omxplayer(1) -- Raspberry Pi command line OMX player

Deprecation Warning

Note: omxplayer has been deprecated since 2020; resources are directed at improving vlc.

This is because omxplayer:

• uses openvg for OSD and subtitles which isn't supported on Pi4.
• uses openmax which has been deprecated for a long time & isn't supported with 64-bit kernels
• does not support software decode
• does not support advanced subtitles
• does not support playback from ISO files.
• does not integrate with the X desktop

Please try using vlc. If there are features of omxplayer that vlc does not handle then try reporting here.

Description

OMXPlayer is a command-line video player for the Raspberry Pi. It can play video directly from the command line and does not require a desktop. OMXPlayer leverages the OpenMAX API to make use of the hardware video decoder in the GPU. Hardware acceleration along with direct command-line use on ARM silicon allows ultra low overhead, low power video playback. OMXPlayer was developed as a testbed for the XBMC Raspberry Pi implementation and is quite handy to use standalone.

DOWNLOADING

git clone https://github.com/popcornmix/omxplayer.git

HELP AND DOCS

omxplayer's built-in help and the man page are all generated from this README.md file during make. You may need to change the Makefile if you modify the structure of README.md!

COMPILING

Run this script which will install build dependency packages, including g++, and update firmware

./prepare-native-raspbian.sh

Build with

make ffmpeg
make -j$(nproc)

Install with

sudo make install

CROSS COMPILING

You need the content of your sdcard somewhere mounted or copied. There might be development headers to install on the running Pi system for the crosscompiling.

Edit Makefile.include and change the settings according your locations.

make ffmpeg
make
make dist

Installing OMXPlayer

You may want to specify a valid font path inside the omxplayer shell script. Copy over omxplayer-dist/* to the Pi /.

SYNOPSIS

Usage: omxplayer [OPTIONS] [FILE]

-h  --help                  Print this help
-v  --version               Print version info
-k  --keys                  Print key bindings
-n  --aidx  index           Audio stream index    : e.g. 1
-o  --adev  device          Audio out device      : e.g. hdmi/local/both/alsa[:device]
-i  --info                  Dump stream format and exit
-I  --with-info             dump stream format before playback
-s  --stats                 Pts and buffer stats
-p  --passthrough           Audio passthrough
-d  --deinterlace           Force deinterlacing
    --nodeinterlace         Force no deinterlacing
    --nativedeinterlace     let display handle interlace
    --anaglyph type         convert 3d to anaglyph
    --advanced[=0]          Enable/disable advanced deinterlace for HD videos (default enabled)
-w  --hw                    Hw audio decoding
-3  --3d mode               Switch tv into 3d mode (e.g. SBS/TB)
-M  --allow-mvc             Allow decoding of both views of MVC stereo stream
-y  --hdmiclocksync         Display refresh rate to match video (default)
-z  --nohdmiclocksync       Do not adjust display refresh rate to match video
-t  --sid index             Show subtitle with index
-r  --refresh               Adjust framerate/resolution to video
-g  --genlog                Generate log file
-l  --pos n                 Start position (hh:mm:ss)
-b  --blank[=0xAARRGGBB]    Set the video background color to black (or optional ARGB value)
    --loop                  Loop file. Ignored if file not seekable
    --no-boost-on-downmix   Don't boost volume when downmixing
    --vol n                 set initial volume in millibels (default 0)
    --amp n                 set initial amplification in millibels (default 0)
    --no-osd                Do not display status information on screen
    --no-keys               Disable keyboard input (prevents hangs for certain TTYs)
    --subtitles path        External subtitles in UTF-8 srt format
    --font path             Default: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSans.ttf
    --italic-font path      Default: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSansOblique.ttf
    --font-size size        Font size in 1/1000 screen height (default: 55)
    --align left/center     Subtitle alignment (default: left)
    --no-ghost-box          No semitransparent boxes behind subtitles
    --lines n               Number of lines in the subtitle buffer (default: 3)
    --win 'x1 y1 x2 y2'     Set position of video window
    --win x1,y1,x2,y2       Set position of video window
    --crop 'x1 y1 x2 y2'    Set crop area for input video
    --crop x1,y1,x2,y2      Set crop area for input video
    --aspect-mode type      Letterbox, fill, stretch. Default: stretch if win is specified, letterbox otherwise
    --audio_fifo  n         Size of audio output fifo in seconds
    --video_fifo  n         Size of video output fifo in MB
    --audio_queue n         Size of audio input queue in MB
    --video_queue n         Size of video input queue in MB
    --threshold   n         Amount of buffered data required to finish buffering [s]
    --timeout     n         Timeout for stalled file/network operations (default 10s)
    --orientation n         Set orientation of video (0, 90, 180 or 270)
    --fps n                 Set fps of video where timestamps are not present
    --live                  Set for live tv or vod type stream
    --layout                Set output speaker layout (e.g. 5.1)
    --dbus_name name        default: org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.omxplayer
    --key-config <file>     Uses key bindings in <file> instead of the default
    --alpha                 Set video transparency (0..255)
    --layer n               Set video render layer number (higher numbers are on top)
    --display n             Set display to output to
    --cookie 'cookie'       Send specified cookie as part of HTTP requests
    --user-agent 'ua'       Send specified User-Agent as part of HTTP requests
    --lavfdopts 'opts'      Options passed to libavformat, e.g. 'probesize:250000,...'
    --avdict 'opts'         Options passed to demuxer, e.g., 'rtsp_transport:tcp,...'

For example:

./omxplayer -p -o hdmi test.mkv

KEY BINDINGS

Key bindings to control omxplayer while playing:

1           decrease speed
2           increase speed
<           rewind
>           fast forward
z           show info
j           previous audio stream
k           next audio stream
i           previous chapter
o           next chapter
n           previous subtitle stream
m           next subtitle stream
s           toggle subtitles
w           show subtitles
x           hide subtitles
d           decrease subtitle delay (- 250 ms)
f           increase subtitle delay (+ 250 ms)
q           exit omxplayer
p / space   pause/resume
-           decrease volume
+ / =       increase volume
left arrow  seek -30 seconds
right arrow seek +30 seconds
down arrow  seek -600 seconds
up arrow    seek +600 seconds

KEY CONFIG SYNTAX

A key config file is a series of rules of the form [action]:[key]. Multiple keys can be bound to the same action, and comments are supported by adding a # in front of the line. The list of valid [action]s roughly corresponds to the list of default key bindings above and are:

DECREASE_SPEED
INCREASE_SPEED
REWIND
FAST_FORWARD
SHOW_INFO
PREVIOUS_AUDIO
NEXT_AUDIO
PREVIOUS_CHAPTER
NEXT_CHAPTER
PREVIOUS_SUBTITLE
NEXT_SUBTITLE
TOGGLE_SUBTITLE
DECREASE_SUBTITLE_DELAY
INCREASE_SUBTITLE_DELAY
EXIT
PAUSE
DECREASE_VOLUME
INCREASE_VOLUME
SEEK_BACK_SMALL
SEEK_FORWARD_SMALL
SEEK_BACK_LARGE
SEEK_FORWARD_LARGE
STEP

Valid [key]s include all alpha-numeric characters and most symbols, as well as:

left
right
up
down
esc
hex [keycode]

For example:

EXIT:esc
PAUSE:p
#Note that this next line has a space after the :
PAUSE: 
REWIND:left
SEEK_FORWARD_SMALL:hex 0x4f43
EXIT:q

DBUS CONTROL

omxplayer can be controlled via DBUS. There are three interfaces, all of which present a different set of commands. For examples on working with DBUS take a look at the supplied dbuscontrol.sh file.

Root Interface

The root interface is accessible under the name org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.

Methods

Root interface methods can be accessed through org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.MethodName.

Quit

Stops the currently playing video. This will cause the currently running omxplayer process to terminate.

Params	Type
Return	null

Raise

No effect.

Params	Type
Return	null

Properties

Root interface properties can be accessed through org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get and org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set methods with the string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2" as first argument and the string "PropertyName" as second argument.

CanQuit (ro)

Whether or not the player can quit.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

Fullscreen (ro)

Whether or not the player can is fullscreen.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanSetFullscreen (ro)

Whether or not the player can set fullscreen.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanRaise (ro)

Whether the display window can be brought to the top of all the window.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

HasTrackList (ro)

Whether or not the player has a track list.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

Identity (ro)

Name of the player.

Params	Type
Return	string

SupportedUriSchemes (ro)

Playable URI formats.

Params	Type
Return	string[]

SupportedMimeTypes (ro)

Supported mime types. Note: currently not implemented.

Params	Type
Return	string[]

Player Interface

The player interface is accessible under the name org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.

Methods

Player interface methods can be accessed through org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.MethodName.

Next

Skip to the next chapter.

Params	Type
Return	null

Previous

Skip to the previous chapter.

Params	Type
Return	null

Play

Play the video. If the video is playing, it has no effect, if it is paused it will play from current position.

Params	Type
Return	null

Pause

Pause the video. If the video is playing, it will be paused, if it is paused it will stay in pause (no effect).

Params	Type
Return	null

PlayPause

Toggles the play state. If the video is playing, it will be paused, if it is paused it will start playing.

Params	Type
Return	null

Stop

Stops the video. This has the same effect as Quit (terminates the omxplayer instance).

Params	Type
Return	null

Seek

Perform a relative seek, i.e. seek plus or minus a certain number of microseconds from the current position in the video.

Params	Type	Description
1	int64	Microseconds to seek
Return	null or int64	If the supplied offset is invalid, null is returned, otherwise the offset (in microseconds) is returned

SetPosition

Seeks to a specific location in the file. This is an absolute seek.

Params	Type	Description
1	string	Path (not currently used)
2	int64	Position to seek to, in microseconds
Return	null or int64	If the supplied position is invalid, null is returned, otherwise the position (in microseconds) is returned

SetAlpha

Set the alpha transparency of the player [0-255].

Params	Type	Description
1	string	Path (not currently used)
2	int64	Alpha value, 0-255

SetLayer

Seeks the video playback layer.

Params	Type	Description
1	int64	Layer to switch to

Mute

Mute the audio stream. If the volume is already muted, this does nothing.

Params	Type
Return	null

Unmute

Unmute the audio stream. If the stream is already unmuted, this does nothing.

Params	Type
Return	null

ListSubtitles

Returns a array of all known subtitles. The length of the array is the number of subtitles. Each item in the araay is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

Any of the fields may be blank, except for index. language is the language code, such as eng, chi, swe, etc. name is a description of the subtitle, such as foreign parts or SDH. codec is the name of the codec used by the subtitle, sudh as subrip. active is either the string active or an empty string.

Params	Type
Return	string[]

ListAudio

Returns and array of all known audio streams. The length of the array is the number of streams. Each item in the array is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

See ListSubtitles for a description of what each of these fields means. An example of a possible string is:

0:eng:DD 5.1:ac3:active

Params	Type
Return	string[]

ListVideo

Returns and array of all known video streams. The length of the array is the number of streams. Each item in the array is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

See ListSubtitles for a description of what each of these fields means. An example of a possible string is:

0:eng:x264:h264:active

Params	Type
Return	string[]

SelectSubtitle

Selects the subtitle at a given index.

Params	Type	Description
1	int32	Index of subtitle to select
Return	boolean	Returns true if subtitle was selected, `false otherwise

SelectAudio

Selects the audio stream at a given index.

Params	Type	Description
1	int32	Index of audio stream to select
Return	boolean	Returns true if stream was selected, `false otherwise

ShowSubtitles

Turns on subtitles.

Params	Type
Return	null

HideSubtitles

Turns off subtitles.

Params	Type
Return	null

GetSource

The current file or stream that is being played.

Params	Type
Return	string

Action

Execute a "keyboard" command. For available codes, see KeyConfig.h.

Params	Type	Description
1	int32	Command to execute
Return	null

Properties

Player interface properties can be accessed through org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get and org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set methods with the string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2" as first argument and the string "PropertyName" as second argument.

CanGoNext (ro)

Whether or not the play can skip to the next track.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanGoPrevious (ro)

Whether or not the player can skip to the previous track.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanSeek (ro)

Whether or not the player can seek.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanControl (ro)

Whether or not the player can be controlled.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

CanPlay (ro)

Whether or not the player can play.

Return type: boolean.

CanPause (ro)

Whether or not the player can pause.

Params	Type
Return	boolean

PlaybackStatus (ro)

The current state of the player, either "Paused" or "Playing".

Params	Type
Return	string

Volume (rw)

When called with an argument it will set the volume and return the current volume. When called without an argument it will simply return the current volume. As defined by the MPRIS specifications, this value should be greater than or equal to 0. 1 is the normal volume. Everything below is quieter than normal, everything above is louder.

Millibels can be converted to/from acceptable values using the following:

volume = pow(10, mB / 2000.0);
mB     = 2000.0 * log10(volume)

Params	Type	Description
1 (optional)	double	Volume to set
Return	double	Current volume

OpenUri (w)

Restart and open another URI for playing.

Params	Type	Description
1	string	URI to play

Position (ro)

Returns the current position of the playing media.

Params	Type	Description
Return	int64	Current position in microseconds

MinimumRate (ro)

Returns the minimum playback rate of the video.

Params	Type
Return	double

MaximumRate (ro)

Returns the maximum playback rate of the video.

Params	Type
Return	double

Rate (rw)

When called with an argument it will set the playing rate and return the current rate. When called without an argument it will simply return the current rate. Rate of 1.0 is the normal playing rate. A value of 2.0 corresponds to two times faster than normal rate, a value of 0.5 corresponds to two times slower than the normal rate.

Params	Type	Description
1 (optional)	double	Rate to set
Return	double	Current rate

Metadata (ro)

Returns track information: URI and length.

Params	Type	Description
Return	dict	Dictionnary entries with key:value pairs

Aspect (ro)

Returns the aspect ratio.

Params	Type	Description
Return	double	Aspect ratio

VideoStreamCount (ro)

Returns the number of video streams.

Params	Type	Description
Return	int64	Number of video streams

ResWidth (ro)

Returns video width

Params	Type	Description
Return	int64	Video width in px

ResHeight (ro)

Returns video width

Params	Type	Description
Return	int64	Video height in px

Duration (ro)

Returns the total length of the playing media.

Params	Type	Description
Return	int64	Total length in microseconds