Copyright © 2004-2007 kiriuja
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
KPlayer is a KDE multimedia player that uses the MPlayer engine.
If you are having problems with KPlayer, please have a look at the Troubleshooting micro-HOWTO.
Table of Contents
- 1. Overview
- 2. Basics
- 3. Command reference
- 4. Configuring KPlayer
- 5. Configuration dialog
- 6. File properties
- 7. Micro-HOWTOs
- 8. Credits and License
KPlayer is a multimedia player for the K Desktop Environment.
KPlayer uses MPlayer as the media playing backend, and therefore offers the best playback quality and performance and the widest variety of supported video, audio and subtitle formats, input methods and output options. Specifically, MPlayer supports playing from local files, DVDs, video CDs, audio CDs, TV and DVB cards, as well as network locations using many types of protocols.
However, KPlayer is much more that just an MPlayer frontend. In addition to KDE integration and an easy to use interface that follows KDE standards, it offers a multimedia library, playlist support, many additional input methods using KDE I/O Slaves, and last but not least the ability to easily choose many different options for each individual file or URL, giving you flexibility not found in any other media player.
KPlayer is a fully customizable program that you can configure and fine tune for your system and your personal preferences, from changing the way video is shown and sound is played and setting any playback option MPlayer understands to arranging the player controls inside KPlayer window, changing the buttons on the toolbars and defining new shortcut key combinations.
Table of Contents
Important
Like all KDE applications, KPlayer is highly configurable. The default settings have been chosen for optimal performance and maximum compatibility. This chapter describes how KPlayer behaves with these default settings.
There are several ways to start KPlayer. Which one you use is your personal preference, and may depend on what type of media you are going to play.
From the menu, select ->
Or you can put KPlayer icon on the desktop or on the Kicker panel. Then you can click it to start KPlayer.
Alt+F2 will open a Run Command dialog box, type
kplayer(lower case) and press Enter or click the button.In a terminal program like Konsole type
kplayerand press Enter.Depending on the type of content you are going to play, there may be other ways to start KPlayer. They are described in the sections about playing local files and remote addresses.
KPlayer can play multimedia from many different sources. In addition to local files, it can play remote network addresses or URLs, various devices like disks and cards, and many other sources like network locations and compressed files using KDE feature known as I/O Slaves.
Use any of the following ways to start playing local files from your hard drive or any other device mounted as a directory on your system.
When KPlayer is running, select ->->. KPlayer will open your home directory in the multimedia library and list any multimedia files you have in it. Then you can select the file or files you want to play or look for multimedia files in other directories.
The multimedia library allows you to organize your multimedia collection for easier access. For example, once you create some playlists, playing one of them becomes as easy as selecting -> and then selecting the playlist name from the submenu.
If your file does not show up in the library, select ->, or click the button on the main toolbar. The standard Play files dialog will appear, letting you choose a local file or several files. After you click the button or press Enter, KPlayer will put your selection on the current playlist and start playing it.
KPlayer is associated with all media file types it can play. If a type has more than one program associated to it, you need to move KPlayer to the top of the list on the File Associations page in the Konqueror configuration dialog. Then you can simply execute a media file in Konqueror File Manager with the mouse button, and it will open KPlayer if it is not yet running and start playing the file.
click context menu in Konqueror File Manager will show the command when a multimedia file or files are selected. Selecting the command will open KPlayer, put all the selected files on the current playlist and play them. You can also click a directory and play all multimedia files contained in it and in all of its subdirectories.
You can also drag files and directories from Konqueror File Manager and drop them on the KPlayer window. KPlayer will then put them on the current playlist and start playing them.
In a terminal program like Konsole type
kplayerfilenamewhere
filename
Use any of the following ways to start playing a remote file or stream with a remote URL using a network protocol like HTTP, FTP, Samba, MMS, RTSP, PNM, etc.
Once KPlayer starts, select ->, or click the button on the main toolbar. The standard Play URL dialog will appear, letting you type or paste in a remote URL. After you click the button or press Enter, KPlayer will start playing the URL you entered.
KPlayer is associated with all media types it can play. If a type has more than one program associated to it, you need to move KPlayer to the top of the list on the File Associations page in the Konqueror configuration dialog. Then you can simply click a link to a media file or stream of that type in Konqueror Web Browser, and it will open KPlayer if it is not yet running, put the link on the current playlist and start playing it.
Sometimes a web page will have a media object embedded in it. If KPlayer is at the top of the list of programs associated with the media type of the object, when you open the page in Konqueror Web Browser it will embed KPlayer into the web page and start playing the media. However, it is recommended that you click the media object and choose so that the full KPlayer opens up and starts playing the media. This will give you a better interface and more options than an embedded KPlayer.
Just like with local files, you can start KPlayer from a terminal program like Konsole with the URL you want to play. This is useful for example if you copied the URL to the clipboard in a text editor. In the terminal program type
kplayermediaurlwhere
mediaurlAnd of course you can keep your favorite multimedia links in the multimedia library and include them on your playlists. Then you can play a playlist by choosing its name from the -> submenu.
KPlayer finds any disk and tuner devices you have on your computer and shows them on the menu and in the Devices section of the multimedia library.
When you insert a disk into a DVD or CD device, KPlayer finds the titles or tracks on the disk and shows them on the device submenu under the menu as well as in the multimedia library.
To play the whole disk:
Select from the device submenu under the menu, or
click the device node in the Devices section of the multimedia library and select , or
click the disk icon when it shows in the Devices applet in the KDE task bar and select from the menu, or
click the disk icon when it shows on the desktop and select from the menu.
To play a title or track:
Select the title or track from the device submenu under the menu, or
Open the device node in the Devices section of the multimedia library and execute the title or track with the mouse button or click it and select .
For tuner devices like TV or DVB KPlayer shows the available channels on the device submenu under the menu as well as under the device node in the Devices section of the multimedia library.
To play a channel:
Select the channel from the device submenu under the menu, or
Open the device node in the Devices section of the multimedia library and execute the channel with the mouse button or click it and select .
KDE has a great way to access all kinds of data through a system known
as I/O Slaves. They are little programs that let you
represent many different sources of data as URL like
addresses, and open them in KDE programs like Konqueror and KPlayer.
For example you can access a network host over SSH with
a URL like
fish:/, or a zip file
with a URL like
host/pathzip:/.home/cooldude/my.zip
So you paste a URL like that in Konqueror address bar, hit Enter and see the data source as if it was a usual file or a directory with files and subdirectories in it. If one of those files happens to be a multimedia file like an MP3 file for example, you can execute it with the mouse button so that KPlayer opens up and starts playing the file, just like with plain local files. As usual, for this to work KPlayer needs to be the top program for that file type on the File Associations page in Konqueror or KDE Control Center.
Those same URLs will work in the Play
files dialog that you get when you select
->,
or click the button in KPlayer. Or if you have the
full URL to the media file itself, like
fish:/ or
host/path/song.mp3zip:/,
you can paste it into the Play URL dialog that you get by
selecting -> or clicking the
button in KPlayer.home/cooldude/my.zip/subdir/song.mp3
Just like with local files and remote addresses, you can start KPlayer from a terminal program like Konsole with the URL you want to play. This is useful for example if you copied the URL to the clipboard in a text editor. In the terminal program type
kplayer
mediaurl
where mediaurl
Here is a brief look at the main parts of KPlayer window:
KPlayer lets you choose what parts of it you want to be visible and position them exactly where you want. You can use the menu to choose whether to show or hide the menu bar, toolbars, the multimedia library, the message log and the status bar. The title bar as well as the window borders will be hidden when you choose the option from the menu.
Title bar is the strip across the top of KPlayer window, and operates in the same way as for other KDE applications. click the central portion to bring up the title bar popup menu.
Menu bar is the strip containing names of drop-down menus. click a name to alternately show and hide that menu, or use Alt+the underlined letter in the name as a hot key, for example Alt+F to show the menu. The various menus are described in the Menu bar section of this document.
Main toolbar contains buttons for commonly used operations. clicking an icon will activate the corresponding action. If you have enabled tooltips in the KDE Control Center -> dialog, a brief description of what that icon does will appear when you hover the mouse pointer over it. Some of the main toolbar buttons will pop up slider controls when clicked. The sliders let you change various player controls: sound volume, video contrast, brightness, hue and saturation. The video controls will only be available for video files. See the Toolbars section of this manual for a full description of the buttons and their actions.
Playlist toolbar shows the multimedia title currently loaded or being played, offers commands to go to the next or previous items on the playlist, and also lets you see the entire playlist that consists of items that are currently being played or have been played recently. If you select a different item from the list, KPlayer will load and start playing it. The toolbar also contains options to loop and shuffle the playlist. See the Playlist toolbar section of the Command reference chapter of this manual for a full description of the buttons and their actions.
Video area is the central part of KPlayer. When playing a file that has video, it will display the video and optionally subtitles. Normally it will be hidden when playing an audio only file. clicking the video area brings up the general popup menu.
Slider toolbars contain a slider and one or more related buttons. The progress and seeking toolbar is shown when the time length of a media file is known. It displays the playback progress and also allows seeking, that is, moving the playback point back and forth within the file. To seek to a specific position, drag the slider thumb to that position with the mouse button, or simply click at that position with the mouse button. To move forward or backward in steps, click the slider to the left or right of the thumb, or click the and buttons.
Other slider toolbars show sliders for volume, contrast, brightness, hue and saturation. These are the same sliders you get from the pop-up slider buttons on the main toolbar, but they will not disappear when you click elsewhere. The sliders show the current setting and allow you to change it. You can get these toolbars using options on the menu.
Status bar runs across the bottom of the KPlayer window and shows general information about the player status and progress.
If an error occurs during playback, the left portion of the status bar will show the word Error, and then you can click it to show the message log and see the error messages.
The middle portion displays the current player state, whether it is Idle, Running, Playing or Paused. The right portion displays the current playback time, as well as the total time if it is known.
Multimedia library allows you to easily access the multimedia available to you from your computer. In the multimedia library window you can browse directories mounted on your system for multimedia files, which include all video, audio and playlist files. A separate section shows your CD and DVD drives, disks you insert in them, titles or tracks on those disks, as well as tuner devices like TV or DVB cards you have on your system and channels available on those devices.
Other sections allow you to organize your multimedia files and links to Internet media in a multimedia collection, create playlists, and view the currently and recently played multimedia. You can use the commands on the menu or the click menu to add entries to the collection and playlists, move them around, and play your selection. Additional commands allow you to show or change various information about the media and its properties.
For details on the available commands and options see the Library menu and the library popup menu sections of this manual. For a detailed description of the multimedia library feature see the Multimedia library micro-HOWTO.
Message log is a window where KPlayer shows messages it receives from MPlayer and KDE I/O Slaves. clicking the message log brings up the message log popup menu that allows you to select all messages, copy the current selection or remove all messages.
Table of Contents
The shortcut key combinations shown in this chapter are the default ones. They can of course be changed.
Note that many menu entries are only enabled when they are applicable to the file currently loaded in KPlayer. For example, the items on the menu will be disabled when playing audio only files.
- (Ctrl+O)
Displays the standard Play files dialog and lets you choose a file or several files to put on the playlist and start playing.
- (Ctrl+U)
Displays the standard Play URL dialog and lets you type or paste in a URL to put on the playlist and start playing. The URL can be a remote network location, a local file path, or a KDE I/O Slave URL.
Displays a submenu listing all playlists and lets you choose one of them to play.
Displays a submenu listing the most recently played files and URLs and lets you choose one to put on the playlist and start playing.
Displays a submenu with commands for the particular device. Each device has its own submenu. The submenu label reflects the kind of device it is, for example TV Device or DVD Device. When you put a disk in a disk drive, after a few seconds the label will change to reflect the kind of disk you inserted, for example Audio CD in DVD Device. The list of commands on the submenu will also be updated accordingly to include commands applicable to the disk and the tracks it has. See below for details about the commands.
- (Ctrl+S)
Displays the standard Load subtitles dialog and lets you choose a subtitle file to use with the current file or URL. After you click , KPlayer will start showing the subtitles immediately if the video is already playing, and list the subtitle file on the submenu of the menu. By default it will also remember the subtitles you choose in the current file properties. This command is available for video files.
- (Alt+Enter)
Opens the File Properties dialog that lets you choose many options specific to the currently loaded file. See the File properties micro-HOWTO for details.
- (Ctrl+Q)
Saves the playlist and all settings, stops playing and closes KPlayer.
Plays the entire disk. This command is available if the device is a disk drive.
Plays one title of a video DVD. This command is available when KPlayer detects a video DVD in a DVD drive and finds out the number of titles on it. Each title on the DVD has its own command on this submenu.
Plays one track of an audio or video CD. This command is available when KPlayer detects an audio or video CD in a disk drive and finds out the number of tracks on it. Each track on the CD has its own command on this submenu.
Detects the kind of disk that is in the disk drive, finds the number of titles or tracks on the disk and updates the submenu accordingly. Usually KPlayer detects this information automatically, but sometimes this command can be useful to initiate the detection process manually. This command is available if the device is a disk drive.
Plays a channel from a tuner device. This command is available if the device is a tuner device. Each channel on the device has its own command on this submenu.
Commands on this menu are only available for video files.
- (Ctrl+F)
Switches to full screen video display and back to normal mode. Double clicking the video area also switches between full screen and normal window size.
- (Ctrl++)
Enlarges the video area by one half of the original video size of the current file.
- (Ctrl+-)
Reduces the video area by one half of the original video size of the current file.
Resizes the video area to one half of the original video size of the current file.
- (Ctrl+Backspace)
Resizes the video area to the original video size of the current file.
Resizes the video area to 150% of the original video size of the current file.
Resizes the video area to twice the original video size of the current file.
Resizes the video area to 250% of the original video size of the current file.
Resizes the video area to thrice the original video size of the current file.
Toggles the option to maintain the original video aspect ratio of the current file.
Toggles the option to maintain the current video aspect ratio.
Toggles the option to maintain four to three video aspect ratio.
Toggles the option to maintain sixteen to nine video aspect ratio.
- (Enter)
Starts playback of the current file. If the player has been paused, this command resumes playback. This command is available when a file is loaded.
- (Space)
Pauses or resumes playback of the current file. This command is available when the player is not idle.
- (Esc)
Stops playback of the current file. This command is available when the player is not idle.
- (Alt+Down Arrow)
Starts playing the next item on the current playlist.
- (Alt+Up Arrow)
Starts playing the previous item on the current playlist.
Toggles the option to start playing items from the beginning of the playlist after playing the last item on the playlist.
Toggles the option to play playlist items in a random order.
This submenu and the commands it contains are available when playing a file.
- (Right Arrow)
Moves playback forward by one percent of the time length of the current file.
- (Ctrl+Right Arrow)
Moves playback forward by ten percent of the time length of the current file.
- (Left Arrow)
Moves playback backward by one percent of the time length of the current file.
- (Ctrl+Left Arrow)
Moves playback backward by ten percent of the time length of the current file.
- (Ctrl+Home)
Moves playback to the beginning of the current file.
Switches to the selected audio track. If the currently loaded file or stream has more than one audio track, each track will have a command that allows you to switch to that audio track. The command will be labelled with the audio track language if it is known. If there is only one audio track, this command will not be available.
- (Down Arrow)
Decreases the sound volume.
- (Up Arrow)
Increases the sound volume.
- (Ctrl+\)
Turns the sound on or off.
- (Ctrl+])
Decreases the delay of sound relative to video.
- (Ctrl+[)
Increases the delay of sound relative to video.
This submenu is only available for video files.
Switches to the selected video track. If the currently loaded file or stream has more than one video track, each track will have a command that allows you to switch to that video track. If there is only one video track, this command will not be available.
- (Ctrl+1)
Decreases the video contrast.
- (Ctrl+2)
Increases the video contrast.
- (Ctrl+3)
Decreases the video brightness.
- (Ctrl+4)
Increases the video brightness.
- (Ctrl+5)
Decreases the video hue.
- (Ctrl+6)
Increases the video hue.
- (Ctrl+7)
Decreases the video saturation.
- (Ctrl+8)
Increases the video saturation.
This menu is only available when a video file has embedded subtitles or when external subtitles are loaded.
Stops showing subtitles while playing video.
Switches to the selected subtitles. If the currently loaded file or stream has embedded subtitle tracks, each track will have a command that allows you to switch to that subtitle track. The command will be labelled with the subtitle track language if it is known. If you load external subtitles, they will also have a command, labelled with the subtitle file name, that allows you to switch to the external subtitles.
- (Ctrl+,)
Moves the subtitles down in the video area.
- (Ctrl+.)
Moves the subtitles up in the video area.
- (Ctrl+')
Decreases the delay of subtitles relative to video.
- (Ctrl+;)
Increases the delay of subtitles relative to video.
If your system is too slow to play a file, MPlayer can drop some frames so playback does not slow down. This submenu lets you choose a frame dropping option. The soft frame dropping option drops frames less agressively than the hard one and should not cause playback problems. You should try it when you get video lagging behind audio, for example because you cannot use an accelerated video output. The hard option drops frames more agressively than the soft one and may sometimes break decoding.
Toggles the soft frame dropping option.
Toggles the hard frame dropping option.
To turn frame dropping off, unselect the currently selected frame dropping option. The Frame drop option can also be set on the Advanced page either globally in KPlayer Settings or for a particular file in the File Properties.
The commands on this menu work on the multimedia library. Most of the commands are available when the library is shown using the command on the menu or one of the commands on the submenu. Other commands become available when you select some items in the library. For a detailed description of the multimedia library feature see the Multimedia library micro-HOWTO.
- (Ctrl+Enter)
Puts the selected items on the current playlist and starts playing them.
Puts the selected items on the current playlist and plays them after the currently playing item.
Adds the selected items to the current playlist.
Adds the selected items to the current playlist and plays them after the currently playing item.
Shows a submenu with commands that add the current selection to different locations in the multimedia library. See below for details on each available command.
Shows a submenu with commands that allow you to add items to the current folder. See below for details on each available command.
Selects all items in the current folder.
Moves the currently selected items up in the multimedia library. This command is available for items in the Now Playing, Recent and Playlists sections of the library. You can also move items around in those sections by clicking and dragging them with the mouse button.
Moves the currently selected items down in the multimedia library. This command is available for items in the Now Playing, Recent and Playlists sections of the library. You can also move items around in those sections by clicking and dragging them with the mouse button.
- (Delete)
Removes the currently selected items from the multimedia library. Note that KPlayer never deletes any multimedia files from your system, so this command is not available for files and directories.
- (F2)
Starts edit mode for the current item in the multimedia library so that you can change the item name.
Shows a submenu with commands that start edit mode for the chosen field of the current item in the multimedia library. Each editable field has its own command on this submenu. If the field column is not shown, this command will show it. After you are done editing the field, press Enter to apply the changes, or Tab or Shift+Tab to apply the changes and edit the next or the previous field, or Down Arrow or Up Arrow to apply the changes and edit the same field of the next or previous item.
Opens the File Properties dialog for the current item in the multimedia library. This command currently does not apply to folders, but it is available for devices and optical disks as well as other items. See the File properties micro-HOWTO for details.
Shows a submenu with commands that show or hide the chosen column in the list view of the multimedia library. Each available column has its own command on this submenu.
Shows a submenu with commands that let you navigate the multimedia library. See below for details on each available command.
Adds the selected items to the playlist you choose from the list. Each playlist in the Playlists section of the library has its own command on this submenu.
Shows a dialog allowing you to enter a name for a new playlist to add to the Playlists section of the multimedia library and adds the selected items to the new playlist.
Adds the selected items to the Playlists section of the multimedia library.
Adds the selected items to the Collection section of the multimedia library.
Displays the standard Add files dialog and lets you choose a file or several files to add to the current folder.
Displays the standard Add URL dialog and lets you type or paste in a URL to add to the current folder.
Shows a dialog allowing you to enter a name for a new subfolder to add to the current folder.
Shows a dialog allowing you to enter a name for a new playlist to add to the playlist selected in the multimedia library.
Shows a dialog allowing you to enter a name, type and path for a new device to add to the Devices section of the multimedia library. Some device types need additional settings. See the Devices micro-HOWTO for details.
Opens the selected folder in the multimedia library. If the library window is not shown, this command will show it. Each folder in the recent history has its own command on this submenu. Each top level folder also has its own command.
- (Alt+Left Arrow)
Opens the previous folder.
- (Alt+Right Arrow)
Opens the next folder. This command will be available after you use the command.
- (Alt+Shift+Up Arrow)
Opens the parent folder of the selected folder.
- (Alt+Shift+Down Arrow)
Opens the selected folder.
- (Alt+Shift+Left Arrow)
Opens the origin folder of the selected folder. This command is available when the currently selected folder is linked to an origin folder. For an explanation of linked folders, see the Multimedia library micro-HOWTO.
- (Ctrl+M)
Shows or hides the menu bar.
Shows or hides the status bar.
- (Ctrl+P)
Shows or hides the playlist toolbar.
- (Ctrl+L)
Shows or hides the multimedia library.
- (Ctrl+G)
Shows or hides the message log.
Shows or hides the main toolbar.
Shows or hides the progress toolbar. This command is available when the time length of the current file is known.
Shows or hides the volume toolbar.
Shows or hides the contrast toolbar. This command is available for video files.
Shows or hides the brightness toolbar. This command is available for video files.
Shows or hides the hue toolbar. This command is available for video files.
Shows or hides the saturation toolbar. This command is available for video files.
Opens a dialog that lets you see and change KPlayer's shortcut key bindings, or associations between actions and the corresponding keys or combinations of keys that activate them. If you change the bindings, make sure not to duplicate an existing shortcut and also not to use the Shift key for your new shortcuts, because the Shift key has a special function in KPlayer.
Opens a dialog that lets you see and change the command buttons available on KPlayer's toolbars.
Opens a dialog that lets you configure the program, modifying various aspects of its functionality, user interface and interaction with MPlayer. For more information see the Configuration dialog chapter and the Advanced configuration micro-HOWTO in this manual.
Opens and displays the KPlayer user manual.
Changes the mouse pointer to a question mark and lets you click a KPlayer interface element to get a quick description of its purpose and functionality.
Opens a help topic that explains the recommended way to report a bug in KPlayer.
Displays some brief information about KPlayer's version number, authors and license agreement.
Shows some information about the version of KDE that you are running.
The main toolbar contains the most useful KPlayer commands and options.
and buttons invoke the corresponding actions from the menu that display dialog boxes allowing you to play local files or remote URLs.
button corresponds to the command on the menu that will open the File Properties dialog for the current file.
, and buttons correspond to the commands on the menu and will respectively start, pause and stop playback of the current file.
and buttons invoke the commands on the menu that respectively enlarge and reduce the video area by one half of the original video size of the current file.
button corresponds to the command on the general popup menu that will toggle the option to maintain the video aspect ratio.
button invokes the command on the menu that switches to the full screen mode and back the to normal mode.
, , , and buttons display popup sliders allowing you to adjust those settings. If you want the slider to stay visible instead of disappearing when it loses the input focus, use the slider toolbars instead. As usual, if you hold the Shift key down, the changes you make to the settings will be applied only to the current file and stored in its properties.
The playlist toolbar contains the current playlist and the most frequently used playlist commands and options.
and buttons correspond to the commands on the menu and will select the next or previous item on the playlist and start playing it.
The playlist combo box in the closed state displays the current playlist item. You can drop down the combo box to see the entire list and select a different item to load and play.
button is the same as the corresponding command on the menu that toggles the option to continue playing from the top of the current playlist after playing the last item.
button is also the same as the corresponding command on the menu that toggles the option to play items in random order.
The progress and seeking toolbar is available when KPlayer knows the time length of the current file. It shows the current playback progress and lets you seek, which is to say, move the playback position forward or backward.
The progress slider reflects the current playback position relative to the total time length of the current file, and also lets you seek or change the current position. To seek forward and backward by the distance between the tick marks on the slider, click to the right or left of the slider thumb. To seek to a specific point, click that point, or click and drag the slider thumb to that point. If your mouse has a wheel, you can roll it up (away