xawtvrc
is the config file originally used by xawtv only (that's why the name
xawtvrc). These days a number of other TV applications / utilities
read it too to get configuration informations from it.
Both a global (/etc/X11/xawtvrc) and personal ($HOME/.xawtv) config
file are used by the applications. Settings in the personal config
file will overwrite the global ones.
Applications
The following applications use these config files:
xawtv
The classic X11 TV application.
motv
A better, motif-based GUI for xawtv ...
fbtv
TV application for the linux framebuffer console.
ttv
aalib-based TV application for any terminal.
v4lctl
command line tool to control video4linux devices.
Create a config file
xawtv
and
motv
both provide some functions to edit the channels and save the
configuration. The save function will not preserve any comments
you might have put into the config file throught ...
You can also use your favorite text editor and modify the config file
directly.
You can use the command line utility
scantv
to create a initial config file. scantv will automatically scan all
channels for TV stations and write the ones it has found to the config
file.
SYNTAX
xawtvrc
uses the same syntax like smb.conf: sections starting with [name],
followed by lines with option = value pairs.
There are four special sections: [global], [launch], [eventmap] and
[default]. All other sections describe a TV station each.
TV station options.
The following options are allowed for TV stations and the [default]
section. The options from the [default] sections are used -- as the
name suggests -- as defaults for all other channels. You can put
everything which is common for all TV stations (like the TV norm which
is used in your country) into the [default] section, so you don't have
to specify it for every single channel.
With a reasonable [defaults] section you usually only need to specify
the channel for each TV station, like this:
[ORB]
channel = 27
The other options are:
fine = n
finetuning (what left+right keys do within xawtv), 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+, "Ctrl+F" for example.
capture = off | overlay | grabdisplay
capture mode: off, overlay (default, TV card => video, 0% cpu) or
grabdisplay (TV card => main memory => X-Server => video, frame rate
depends on load and picture size). Default is overlay. If it is not
possible to use overlay for some reason (remote display, not supported
by the hardware, whatever) the applications will automatically fallback to
input = Television | Composite1 | Composite2 | SVHS
input source. The valid choices depend on the hardware driver, the
values above are just examples. You can use "v4lctl list" to get a
list of valid choices.
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.
freq = n
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.
midi = note
Use midi noteon event for <note> as hotkey for the channel.
Global options
A number of not channel-related 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 VidMode 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 window->Frequency table
(in xawtv) brings up a menu with all valid entries (and allows
table-switching at runtime).
pixsize = width x height
size of the channel pixmaps (within Channels window). 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 (M)JPEG images/frames. As usual the valid range
for n is [0 .. 100] with 75 as default.
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 programmed station,
i.e. 1 is the first station from $HOME/.xawtv, ...
keypad-partial = on | off
Another configuration of keypad mode. Default is on. When set to off,
typing one digit on the keypad doesn't change the station number when
there are two-digit station numbers starting with that digit.
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. Default is 4:3. Use 0:0
if you don't want a fixed aspect ratio.
Set defaults for movie recording. Not all possible combinations are
valid choices. "streamer -h" will print a nice list.
midi = port
You can specify a ALSA port where xawtv should receive midi events
from. If configured this way, you can program your midi keyboard keys
as station hotkeys and use midi controller events to control settings
like volume, bright etc. Check the [eventmap] description below for
details.
The [launch] section
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 program. 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...
The [eventmap] section
The eventmap simply has a number of "event = action" lines. "action"
can be any command which xawtv understands (check the xawtv-remote man
page for a list). "event" is some event generated by any input device
xawtv listens to. An event might have some argument, the midi-ctrl
events for example have one. If present the argument is appended to
the action.
There are default mappings for lirc and joystick input events, so you
don't have to create a eventmap to use them. But if you don't like
the defaults you can change them easily.
Here is a list of valid events:
lirc-key-<name>
The key <name> was pressed on the IR remote control.
joy-button-<n>
Joystick button <n> was pressed.
joy-axis-<left|right|up|down>
Joystick was moved into the given direction.
midi-note-<n>
noteon event for note <n> was received (i.e. you probably pressed some
key on the midi keyboard).
midi-ctrl-<n>
midi controller message for control <n> was received. This event has
an argument (the current value of the control).
kbd-key-<name>
Key <name> was pressed on the keyboard. Only fbtv supports this one.
sample config file
# this is a comment
# empty lines are ignored too
[global]
freqtab = europe-west
#mixer = line
jpeg-quality = 75
midi = 64:0
fullscreen = 768x576
# for /etc/XF86Config
# Modeline "pal" 50.00 768 832 856 1000 576 590 595 630 -hsync -vsync
[launch]
mixer = M, gtkaumix
AleVT = Ctrl+A, alevt
[eventmap]
midi-ctrl-7 = volume
[defaults]
input = television
norm = pal
[ZDF]
channel=33
key=F1
[ORB]
channel = 27
key = F2
# more stations follow here
[Camera]
input = Composite1
key = K
