The target is the video signal, and the
877	cropping ioctls determine the area where the images are
878	inserted.</para>
879	
880	    <para>Source and target rectangles are defined even if the device
881	does not support scaling or the <constant>VIDIOC_G/S_CROP</constant>
882	ioctls. Their size (and position where applicable) will be fixed in
883	this case. <emphasis>All capture and output device must support the
884	<constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant> ioctl such that applications can
885	determine if scaling takes place.</emphasis></para>
886	
887	    <section>
888	      <title>Cropping Structures</title>
889	
890	      <figure id="crop-scale">
891		<title>Image Cropping, Insertion and Scaling</title>
892		<mediaobject>
893		  <imageobject>
894		    <imagedata fileref="crop.pdf" format="PS" />
895		  </imageobject>
896		  <imageobject>
897		    <imagedata fileref="crop.gif" format="GIF" />
898		  </imageobject>
899		  <textobject>
900		    <phrase>The cropping, insertion and scaling process</phrase>
901		  </textobject>
902		</mediaobject>
903	      </figure>
904	
905	      <para>For capture devices the coordinates of the top left
906	corner, width and height of the area which can be sampled is given by
907	the <structfield>bounds</structfield> substructure of the
908	&v4l2-cropcap; returned by the <constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant>
909	ioctl. To support a wide range of hardware this specification does not
910	define an origin or units. However by convention drivers should
911	horizontally count unscaled samples relative to 0H (the leading edge
912	of the horizontal sync pulse, see <xref linkend="vbi-hsync" />).
913	Vertically ITU-R line
914	numbers of the first field (<xref linkend="vbi-525" />, <xref
915	linkend="vbi-625" />), multiplied by two if the driver can capture both
916	fields.</para>
917	
918	      <para>The top left corner, width and height of the source
919	rectangle, that is the area actually sampled, is given by &v4l2-crop;
920	using the same coordinate system as &v4l2-cropcap;. Applications can
921	use the <constant>VIDIOC_G_CROP</constant> and
922	<constant>VIDIOC_S_CROP</constant> ioctls to get and set this
923	rectangle. It must lie completely within the capture boundaries and
924	the driver may further adjust the requested size and/or position
925	according to hardware limitations.</para>
926	
927	      <para>Each capture device has a default source rectangle, given
928	by the <structfield>defrect</structfield> substructure of
929	&v4l2-cropcap;. The center of this rectangle shall align with the
930	center of the active picture area of the video signal, and cover what
931	the driver writer considers the complete picture. Drivers shall reset
932	the source rectangle to the default when the driver is first loaded,
933	but not later.</para>
934	
935	      <para>For output devices these structures and ioctls are used
936	accordingly, defining the <emphasis>target</emphasis> rectangle where
937	the images will be inserted into the video signal.</para>
938	
939	    </section>
940	
941	    <section>
942	      <title>Scaling Adjustments</title>
943	
944	      <para>Video hardware can have various cropping, insertion and
945	scaling limitations. It may only scale up or down, support only
946	discrete scaling factors, or have different scaling abilities in
947	horizontal and vertical direction. Also it may not support scaling at
948	all. At the same time the &v4l2-crop; rectangle may have to be
949	aligned, and both the source and target rectangles may have arbitrary
950	upper and lower size limits. In particular the maximum
951	<structfield>width</structfield> and <structfield>height</structfield>
952	in &v4l2-crop; may be smaller than the
953	&v4l2-cropcap;.<structfield>bounds</structfield> area. Therefore, as
954	usual, drivers are expected to adjust the requested parameters and
955	return the actual values selected.</para>
956	
957	      <para>Applications can change the source or the target rectangle
958	first, as they may prefer a particular image size or a certain area in
959	the video signal. If the driver has to adjust both to satisfy hardware
960	limitations, the last requested rectangle shall take priority, and the
961	driver should preferably adjust the opposite one. The &VIDIOC-TRY-FMT;
962	ioctl however shall not change the driver state and therefore only
963	adjust the requested rectangle.</para>
964	
965	      <para>Suppose scaling on a video capture device is restricted to
966	a factor 1:1 or 2:1 in either direction and the target image size must
967	be a multiple of 16&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;16 pixels. The source cropping
968	rectangle is set to defaults, which are also the upper limit in this
969	example, of 640&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;400 pixels at offset 0,&nbsp;0. An
970	application requests an image size of 300&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;225
971	pixels, assuming video will be scaled down from the "full picture"
972	accordingly. The driver sets the image size to the closest possible
973	values 304&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;224, then chooses the cropping rectangle
974	closest to the requested size, that is 608&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;224
975	(224&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;2:1 would exceed the limit 400). The offset
976	0,&nbsp;0 is still valid, thus unmodified. Given the default cropping
977	rectangle reported by <constant>VIDIOC_CROPCAP</constant> the
978	application can easily propose another offset to center the cropping
979	rectangle.</para>
980	
981	      <para>Now the application may insist on covering an area using a
982	picture aspect ratio closer to the original request, so it asks for a
983	cropping rectangle of 608&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;456 pixels. The present
984	scaling factors limit cropping to 640&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;384, so the
985	driver returns the cropping size 608&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;384 and adjusts
986	the image size to closest possible 304&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;192.</para>
987	
988	    </section>
989	
990	    <section>
991	      <title>Examples</title>
992	
993	      <para>Source and target rectangles shall remain unchanged across
994	closing and reopening a device, such that piping data into or out of a
995	device will work without special preparations. More advanced
996	applications should ensure the parameters are suitable before starting
997	I/O.</para>
998	
999	      <example>
1000		<title>Resetting the cropping parameters</title>
1001	
1002		<para>(A video capture device is assumed; change
1003	<constant>V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE</constant> for other
1004	devices.)</para>
1005	
1006		<programlisting>
1007	&v4l2-cropcap; cropcap;
1008	&v4l2-crop; crop;
1009	
1010	memset (&amp;cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap));
1011	cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1012	
1013	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &amp;cropcap)) {
1014		perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP");
1015		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1016	}
1017	
1018	memset (&amp;crop, 0, sizeof (crop));
1019	crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1020	crop.c = cropcap.defrect;
1021	
1022	/* Ignore if cropping is not supported (EINVAL). */
1023	
1024	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-CROP;, &amp;crop)
1025	    &amp;&amp; errno != EINVAL) {
1026		perror ("VIDIOC_S_CROP");
1027		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1028	}
1029	      </programlisting>
1030	      </example>
1031	
1032	      <example>
1033		<title>Simple downscaling</title>
1034	
1035		<para>(A video capture device is assumed.)</para>
1036	
1037		<programlisting>
1038	&v4l2-cropcap; cropcap;
1039	&v4l2-format; format;
1040	
1041	reset_cropping_parameters ();
1042	
1043	/* Scale down to 1/4 size of full picture. */
1044	
1045	memset (&amp;format, 0, sizeof (format)); /* defaults */
1046	
1047	format.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1048	
1049	format.fmt.pix.width = cropcap.defrect.width &gt;&gt; 1;
1050	format.fmt.pix.height = cropcap.defrect.height &gt;&gt; 1;
1051	format.fmt.pix.pixelformat = V4L2_PIX_FMT_YUYV;
1052	
1053	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-S-FMT;, &amp;format)) {
1054		perror ("VIDIOC_S_FORMAT");
1055		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1056	}
1057	
1058	/* We could check the actual image size now, the actual scaling factor
1059	   or if the driver can scale at all. */
1060		</programlisting>
1061	      </example>
1062	
1063	      <example>
1064		<title>Selecting an output area</title>
1065	
1066		<programlisting>
1067	&v4l2-cropcap; cropcap;
1068	&v4l2-crop; crop;
1069	
1070	memset (&amp;cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap));
1071	cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_OUTPUT;
1072	
1073	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, VIDIOC_CROPCAP;, &amp;cropcap)) {
1074		perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP");
1075		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1076	}
1077	
1078	memset (&amp;crop, 0, sizeof (crop));
1079	
1080	crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_OUTPUT;
1081	crop.c = cropcap.defrect;
1082	
1083	/* Scale the width and height to 50 % of their original size
1084	   and center the output. */
1085	
1086	crop.c.width /= 2;
1087	crop.c.height /= 2;
1088	crop.c.left += crop.c.width / 2;
1089	crop.c.top += crop.c.height / 2;
1090	
1091	/* Ignore if cropping is not supported (EINVAL). */
1092	
1093	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, VIDIOC_S_CROP, &amp;crop)
1094	    &amp;&amp; errno != EINVAL) {
1095		perror ("VIDIOC_S_CROP");
1096		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1097	}
1098	</programlisting>
1099	      </example>
1100	
1101	      <example>
1102		<title>Current scaling factor and pixel aspect</title>
1103	
1104		<para>(A video capture device is assumed.)</para>
1105	
1106		<programlisting>
1107	&v4l2-cropcap; cropcap;
1108	&v4l2-crop; crop;
1109	&v4l2-format; format;
1110	double hscale, vscale;
1111	double aspect;
1112	int dwidth, dheight;
1113	
1114	memset (&amp;cropcap, 0, sizeof (cropcap));
1115	cropcap.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1116	
1117	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-CROPCAP;, &amp;cropcap)) {
1118		perror ("VIDIOC_CROPCAP");
1119		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1120	}
1121	
1122	memset (&amp;crop, 0, sizeof (crop));
1123	crop.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1124	
1125	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-CROP;, &amp;crop)) {
1126		if (errno != EINVAL) {
1127			perror ("VIDIOC_G_CROP");
1128			exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1129		}
1130	
1131		/* Cropping not supported. */
1132		crop.c = cropcap.defrect;
1133	}
1134	
1135	memset (&amp;format, 0, sizeof (format));
1136	format.fmt.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
1137	
1138	if (-1 == ioctl (fd, &VIDIOC-G-FMT;, &amp;format)) {
1139		perror ("VIDIOC_G_FMT");
1140		exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
1141	}
1142	
1143	/* The scaling applied by the driver. */
1144	
1145	hscale = format.fmt.pix.width / (double) crop.c.width;
1146	vscale = format.fmt.pix.height / (double) crop.c.height;
1147	
1148	aspect = cropcap.pixelaspect.numerator /
1149		 (double) cropcap.pixelaspect.denominator;
1150	aspect = aspect * hscale / vscale;
1151	
1152	/* Devices following ITU-R BT.601 do not capture
1153	   square pixels. For playback on a computer monitor
1154	   we should scale the images to this size. */
1155	
1156	dwidth = format.fmt.pix.width / aspect;
1157	dheight = format.fmt.pix.height;
1158		</programlisting>
1159	      </example>
1160	    </section>
1161	  </section>
1162	
1163	  <section id="streaming-par">
1164	    <title>Streaming Parameters</title>
1165	
1166	    <para>Streaming parameters are intended to optimize the video
1167	capture process as well as I/O. Presently applications can request a
1168	high quality capture mode with the &VIDIOC-S-PARM; ioctl.</para>
1169	
1170	    <para>The current video standard determines a nominal number of
1171	frames per second. If less than this number of frames is to be
1172	captured or output, applications can request frame skipping or
1173	duplicating on the driver side. This is especially useful when using
1174	the &func-read; or &func-write;, which are not augmented by timestamps
1175	or sequence counters, and to avoid unnecessary data copying.</para>
1176	
1177	    <para>Finally these ioctls can be used to determine the number of
1178	buffers used internally by a driver in read/write mode. For
1179	implications see the section discussing the &func-read;
1180	function.</para>
1181	
1182	    <para>To get and set the streaming parameters applications call
1183	the &VIDIOC-G-PARM; and &VIDIOC-S-PARM; ioctl, respectively. They take
1184	a pointer to a &v4l2-streamparm;, which contains a union holding
1185	separate parameters for input and output devices.</para>
1186	
1187	    <para>These ioctls are optional, drivers need not implement
1188	them. If so, they return the &EINVAL;.</para>
1189	  </section>
1190	
1191	  <!--
1192	Local Variables:
1193	mode: sgml
1194	sgml-parent-document: "v4l2.sgml"
1195	indent-tabs-mode: nil
1196	End:
1197	  -->
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