[MPlayer-matrox] G550 and TV out

[Vladimir Stojkovic]

On Tuesday 08 November 2005 16:11, Attila Kinali wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Nov 2005 17:07:44 +0100
>
> Vladimir Stojkovic <vladastojkovic at gmx.de> wrote:
> > > I do not see how this should work with vidix, especialy as the kernel
> > > patch is totaly unrelated to how vidix works. Vidix accesses the
> > > graphics card directly, the same way as mga_vid does (actualy it's a
> > > port of mga_vid to the vidix interface).
> >
> > 	I have mga_crtc2_vid.so in /usr/lib/mplayer/vidix directory, so I've
> > assumed that it is related to second head and can be used for tv out.
> > However, you said that mga vidix libraries are nothing else but mga_vid
> > ported for vidix interface.
>
> Oh, i was not aware that they had still the crt2 code in there.
> I removed the crt2 code from mga_vid when i ported it to linux 2.6
> as it was never really working according to Arpi who developed it.
> I must admit that i haven't had a look at the vidix code for
> a very long time.

	Ok. Now everything make sense.

> > On the other side, I've found in the documentation that porting
> > crtc2 code (from dfbmga) to mga_vid has been planned for years, but
> > haven't found anything about the progress.
>
> Uh.. i neither had the time to look at dfbmga. Yes, shame on me.

	I really appreciate your work, so I wouldn't say that it is shame on you. And 
who knows, maybe one day we will have DVD Max feature for G-Series just 
out-of-the-box! ;)

>
> > So, I can conclude that still there is no
> > way to have functional X during video playback on tv. Am I right?
>
> No idea. As i said, i do not own a TV, thus i never really
> cared about TV-out.

	Maybe you should try to watch some move on a big (72cm or bigger) screen! I 
think that after that experience you would care. I haven't cared about tv, 
the same as you, for very long time but when I saw a movie on it I've changed 
my mind.

> > > IIRC there is a whole section in the MPlayer documentation on how
> > > to get TV-Out with matrox cards, did you had a look at that?
> > > (No, i've never tried it myself as i do not own a TV)
> > > Also the Mailinglist archives on gmane might help.
> >
> > 	Believe me, I've searched Internet twice, red mplayer documentation a
> > couple of times, red gmane mailinglist and haven't found what I'm
> > searching for. It is written in the documentation that use of framebuffer
> > is the only way to get tv out for Matrox G450/G550. However, that howto
> > is last updated in September 2003.
>
> Believe me, the mga code didnt change in the last 3 years much.
> It didnt even change at all in the last 2 years, so you can safely
> assume that the howto is still valid.

	Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it.

> The more i deal with mga_vid and its problems, i get to the
> conclusion that a truly openly documented graphics card is
> a must have for the OSS community as otherwise we will run
> out of graphics output devices is in the near future.
> I hope, that the open graphics project will be a success.

	Mga_vid is working for me for about 2 years like charm. Until now there 
wasn't a single problem! :)
	The reason why I bought Matrox is the myth that it is best supported graphics 
card for linux (especially G series). However, for me it is just a myth 
because from time to time I have problems with my dvi connection, and well 
known maven encoder specs were never released in to the public. But, when I 
hear the stories about other companies graphics cards I consider myself 
lucky. ;)
	Ones more. Thanks for the information! 

regards