xawtv - a X11 program for watching TV


SYNOPSIS

       xawtv [ options ] [ station name ]


DESCRIPTION

       xawtv  is a simple program for watching TV with your linux
       box. It uses the Athena widgets.  xawtv supports the  bttv
       driver,  v4l  (video4linux,  included  in  2.2.x)  and the
       Xvideo extention.

       xawtv reads the  config  files  /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xawtvrc
       and  $HOME/.xawtv  at  startup.   Settings in the personal
       config file will overwrite the  options  from  the  global
       config  file.  These files holds the available TV stations
       and a few settings like TV norm.  You have to  create  the
       config file yourself, see below for details.


OPTIONS

       All  command line options also have a Resource, so you can
       put them into your .Xdefaults file too.

       -h, -help
              Print a  short  desctiption  of  all  command  line
              options.
              Resource: xawtv.help (bool).

       -hwscan
              Print a list of available devices.

       -f, -fullscreen
              startup in fullscreen mode.
              Resource: xawtv.fullscreen (bool).

       -n, -noconf
              don't read the config file ($HOME/.xawtv).
              Resource: xawtv.readconfig (bool).

       -o, -outfile base
              set  basestring for the snapshot output files.  The
              filename will be "base-timestamp-nr.ext".
              Resource: xawtv.basename (string).

       -c, -device device
              set video4linux device  (default  is  /dev/video0).
              This option also disables Xvideo support.
              Resource: xawtv.device (string).

       -C, -dspdev device
              set audio device (default is /dev/dsp).
              Resource: xawtv.dspdev (string).

              set  Xvideo  port  (defaults  to the first usable).
              This option also enables Xvideo support.
              Resource: xawtv.xvport (int).

       -v, -debug level
              Be verbose, level may be 0 (default), 1 or  2.   It
              exists just for debugging and trouble-shooting.
              Resource: xawtv.debug (int).

       -remote
              X11  display  is  remote.   This basically disables
              overlay mode, you might need this if  xawtv  failes
              to autodetect a remote X11 display.
              Resource: xawtv.remote (bool).

       -b, -bpp n
              force  xawtv  into  n  bpp  color depth.  Works for
              switching between 15/16 and 24/32 bpp.   This  gets
              just passed through to v4l-conf(1).
              Resource: xawtv.bpp (int).

       -shift n
              Shift  the  video  display by n bytes.  Try this if
              your video display is'nt within the  xawtv  window.
              This gets passed through to v4l-conf(1) too.
              Resource: xawtv.shift (int).

       -fb    Use  the  framebuffer device to determine the video
              framebuffer address (instead of the DGA extention).
              Yet another pass through argument.
              Resource: xawtv.fbdev (bool).

       -xv/-noxv
              enable/disable  the  usage  of the Xvideo extention
              (for overlay), default is on.
              Resource: xawtv.xvideo (bool).

       -scale/-noscale
              enable/disable the usage of  the  Xvideo  extention
              (for hardware scaling in grabdisplay mode), default
              is on.
              Resource: xawtv.hwscale (bool).

       -vm/-novm
              enable/disable the usage of the VidMode  extention,
              default  is  off.   If  there is a fullscreen video
              mode configured in the  config  file,  the  vidmode
              extention will be enabled automatically.
              Resource: xawtv.vidmode (bool).

       -dga/-nodga
              enable/disable  the  usage  of  the  DGA extention,
              default is on.


       The usual Toolkit options  like  -geometry  are  supported
       too.


GETTING STARTED

       Just  start up xawtv, this will work without a config file
       too.  Then check out the options (right mouse button)  and
       adjust  the  settings  (TV  norm,  Video  source, freqency
       table).  With the cursor keys you can  control  the  tuner
       and look for TV Stations.

       If  you've  found  one, start up your favorite text editor
       and stick it into the $HOME/.xawtv config  file.   Or  you
       can  check  out  the  new channel editor.  Hotkey 'E' will
       start it.  Warning: Writing the config file with the chan­
       nel editor will kill all the comments you might have added
       to your config file.

       You can also check out scantv.  That's a command line tool
       which  will  perform  a channel scan and write out a xawtv
       config file with all channels it has found.

   Mouse functions
       The left mouse button will popup a menu with all  TV  sta­
       tions found in the config file. The middle button switches
       to the next station. The right button brings up  a  window
       with alot of options and control functions.

   Keyboard Shortcuts
       V            Video (Capture) on/off
       A            Audio on/off
       F            Fullscreen on/off
       G            Grab picture (full size, ppm)
       J            Grab picture (full size, jpeg)
       Ctrl+G       Grab picture (window size, ppm)
       Ctrl+J       Grab picture (window size, jpeg)
       O            Popup Options Window
       C            Popup Channels Window
       E            Popup Channel Editor
       R            Popup AVI Recording Window
       Z            Channel Hopper (zapping, tune in every station
                    a few seconds)
       Ctrl+Z       Fast Channel Hopping (grab the images for the Channel
                    Window)

       up/down      tune up/down one channel
       left/right   fine tuning
       pgup/pgdown  station up/down
       space        next station (same as pgup)
       backspace    previously tuned station
       Ctrl+up      scan for next station

       ESC,Q        Quit

       Enter        mute (keypad)

   config file
       You   can   stick   the   channels   into  a  config  file
       ($HOME/.xawtv). Looks like this:

       [ORB]
       channel = 27

       The branches hold some string (TV station ID),  the  lines
       below  are  the settings for that channel.  The station ID
       "defaults" is a special case, this one sets  the  defaults
       for  all channels.  Usually the channel line is enouth for
       one station, all other settings can go to the "[defaults]"
       section.

       Here is the detailed description of all options:

       fine = n
              finetuning (what left+right keys do), default: 0

       norm = pal | ntsc | secam
              which TV norm, default is pal

       key = keysym
              Hotkey  for  the  channel.  All X11 keysyms allowed
              here. You can prefix a keysym with Modifier+,  i.e.
              ^F is "Ctrl+F".

       capture = off | overlay | grabdisplay
              capture  mode:  off,  overlay  (default, TV card =>
              video, 0% cpu) or grabdisplay (TV card => main mem­
              ory  =>  X-Server  =>  video, frame rate depends on
              load and picture size).

       input = Television | Composite1 | Composite2 | SVHS
              input source.  The  valid  choices  depend  on  the
              hardware  driver,  the  values above are just exam­
              ples.

       color = n

       bright = n

       hue = n

       contrast = n
              Valid range is 0-65535, default is 32768.  Adding a
              percent  symbol  changes  the  range to 0-100, i.e.
              "50%" has the same effect like "32768".

       audio = mono | stereo | lang1 | lang2
              Set the audio mode for the given channel.

              Specify the frequency for the given  station  (MHz,
              video carrier).  You shouldn't need this for normal
              operation, all your channels should  be  listed  in
              the  frequency table for your area (if not, mail me
              a patch).  Maybe unless you live  near  the  border
              and   the  foreign  country  uses  another  channel
              scheme.

       A few global settings go to the "[global]" section:

       fullscreen = width x height
              specify which video mode should be used  for  full-
              screen.   Works  with XFree only, and of cource you
              need  a  valid  modeline  for  this  mode  in  your
              XF86Config  file.  You also have to enable the Vid­
              Mode extention (option -vm, see above) to make this
              work.

       wm-off-by = [+-]x[+-]y
              Some WM's handle static gravity not correct (I know
              mwm  and  kwm).   This  is  somewhat  boring   with
              fullscreen mode.  With this options you can correct
              this with a displacement for moving  windows.   For
              example,  wm-off-by  = -4-24 does the trick for kwm
              (the KDE1 window manager).

       freqtab =
              select a channel-to-freqency mapping.  Options win­
              dow->Frequency  table  brings  up  a  menu with all
              valid entries (and allows table-switching  at  run­
              time).

       pixsize = width x height
              size  of  the channel pixmaps (within Channels win­
              dow).  0x0 disables this feature.

       pixcols = n
              number of columns the channel  window  should  use.
              Defaults to 1.

       mixer = ctl | device:ctl
              This  allows to control volume using the sound card
              mixer.  ctl is the mixer control,  i.e.  "vol"  for
              the  master volume. "line1" is a good candidate for
              the TV card.  device is the mixer device  (defaults
              to   /dev/mixer  in  unspecified).   Volume-control
              works with the keypad: + is up, - is down, Enter is
              mute.

       jpeg-quality = n
              set  the  quality  for  jpeg  images.  As usual the
              valid range for n is [0

              set the quality for mjpeg AVI movies.   Default  is
              75.

       keypad-ntsc = on | off
              Configure  keypad  mode.  Default is off.  When set
              to on, numbers typed on the keypad are  interpreted
              as  channel  numbers  (this  is  like  NTSC TV sets
              work).  Otherwise  they  are  interpreted  as  pro­
              grammed  station,  i.e. 1 is the first station from
              $HOME/.xawtv, ...

       osd = on | off
              Enable/disable the onscreen display  in  fullscreen
              mode.  Default is on.

       ratio = x:y
              Set a fixed aspect ratio for the TV image.

       mov-driver = files | raw | avi | mov

       mov-video  = ppm | pgm | jpeg | rgb | gray | 422 | 422p |
              rgb15 | rgb24 | mjpeg | jpeg | raw | mjpa | png

       mov-fps = fps

       mov-audio = mono8 | mono16 | stereo

       mov-rate = rate
              Set defaults for movie recording.  Not all possible
              combinations are valid choices.  "streamer -h" will
              print a nice list.

       You  can  start other programs from within xawtv.  This is
       configured with entries in the "[launch]" section:

       label = key, command line
              The specified hotkey will run the  configured  pro­
              gram.   Calling  the  Action  "Launch(label)" works
              too.  If you want to play with the  Xt  translation
              tables,  feel free to do so.  But don't complain if
              you broke something while doing so...

   config file example
       My config file looks like this:

       # this is a comment
       # empty lines are ignored too

       [global]
       freqtab = pal-europe
       #mixer   = line
       fullscreen = 768x576

       # Modeline  "pal"  50.00  768 832 856 1000  576 590 595 630  -hsync -vsync

       [launch]
       AleVT = Ctrl+A, alevt

       [defaults]
       source  = television
       norm    = pal

       [ZDF]
       channel=33
       key=F1

       [ORB]
       channel = 27
       key = F2

       # more stations follow here

       [Camera]
       source = Composite1
       key = K


BUGS

       Bug reports with images attached go to /dev/null unseen.

       The mono/stereo display is not reliable  due  to  v4l  API
       restrictions.   The  API  can  not report back the current
       audio mode, but a list of the currently  available  modes.
       xawtv just does a guess based on that, assuming the driver
       uses the best available mode.  Depending on your  hardware
       this might not be true.

       If  in  doubt whenever stereo really works, please tune in
       MTV and listen, don't trust what xawtv says.


SEE ALSO

       fbtv(1), v4l-conf(1), scantv(1)
       http://bytesex.org/xawtv/ (homepage)


AUTHOR

       Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1997-99 Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>

       This program is free software;  you  can  redistribute  it
       and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
       License as published  by  the  Free  Software  Foundation;
       either  version  2 of the License, or (at your option) any
       later version.

       This program is distributed in the hope that  it  will  be

       warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS  FOR  A  PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.   See  the  GNU  General  Public License for more
       details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General  Public
       License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
       Software Foundation, Inc., 675  Mass  Ave,  Cambridge,  MA
       02139, USA.


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