ATI TexturedVideo AVIVO (8.25.18)

[Michael]

Not only did the Dynamic Display Management Options sneak into the shipping 8.25.18 drivers last month, but so did the TexturedVideo support. While the option remains undocumented in the 8.25.18 fglrx display drivers, it was discovered that the TexturedVideo option is indeed there, even for non-X1000 Radeon parts.

Adding the below line to the fglrx device section of the xorg.conf. with fglrx drivers 8.25.18 or newer, should yield TexturedVideo success. If using version 8.24.8, or older, the option will NOT work. With the 8.25 drivers, there doesn't appear to be any aticonfig option for this video feature.

Option "TexturedVideo" "on"

Phoronix had initially detailed TexturedVideo in our launch-day ATI Radeon X1800 Linux Preview, which came with the X1k Linux support in the 8.24 drivers. In that preview, we had actually shared that the feature would likely be embedded into the 8.25 drivers. TexturedVideo basically uses the 3D engine for video playback rather than 2D. ATI's TexturedVideo option is fairly similar to other TexturedVideo capabilities in XGL and other drivers. Any program using the XV (X-Video) extension, should be able to handle this 3D accelerated playback. TexturedVideo does require X.Org v6.9.0 or higher.

This option was tested on a Mobility Radeon X300.

[B]$ fglrxinfo[/B]

display: :0.0  screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON X300 Generic
OpenGL version string: 2.0.5814 (8.25.18)

Below is the $ xvinfo output prior to the TexturedVideo option being added.

X-Video Extension version 2.2
screen #0
 no adaptors present

Then the output after TexturedVideo was utilized.

X-Video Extension version 2.2
screen #0
  Adaptor #0: "ATI Radeon AVIVO Video"
    number of ports: 1
    port base: 115
    operations supported: PutImage
    supported visuals:
      depth 24, visualID 0x23
      depth 24, visualID 0x24
      depth 24, visualID 0x25
      depth 24, visualID 0x26
      depth 24, visualID 0x27
      depth 24, visualID 0x28
      depth 24, visualID 0x29
      depth 24, visualID 0x2a
      depth 24, visualID 0x2b
      depth 24, visualID 0x2c
      depth 24, visualID 0x2d
      depth 24, visualID 0x2e
      depth 24, visualID 0x2f
      depth 24, visualID 0x30
      depth 24, visualID 0x31
      depth 24, visualID 0x32
      depth 24, visualID 0x33
      depth 24, visualID 0x34
      depth 24, visualID 0x35
      depth 24, visualID 0x36
      depth 24, visualID 0x37
      depth 24, visualID 0x38
      depth 24, visualID 0x39
      depth 24, visualID 0x3a
      depth 24, visualID 0x3b
      depth 24, visualID 0x3c
      depth 24, visualID 0x3d
      depth 24, visualID 0x3e
      depth 24, visualID 0x3f
      depth 24, visualID 0x40
      depth 24, visualID 0x41
      depth 24, visualID 0x42
      depth 24, visualID 0x43
      depth 24, visualID 0x44
      depth 24, visualID 0x45
      depth 24, visualID 0x46
      depth 24, visualID 0x47
      depth 24, visualID 0x48
      depth 24, visualID 0x49
      depth 24, visualID 0x4a
      depth 24, visualID 0x4b
      depth 24, visualID 0x4c
      depth 24, visualID 0x4d
      depth 24, visualID 0x4e
      depth 24, visualID 0x4f
      depth 24, visualID 0x50
      depth 24, visualID 0x51
      depth 24, visualID 0x52
      depth 24, visualID 0x53
      depth 24, visualID 0x54
      depth 24, visualID 0x55
      depth 24, visualID 0x56
      depth 24, visualID 0x57
      depth 24, visualID 0x58
      depth 24, visualID 0x59
      depth 24, visualID 0x5a
      depth 24, visualID 0x5b
      depth 24, visualID 0x5c
      depth 24, visualID 0x5d
      depth 24, visualID 0x5e
      depth 24, visualID 0x5f
      depth 24, visualID 0x60
      depth 24, visualID 0x61
      depth 24, visualID 0x62
    number of attributes: 12
      "XV_SET_DEFAULTS" (range 0 to 1)
              client settable attribute
      "XV_DOUBLE_BUFFER" (range 0 to 1)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 1)
      "XV_BRIGHTNESS" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_CONTRAST" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_SATURATION" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_COLOR" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_HUE" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_RED_INTENSITY" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_GREEN_INTENSITY" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "XV_BLUE_INTENSITY" (range -1000 to 1000)
              client settable attribute
              client gettable attribute (current value is 0)
      "
" (range 0 to 0)
      "
" (range 0 to 0)
    maximum XvImage size: 4096 x 4096
    Number of image formats: 4
      id: 0x32595559 (YUY2)
        guid: 59555932-0000-0010-8000-00aa00389b71
        bits per pixel: 16
        number of planes: 1
        type: YUV (packed)
      id: 0x59565955 (UYVY)
        guid: 55595659-0000-0010-8000-00aa00389b71
        bits per pixel: 16
        number of planes: 1
        type: YUV (packed)
      id: 0x32315659 (YV12)
        guid: 59563132-0000-0010-8000-00aa00389b71
        bits per pixel: 12
        number of planes: 3
        type: YUV (planar)
      id: 0x30323449 (I420)
        guid: 49343230-0000-0010-8000-00aa00389b71
        bits per pixel: 12
        number of planes: 3
        type: YUV (planar)

Though barely noticeable, below is an uncompressed JPG image quickly comparing the gl driver in mplayer against the xv driver (which was able to used TexturedVideo). On the left hand side are screenshots from mplayer with gl, and on the right hand side is the xv with TexturedVideo. Once again, this was done using a Mobility Radeon X300. As this ATI feature isn't yet officially implemented, look for more decisive tests coming at Phoronix at a later date.



As this feature isn't yet officially implemented, do not expect ATI support if you experience issues. ATI also does not endorse nor support manually modifying your xorg.conf. However, feel free to post your thoughts or problems in our ATI Linux section of the Phoronix Forums.