This page describe bug fixes and other user-visible changes in each version released (starting at version 1.0.7.0). Release notes for older versions are here. To check the version of mtvp, type:

$ mtvp -h | head

or use the menu Help->About... with mtv.

• Fixed bug: The player could lock-up in some cases while trying to play streams with no video data. This was causing problems when trying to play track 0 of some VCDs.

• New feature: Player now remembers the last URL opened with "Play from URL".

• Improved Fullscreen usability: The Menu item "Fullscreen" is now a check-box/toggle. If Fullscreen is selected, Video will play in fullscreen mode. Fullscreen mode starts automatically when Video starts playing (e.g. Auto-play or Play button pressed) or can be manually selected by clicking on the video window. Clicking when in fullscreen mode always restores normal window playback. Player now remembers the state of the Fullscreen option.

• Added mtv option -df to turn on fullscreen, when available.

• Can play VCD created with Adaptec Video-CD Creator 3.5 (which produces VCD tracks that have incorrect cdte_datamode in the TOC).

• Improved VCD support: Added menu "Eject VCD". Added menu "Rip VCD Track" (VCD ripper). "Play VCD" now closes tray automatically. Now capable of playing the first track of a VCD (can play single-track VCD). Can play VCD created with Adaptec Video-CD Creator 3.01 (which produces VCD tracks that have incorrect submode data).

• Added mtvp option -df to play fullscreen, when available. Note: fullscreen playback with mtvp cannot be interrupted until the end of the stream.

• Added 'Purchase VCD' in Help Menu.

• Added button to Register and enter key in 'Thanks for trying mtv' dialog window.

• mtv now remembers 'Open file' filter pattern (default is *.mpg) as well as directory and file name.

• New option 'Auto Save Options': if set, options (i.e. preferences) are saved automatically upon quitting mtv.

• Fixed Bug: HTTP streaming now works with virtual domains and Proxy. See env mtvp variables MTVP_HTTP_PROXY_HOSTNAME and MTVP_HTTP_PROXY_PORT for Proxy control.

• Fixed Bug: mtvp could die when seeking while streaming from a slow network.

• Fixed Bug: Fixed permissions of /usr/doc/mtv-xxx directory created when installing RPM.

• Fixed Bug: (Linux) Audio device is now opened with mode = (O_WRONLY|O_NONBLOCK) instead of O_WRONLY. Opening /dev/sdp without O_NONBLOCK blocks if the device is currently busy (with Ensoniq AudioPCI es1371 sound chip).

• Finalized the Video Output Handler (VOH) architecture. Improved CLUT handling in VOH. Move all VOH driver-specific commands out of the general MTVP framework. Ported mtv to the new API.

• Remove the old VCI API, which was broken since the development of the display thread. The new VOH API can be used to capture frames.

• Fixed Bug: Raising window was broken.

• Improved the Video Output Handler (VOH) architecture.

• Fixed bug: Name of video window and icon was not set properly, causing problems with some window managers.

• Fixed bug: Fixed deadlock problem when running with Linux kernel 2.2.x: mtv freezes when switching to root window of full-screen while playing.

• Fixed bug: Fixed yet another synchronization problem causing video to be jerky.

• Fixed bug: Fixed race-condition in the display thread that was causing occasional lock-ups on fast or multi-processors systems.

• Fixed bug: Fixed synchronization problem that was causing poor A/V sync on slow machines using display thread.

• Fixed bug: Fixed flickering problem in Full-screen.

• Fixed bug: Now video playback is much smoother, and a slightly more accurate IDCT is used (better image quality).

• Fixed bug: Fixed several bugs in display thread syncronization that was causing player to lock-up occasionally at startup.

• This version has a serious bug that may cause the player to lock-up at startup when the display thread is used (linux-glibc, Solaris). Please upgrade if you have this problem.

• This version has a serious bug that may cause the player to lock-up at startup when the display thread is used (linux-glibc, Solaris). Please upgrade if you have this problem.

• New: added support for Netscape remote control in mtv.

• Changed: Changed Splash screen and Help menu, added direct access to registration page, force to read License if not registered.

• New: mtv and mtvp-sdk are now available for Digital-Unix 4.0 for Alpha.

• Bug workaround: Some versions of the OSS audio driver for Linux (PPC, Alpha) have bugs and/or unimplemented ioctl that were causing problems with mtvp. The mtvp audio library has been improved and now works better in those conditions.

• Changed: Meaning of env variable MTVP_AUDIO_OSS_DELAY_METHOD has slightly changed. Type "mtvp -h" to see the details.

• New: mtvp-sdk is now available for Linux-ppc.

• Fixed bug: Fixed a problem in display thread syncronization that was causing player to lock-up occasionally at startup. The problem was seen only on multiprocessor Solaris-SPARC systems.

• Fixed bug: It was not possible to kill mtvp with ^C or the TERM signal.

• Fixed bug: Old/expired versions of mtv will still work, but with a warning.

• Fixed bug: Fixed a bug that was triggered on linux-alpha (uninitialized variable was causing arithmetic exception).

• New feature: Added new full-screen mode (Linux).

• Fixed bug: Video is now displayed properly in 24-bit depth on Matrox Millenium boards. Problem was traced to a typo.

• Fixed bug: Fixed XIL-related bug on Solaris: clicking on the Zoom button after resizing the window could produce an incorrect display.

• Fixed bug: Got rid of spurious "operation non implemented" message when starting mtv with -p option. Frame info would sometimes not be updated to represent currently displayed frame. This has been fixed.

• Performances: Better 64-bit motion compensation code. Now slightly faster on alpha systems.

• Fixed bug: Corrected an alignment problem on alpha. As a result the player is now significantly faster on alpha systems.

• Fixed bug: When using the display thread, video was sometimes playing too fast and not in sync with audio.

• Fixed bug: When using the display thread, resizing or zooming the video window was causing the player to freeze or crash.

• Fixed bug: When using the display thread, resizing or zooming the video window when player was paused or stopped would not redisplay the current frame properly.

• The display thread is now enabled on Solaris 2.5.

• The display operations (including chroma conversion, scaling and display itself) are now handled by a separate thread, whenever possible.

  Currently the display thread is used on Solaris-SPARC (requires Solaris 2.6 or later and the XIL libraries) and Linux glibc systems.

  Using a display thread generally improves the performances and takes better advantage of multiprocessors hardware. For example, on a dual-processor SS20 with 40MHz CPUs, frame rate goes up to 15 fps with 100% use of both CPUs, to compare to 10 fps without the display thread.

  In some cases, using the display thread may cause problems with the X library. If this happens, you should disable the display thread by setting the env variable MTVP_DISPLAY_THREAD_MODE to the appropriate value.

• New feature: On systems where the display thread is available, the user can select the display thread mode using the env variable MTVP_DISPLAY_THREAD_MODE:
  • 0 = Use display thread when using shared memory (default)
  • 1 = Always use display thread
  • 2 = Never use display thread

• Added support for streming from HTTP and FTP.

• New feature: Now input stream can be identified by URL. URL must be the location of an MPEG-1 Video or Systems stream. URL may be:
  • file:<filename> or just <filename>
  • fd:<filedescriptor> (e.g. fd:0 for stdin), or '-' for stdin
  • http://<hostname>/{<dir>/}<filename>
  • ftp://<hostname>/{<dir>/}<filename>
  • udp:<port-number> (e.g. udp:8888)
  • vcd:<track-number> (e.g. vcd:1)

• Removed options -U and -P, which are not necessary anymore.

• New SIH plugin API replaces old SII plugin API.

Release notes for those versions are here.

26 Jul 99