Provided by: mjpegtools_2.1.0+debian-6build1_amd64 bug

NAME

       mplex - MPEG 1/2 program/system stream multiplexer

SYNOPSIS

       mplex   [-f|--format   format_code]  [-i|--vdr-index]  index_pathname  [-v|--verbose  num]
       [-b|--video-buffer  video_buffer_size_kB[,   video_buffer_size_kB...]]   [-L|--lpcm-params
       params[,    params...]]   [-r|--mux-bitrate   muxed_bitrate_kbps]   [-l|--mux-limit   num]
       [-O|--sync-offset     num[ms|s|mpt]]     [-d|--subpicture-delay      [ms|s|mpt|c][:stream-
       id][,delay[:stream-id]]   [-R|--run-in   num]   [-V|--vbr]   [-C|--cbr]  [-s|--sector-size
       sector_size_B] [-p|--packets-per-pack  num]  [-h|--system-headers]  [-S|--max-segment-size
       output_filesize_limit_MB] [-M|--split-segment]

       [-?|--help] -o|--output output_pathname_pattern input_file...

DESCRIPTION

       Mplex  is  a general-purpose audio/video multiplexer for MPEG-1/MPEG-2.  It accepts one or
       more MPEG-1/2 video stream, MPEG layer I/II/III, DTS,  AC3  and  LPCM  audio  streams  and
       multiplexes  them  into  a  combined  program/system  stream  according to the constraints
       specified.  Many different types of output structure are supported along with presets  for
       standard  VCD  and  SVCD  streams.   These  latter can be burned to CD using tools such as
       vcdimager(1) and played in stand-alone players.

       It is also capable of automatically splitting the output stream into chunks of a specified
       size either independently or at sequence end/start points in the input video stream.

GENERAL FUNCTION LETTERS

       -o|--output output_filename_pattern
              This mandatory option sets the pattern for the name(s) of output files.

              An  integer format code (e.g. %d) in the name is replaced by the number of the file
              generated (see printf(3)).

       -v|--verbose num
              Set verbosity level to num:
               0 - warnings and errors only,
               1 - information as well,
               2 - really verbose.

       -?|--help
              Display a synopsis of the command syntax.

FUNCTION LETTERS

       -f|--format format_code
              This command allows one of a number of convenient preset output formats or  generic
              MPEG1  or  MPEG2  output  to  be  selected.  For the generic formats other function
              letters can be used to  control  many  aspects  of  the  multiplexed  stream.   For
              VCD/SVCD/DVD  compliant  output  the  corresponding  formats  must  be  used as the
              standards require the multiplexer to enforce a variety of  special  constraints  on
              the structure of the output stream.

               0  -  Generic MPEG1.  A simple general-purpose MPEG1 format primarily suitable for
              software decoders.  Buffer sizes and VBR must be specified.  Bit-rate can be  auto-
              detected.
               1 - VCD.  Standard VCD.  Overrides other option settings.
               2 - User VCD.  VCD format but buffer size, bit rate and VBR can be set manually.
               3 - Generic MPEG2.  Like 0 except MPEG2.
               4 - SVCD.  Standard SVCD.  Overrides other option settings.
               5 - User-rate SVCD.  SVCD format but buffer size bit rate and VBR can be set.
               6 - VCD Stills stream (mixed mode with hi-res and standard-res image streams
              multiplexed are supported).
               7 - SVCD Stills stream.
               8 - DVD (with NAV sectors). Don't get too excited.  This is really a
               very minimal mux format.  It includes empty versions of the peculiar
               VOBU start sectors DVD VOB's include.  This is enough to persuade some
               hardware players to play the stream but is a long way from full DVD authoring.
               9 - DVD.  As above but without the empty VOBU sectors.

       -W|--workarounds workaround_flag [,workaround_flag...]
              A comma-seperated list  of  flags  that  set  special  work-arounds  for  what  are
              suspected  to be parser Bugs in widely used players. No workarounds are (currently)
              implemented  but  history  suggests  this  may   change   quickly   ;-)   -i|--vdr-
              index index_pathname  This  tells mplex to generate an index file for the output in
              the format used by the 'vdr' (video disk recorder package). Useful if you  want  to
              write  output  into  vdr's recordings directory for playback on your video recorder
              PC. This probably only useful in combination with -f 9.

       -r|--mux-bitrate num
              The total (non VBR) / peak (VBR) bit-rate of the output stream in  k  Bits/sec.  If
              unspecified  and  not set by a preset it is automatically calculated from the input
              stream.

       -b|--video-buffer numlist
              A comma-seperateed list of video decoder buffer sizes in KB for the  video  streams
              (given  in the order the video streams appear on the command line).  The default is
              46KB the (tiny) size specified for VCD.  The size to use  for  SVCD  is  the  (more
              reasonable) 230KB.  If you are encoding for a half-decent software decoder it makes
              sense to push this up to 500K or more.

       -L|--lpcm-params
              samples_per_sec:channels:bits_per_sample
              [, samples_per_sec:channels:bits_per_sample
               ...]
              A comma-seperated list of paramter sets for the lpcm audio streams  (given  in  the
              order  the  lpcm streams appear on the command line).  Each parameter set comprises
              the sampling rate in Hz, the number of channels, and the number of bits per  sample
              seperated by colons.  For example, the default 48kHz two-channel 16-bit audio would
              be specified as 48000:2:16.

              Note: these parameters are necessary because mplex  expects  raw  LPCM  audio  data
              without  any  headers.   That is: for each sample point a group of 16,20, or 24 bit
              amplitude values, one for each  channel.  Amplitude  values  are  signed  with  the
              constituent  bytes  in big-endian (most significant bytes first) order.  For 20 bit
              samples I am not sure but what documentation  I  have  suggests  such  samples  are
              padded at the lsb end so that they byte-align at the most significant bits.

       -l|--mux-limit num
              Multiplex  limit.   Multiplex  only  the  specified  number of seconds.  Useful for
              tuning and debugging.

       -O|--sync-offset num[ms|s|mpt|c]
              Set the presentation timestamp offset of video stream w.r.t. audio  stream  (video-
              audio)  in  mSec.    This  flag  is  used  to  produce  a  stream with synchronised
              audio/video when one stream started before/after the other.  This  is  common  when
              transcoding  as  the  synchronisation  information  is  typically  lost  during the
              (seperate) decoding/encoding of audio and video.

              By appending 's', 'ms' or 'mpt' the offset can given in  seconds,  milliseconds  or
              MPEG  clock  ticks  (1/90000th  of  a  second) respectively.  If no suffix is given
              milliseconds are assumed.

       -d|--subpicture-delay num[ms|s|mpt|c][:stream-id][,delay[:stream-id]]
              Specify offset of timestamps (video-subpicture) in msec sec, mpt or clock-ticks. If
              no suffix is given milliseconds are assumed.

              The intention of the adding subtitle support was to enable mplex to mux all streams
              necessary for a DVD so that the mpeg2 stream  created  can  be  used  directly  for
              further  dvd  creation.  Currently only ps1 streams (like created by tcextract) are
              supported

              Valid subtitle stream are in a range of 32-63 (including).  You may want to specify
              each stream you mplex, use "," to delimit each stream.

              Example:  If  you  want to mux one video, one audio and two subtitle streams having
              delays of 500 and 1000 ms, the first shall have id 32, the second is  33  (Subtitle
              streams 0 and 1):

              $   mplex   -f  8  -o  my_mpeg.mpeg  -d  500:32,1000:33  video_in.mpv  audio_in.m2a
              subtitle_0.ps1 subtitle_1.ps1

       -R|--run-in num
              Set a non-default run-in (the time data is preloaded into buffers  before  decoding
              is scheduled) at the start of each sequence in video frame intervals.  By default a
              run-in matching the specified size of the video and audio buffers  in  the  decoder
              and   the  type  of  multiplexing  (constant  or  variable  bit-rate)  is  selected
              automatically.

       -V|--vbr
              Force variable bit rate multiplexing even if selected profile defaults to constant-
              bit-rate.

       -C||-cbr
              Force  constant bit rate multiplexing even if selected profile defaults to variable
              bit-rate.

       -s|--sector-size num
              This option specifies the sector size of the output stream in bytes.

       -p|--packets-per-pack num
              This option specifies the number of packets per pack in the output stream.

       -S|--max-segment-size num
              This option specifies the maximum size of output files in MBytes  (2^10)  When  the
              limit is reached a  new file is started.  The default is (0) unlimited.

              Note:  This  option  is  not  for  splitting  a long video across multiple VCD's or
              SVCD's.

              It simply splits a single long sequence into in a way that prevents bits of a video
              GOP(group of pictures) or audio frame being split between chunks.  This is fine for
              formats like that used for DVDs where  all  stream  parameters  appear  every  GOP.
              However,  for  VCD  / SVCD it won't work as the players expect each file to start a
              new MPEG sequence.

              For VCD / SVCD a different technique is used.  If mplex encounters a sequence break
              (sequence  end  followed by start) in the input video stream it starts a new output
              stream and file at  the  sequence  start.   Thus  to  split  a  long  video  across
              VCD's/SVCD's you have to get the MPEG video encoder to introduce sequence splits at
              the right points (see mpeg2enc(1) for details of how to do this).

       -M|--ignore-seqend-markers
              This flag makes mplex ignore sequence end  markers  embedded  in  the  first  video
              stream  instead  of  switching  to  a  new  output  file.  This is sometimes useful
              splitting a long stream in files based on a -S  limit  that  doesn't  need  a  run-
              in/run-out like (S)VCD.

       -h|--system-headers
              A system header is generated in every pack rather than just in the first.

DIAGNOSTIC OUTPUT

       When  multiplexing  using  mplex  you  may get warning or error messages complaining about
       buffer underflow.  This means that the bit-rate you have specified is simply  too  low  to
       permit  the  video  and  audio  to  be played back without skipping.  The fix is to either
       reduce the data-rate of the input material or increased the output stream bit-rate.

BUGS

       The multiplexer should handle MPEG(5.1) audio.

AUTHOR

       This man page was written by Andrew Stevens.
       If you have questions, remarks, problems or you just want to contact the  developers,  the
       main mailing list for the MJPEG-tools is:
         mjpeg-users@lists.sourceforge.net

       For more info, see our website at
         http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net

SEE ALSO

       mpeg2enc(1), mp2enc(1), lavrec(1), lavplay(1), lav2yuv(1), lav2wav(1), yuvscaler(1)