Video backend selection

[Andreas Schleth]

Am 05.01.22 um 10:26 schrieb Tobias Leupold:
> PS:
>
> Dolphin uses Phonon:
>
> https://invent.kde.org/system/dolphin/-/blob/master/src/panels/information/
> phononwidget.cpp
>
> Why not let the KDE guys care about backend selection? Quite some time since I
> took a look at this. Back then (TM) this was shown in the systemsettings, but
> it seems to be removed. Still accessible through phononsettings though. But it
> seems like I can select VLC or GStreamer as my Phonon backend.
>
yesss! If I chose the phonon backend with the vlc backend there should
be no difference in playback in comparison to choosing the vlc backend
directly except that the stream gets routed through one backend less.
This whole video thing looks like a matroshka as VLC is a frontend itself.

Anyway, I sure understand the benefit to have an integrated player to
mix short clips into a slide show. I had not thought about that one.
With more and more smartphone content making its way into KPA this use
case might become more and more important. This type of player certainly
does not need all the bells and whistles but a lot of codec support.
(And - yes, of course, KPA has a long history. In Kimdaba times, video
playback was not generally available or as smooth as it is today.)

My use case is to watch long form films from a custom KPA database for
films only. Then it is one video at a time.

So, may I partially revise my opinion? A simple integrated player has
its merits. Which backend you choose does not really matter as long as
it plays. The choice should be done automagically with the option to
play with it in the settings, in case something goes wrong.

With the fluid nature of all things around video it might in the end be
a good idea to have an own abstraction that can be ported to a different
backend in the future (with KDE6 or Gnome5 or ...).

Cheers, Andreas

off topic: is there nobody else listening in?

It looks as if the switch of the mailing list has lost us quite a few
subscribers. (Happy, if I am wrong)