Re: esd

["Yo 'Ric Dude" <ericmit ix netcom com>]

Robert Bihlmeyer wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> >>>>> On Sun, 03 Jan 1999 14:28:02 +0000
> >>>>> "Yo 'Ric Dude" <ericmit@ix.netcom.com> said:
> 
>  ebm> Encoding mpeg3 audio is a bit too CPU intensive for a compress
>  ebm> at the client, decompress on the server,
> 
> Sure compression is slow as molasses, but many people have lots off
> already compressed mp3s lying around, and decompression is reasonably
> fast (plus needs to be done anyway).
> 
>  ebm> but i now see the special "mpeg3-esd" that simply sends the mp3
>  ebm> data over to the server for decompression.
> 
> What I envisioned is more like this:
> 
> You can tell the what format the data is in. Apart from RAW, and the
> already present (but unimplemented) ADPCM, there could be things like
> MPG3, S3M, you name it. Support for all these beasts should probably
> not be compiled into the server itself, but reside in shared objects
> or even external filters ("mpg123 -s -" is already such a thing).

Ack! more data copying aroung the system!  I'd rather see it 
implemented (even if it is in a shared lib) as a separate player 
type, overloading the read_player() operation to get the next
chunk of audio data.  Save a context switch, increase cache hits,
save pointless copying of audio data around the system...
Hmm. I'll add (at least the capability?) to the TODO list.

> esdcat could take the format on the commandline and just set the right
> flags before sending the thing. esdplay would use libaudiofile or
> other magic to autodetect the type of data and do the right thing.
> 
>  ebm> Except of course for the potiential patent probelms with mpg3
>  ebm> audio (?)
> 
> I am not sure, but I think *de*compressors are not patented. Putting
> the mpg3 code into a seperate shared object or binary should protect
> esd from those problems.
> 
>  ebm> The only potential problem there is then you also wind up with
>  ebm> s3m-esd, it-esd, other-mod-format-esd, realaudio-esd, etc.
> 
> Sure, support for those formats would have to be written, but your
> average user would just download & install the right backends, and
> issue esdplay on everything (or say to the control-center: "Play this
> mod file when I log in, and this mp3 when I log out").

That would require some magic on audiofile or esdplay's end to
either implement mp3 decoding in audiofile, or trap the error
in esdplay, and convert to the mp3 engine...

>         Robbe
> --
> Robert Bihlmeyer        reads: Deutsch, English, MIME, Latin-1, NO SPAM!
> <robbe@orcus.priv.at>   <http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/sig.html>

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