# File properties

## Overview

The File Properties dialog allows you to choose various options that will apply only to a particular file, stream, device, track, title, or channel. Many of the options are the same or similar to the ones that can be chosen globally in the &kplayer; Settings dialog. The options set in file properties will override the global ones. Additionally, options set for a track, title or channel will override options set for the disk or device it comes from. The file properties give you full control of how the file is played, including options that are passed to &mplayer;. Other properties display information that &kplayer; found out about the file or stream, like time length, video size, and audio and video bitrates.

Select File Properties... to open the dialog box for the currently loaded file or URL. You can also open the properties for any item in the multimedia library by right clicking the item and selecting Properties... from the library popup menu or by selecting Library Properties... .

The dialog contains several sections which are selected by left clicking one of the items on the left side of the dialog box.

General section

- Shows general information about the multimedia item and lets you set a few essential properties.

Size section

- If the file or stream contains video, tells you the video resolution and lets you control the video area size when playing it.

Video section

- Contains properties that show technical information about the video and let you control video output when playing the file, if it has a video component.

Audio section

- Contains properties that show technical information about the audio and let you control audio output when playing the file, if it has an audio component.

Subtitles section

- Contains properties that control subtitle loading and display, if the file is played with subtitles.

Advanced section

- Contains various properties that affect advanced command line parameters passed to &mplayer;, as well as interaction with the &kde; I/O Slave if it is used to transfer the file.

The buttons at the bottom of the dialog let you make choices about the contents of all sections of the dialog.

OK button

- Accepts your changes and closes the dialog.

Cancel button

- Closes the dialog without saving the changes.

Apply button

- Applies the changes without closing the dialog.

Defaults button

- Restores all settings to their original, predefined values and applies them.

Close button

- After you choose Apply or Defaults, the Cancel button changes to Close. Clicking it closes the dialog and discards changes you made since the last time changes were applied.

Help button

- Opens this user manual and displays the section that describes the currently selected section of the dialog.

You can also click the small What's This button with a question mark at the top right of the dialog and then click a property to get a brief explanation of it.

Clicking the rightmost button at the top of the dialog closes the dialog discarding any unapplied changes.

## General section

This section shows general information about the multimedia item and lets you set a few essential properties.

Name

- This property shows and lets you change the name of the item that is displayed in the playlist drop down box, the multimedia library, and also in the &kplayer; title bar when the item is loaded for playing.

Path or URL

- This property shows the file path for local files or the full URL for all other files. The URL identifies the file or stream, and all other properties are attached to it. This property is read only. It is not applicable and not shown for CD tracks, DVD titles and tuner device channels.

Type

- This property shows the type of the multimedia item. For a device, track, title or channel it is the device type. For other items it is the MIME type if it is known. This property is read only.

Playlist

- This property shows and lets you choose whether this item is a playlist file. &mplayer; cannot automatically detect and play a playlist file, so &kplayer; has to explicitly tell it to parse a file as a playlist. Auto lets &kplayer; use the file extension to guess if it is a playlist file. The playlist extensions KPlayer recognizes are ram, rpm, smi, smil, asx, m3u, pls and strm. If a file that is not a playlist has one of these extensions, or a playlist file has a different extension, you will need to correctly set this property in order to be able to play the file or stream.

  This property is not applicable and not shown for devices, disks, titles, tracks and channels.

Length

- This property shows the time length of the file. &kplayer; tries to detect it with precision of one tenth of a second, and usually it gets it pretty close to the real length. This property is read only. It is not applicable and not shown for devices and channels.

Tuner devices like DVB, PVR and TV and channels available on them have some specific properties that are not applicable to other items.

Frequency

- This property shows and lets you change the frequency in MHz of a DVB, PVR or TV channel. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Channels

- This property shows and lets you choose the list of channels available on a TV or PVR device. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Driver

- This property shows and lets you choose the input driver for a TV or PVR device. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Channel file

- This property shows and lets you change the path to a file listing the available channels on a DVB device and their properties. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

## Size section

This section shows the video resolution and lets you control the video area size when playing this file, if it has video.

Resolution

- This property shows the resolution of the video in pixels. It is read only, and it is empty for audio only files.

Original size

- This property shows the original size of the video in pixels. Original video size is the video resolution adjusted to the correct aspect ratio. It is read only, and it is empty for audio only files.

Current size

- This property shows the current size of the video in pixels. Current video size is the video size after application of any filters. It is read only, and it is empty for audio only files.

Display size

- This property lets you choose the initial video size &kplayer; will use when it starts playing the file, unless you turned off the option to Resize main window automatically on the General page in &kplayer; Settings. The auto setting will use the Minimum initial video width option from the General settings. The set size setting will use the fixed initial size you specify. The set aspect setting will again use the Minimum initial video width option, but will apply the fixed initial aspect you specify.

Full screen

- This property lets you choose the full screen mode when playing this file. The default setting will keep the full screen mode of the previous file.

Maximized

- This property lets you choose the maximized window state when this file is not played full screen. The default setting will keep the maximized state of the previous file.

Maintain aspect

- This property lets you choose the Maintain Aspect option specifically for this file. The default setting will keep the Maintain Aspect setting you choose globally.

## Video section

This section contains properties that show technical information about the video and let you control video output when playing the file, if it has a video component.

Track

- This property lets you choose the video track to use when playing this file or stream. The auto option lets &mplayer; choose a video track automatically. The set ID option allows you to enter a video track ID to play. The other options choose a video track from the list of detected tracks. An easy way to set this property for a file or stream that has more than one video track is by selecting a video track from the Video submenu of the Player menu.

Contrast

- This property controls the video contrast for this file. The default option uses the same contrast as for other files. The set to option sets the specified initial contrast when loading the file. The add and subtract settings will adjust the contrast relative to the default setting.

Brightness

- This property controls the video brightness for this file. The default option uses the same brightness as for other files. The set to option sets the specified initial brightness when loading the file. The add and subtract settings will adjust the brightness relative to the default setting.

Hue

- This property controls the video hue for this file. The default option uses the same hue as for other files. The set to option sets the specified initial hue when loading the file. The add and subtract settings will adjust the hue relative to the default setting.

Saturation

- This property controls the video saturation for this file. The default option uses the same saturation as for other files. The set to option sets the specified initial saturation when loading the file. The add and subtract settings will adjust the saturation relative to the default setting.

Codec

- This property specifies the video codec to use when playing this file. The default setting will use the codec chosen on the Video page in &kplayer; Settings, normally auto. The auto setting will tell &mplayer; to choose the codec it thinks is the best for playing this file.

Bitrate

- This property shows the video bitrate of this file. It is read only, and it is empty for audio only files.

Framerate

- This property shows the video framerate of this file. It is read only, and it is empty for audio only files.

Tuner devices like DVB, PVR and TV have some specific properties that are not applicable to other items.

Input

- This property lets you choose the video input to use when playing from the tuner device. The auto option tells &mplayer; to choose a TV or DVB input automatically. The set to option allows you to enter an input ID to be used. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Format

- This property lets you choose the video format to use when playing from the PVR or TV device. The auto option tells &mplayer; to choose a video output format automatically. The other options let you specify a particular video format. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Norm

- This property lets you choose the video norm to use when playing from the PVR or TV device. The auto option tells &mplayer; to choose a video norm automatically. The set ID option allows you to enter a norm ID to be used. The other options let you choose a particular video norm. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

## Audio section

This section contains properties that show technical information about the audio and let you control audio output when playing the file, if it has an audio component.

Track

- This property lets you choose the audio track to use when playing this file or stream. The auto option lets &mplayer; choose an audio track automatically. The set ID option allows you to enter a audio track ID to play. The other options choose an audio track from the list of detected tracks. An easy way to set this property for a file or stream that has more than one audio track is by selecting an audio track from the Audio submenu of the Player menu.

Volume

- This property controls the sound volume for this file. The default option uses the same volume as for other files. The set to option sets the specified initial volume when loading the file. The add and subtract settings will adjust the volume relative to the default setting.

Delay

- This property controls delay of the sound relative to video. By default this property is remembered automatically when you use the Increase Delay and Decrease Delay commands from the Audio submenu of the Player menu. The default setting always resets audio delay to zero when the file is loaded.

Codec

- This property specifies the audio codec to use when playing this file. The default setting will use the codec chosen on the Audio page in &kplayer; Settings, normally auto. The auto setting will tell &mplayer; to choose the codec it thinks is the best for playing this file.

Bitrate

- This property shows the audio bitrate of this file. It is read only, and it is empty for files without an audio track.

Samplerate

- This property shows the audio samplerate of this file. It is read only, and it is empty for files without an audio track.

Tuner devices like DVB, PVR and TV have some specific properties that are not applicable to other items.

Mode

- This property lets you choose the audio mode to use when playing from the PVR or TV device. The auto option tells &mplayer; to choose an audio mode automatically. The other options let you specify a particular audio mode. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Input

- This property lets you choose the audio input to use when playing from the tuner device. The auto option tells &mplayer; to choose a TV or DVB audio input automatically. The set to option allows you to enter an input ID to be used. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Immediate mode

- This property lets you choose the immediate mode for playing from the PVR or TV device. When disabled, &mplayer; will capture audio from the same device as video. When enabled, tells &mplayer; to capture audio through a cable going from the TV card to the sound card. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Capture

- This property lets you choose the audio capture system, either ALSA or OSS, for playing from the PVR or TV device. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Capture device

- This property lets you specify the audio capture device for playing from the PVR or TV device. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

## Subtitles section

This section contains properties that control subtitle loading and display, if the file is played with subtitles.

Track

- This property lets you choose the subtitles to use when playing this file or stream. The none option disables subtitle display. The external option tells &mplayer; to display subtitles loaded from an external file given by the External path property below. The set ID option allows you to enter an internal subtitle track ID to play. The other options choose an internal subtitle track from the list of detected tracks. An easy way to set this property is by selecting a subtitle track or file or the None option from the Subtitles submenu of the Player menu.

External path

- This property specifies the path to the external subtitle file to be used for this file. This property is set automatically when you use the Load Subtitles... command from the File menu or drag and drop subtitle files onto the &kplayer; window, and the Track property above is set to external.

External type

- This property allows you to specify the type of the external subtitles. The auto option tells &kplayer; to determine the type based on the subtitle file extension.

Encoding

- This property lets you specify the encoding of text in the external subtitle file. The default option tells &kplayer; to use the encoding specified in &kplayer; Settings.

Framerate

- This property lets you specify the frame rate of the external subtitle file. The auto option uses the frame rate of the video file.

Autoload

- If this is a local file, this property tells &kplayer; whether to try to autoload subtitles for it. The default setting uses the Autoload settings from the Subtitles page in &kplayer; Settings.

Position

- This property lets you set vertical position of subtitles. The default setting will use the same subtitle position as for other files. An easy way to set this property is by using keyboard shortcuts for subtitle position commands on the Subtitles submenu of the Player menu while holding down the &Shift; key.

Delay

- This property controls delay of the subtitles relative to video. By default this property is remembered automatically when you use the Increase Delay and Decrease Delay commands from the Subtitles submenu of the Player menu. The default setting always resets subtitle delay to zero when the file is loaded.

Closed caption

- This property lets you choose to display or omit closed caption subtitles on a specific device or disk or for each individual title on a DVD. This property is not available for files or remote streams.

## Advanced section

This section contains various properties that affect advanced command line parameters passed to &mplayer;, as well as interaction with the &kde; I/O Slave if it is used to transfer the file.

Additional command line arguments

- This property lets you specify additional arguments to be passed to &mplayer;. You can either append the arguments to the ones given on the Advanced page in &kplayer; Settings or use the set to setting to override them. The default option uses the arguments given in &kplayer; Settings.

Demuxer

- This property specifies the demultiplexer to use when playing this file. The default setting will use the demuxer chosen on the Advanced page in &kplayer; Settings, normally auto. The auto setting will tell &mplayer; to choose the demuxer it thinks is the best for playing this file.

Frame drop

- This property allows you to tell &mplayer; to drop some frames if your system is too slow to play the file properly. The soft setting drops less frames than the hard one, so you should try it first. The default option uses the Frame drop setting from the Advanced page in &kplayer; Settings. You can also change this option while playing a file using commands on the Advanced submenu of the Player menu. If you hold &Shift; when choosing them, &kplayer; by default will use the setting only for the current file and remember it in this property.

Cache

- This property lets you choose whether to use cache for this file and set its size. The default setting uses the cache options from the Advanced page in &kplayer; Settings, auto lets &mplayer; choose an optimal cache size, none tells &mplayer; to use no cache, and set size lets you set a specific size.

Build new index

- This property lets you choose whether &mplayer; should build a new index for seeking. The default setting uses the option from &kplayer; Settings, yes builds an index if the file does not have it, no tells &mplayer; not to build an index, and force tells it to always build an index.

Use KIOSlave

- This property lets you choose whether to use a &kde; I/O Slave to transfer and play this file. The auto setting tells &kplayer; to decide it automatically using options set in &kplayer; Settings.

Use temporary file

- This property lets you choose whether to use a temporary file for playing from &kde; I/O Slave. The default setting uses the option from &kplayer; Settings. This property has no effect for URLs passed directly to &mplayer;.

PVR and TV devices have some specific properties that are not applicable to other items.

Hardware compression

- This property lets you choose whether to use MJPEG hardware compression for a PVR or TV device and lets you specify the decimation or image size. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.

Compression quality

- This property lets you specify the compression quality from 0 to 100 when hardware compression is enabled for a PVR or TV device. For other items this property is not applicable and not shown.