xref: /linux/Documentation/userspace-api/media/v4l/selection-api-configuration.rst (revision 778b8ebe5192e7a7f00563a7456517dfa63e1d90)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GFDL-1.1-no-invariants-or-later
2.. c:namespace:: V4L
3
4*************
5Configuration
6*************
7
8Applications can use the :ref:`selection API <VIDIOC_G_SELECTION>` to
9select an area in a video signal or a buffer, and to query for default
10settings and hardware limits.
11
12Video hardware can have various cropping, composing and scaling
13limitations. It may only scale up or down, support only discrete scaling
14factors, or have different scaling abilities in the horizontal and
15vertical directions. Also it may not support scaling at all. At the same
16time the cropping/composing rectangles may have to be aligned, and both
17the source and the sink may have arbitrary upper and lower size limits.
18Therefore, as usual, drivers are expected to adjust the requested
19parameters and return the actual values selected. An application can
20control the rounding behaviour using
21:ref:`constraint flags <v4l2-selection-flags>`.
22
23
24Configuration of video capture
25==============================
26
27See figure :ref:`sel-targets-capture` for examples of the selection
28targets available for a video capture device. It is recommended to
29configure the cropping targets before to the composing targets.
30
31The range of coordinates of the top left corner, width and height of
32areas that can be sampled is given by the ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS``
33target. It is recommended for the driver developers to put the top/left
34corner at position ``(0,0)``. The rectangle's coordinates are expressed
35in pixels.
36
37The top left corner, width and height of the source rectangle, that is
38the area actually sampled, is given by the ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP`` target.
39It uses the same coordinate system as ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS``. The
40active cropping area must lie completely inside the capture boundaries.
41The driver may further adjust the requested size and/or position
42according to hardware limitations.
43
44Each capture device has a default source rectangle, given by the
45``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_DEFAULT`` target. This rectangle shall cover what the
46driver writer considers the complete picture. Drivers shall set the
47active crop rectangle to the default when the driver is first loaded,
48but not later.
49
50The composing targets refer to a memory buffer. The limits of composing
51coordinates are obtained using ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE_BOUNDS``. All
52coordinates are expressed in pixels. The rectangle's top/left corner
53must be located at position ``(0,0)``. The width and height are equal to
54the image size set by :ref:`VIDIOC_S_FMT <VIDIOC_G_FMT>`.
55
56The part of a buffer into which the image is inserted by the hardware is
57controlled by the ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE`` target. The rectangle's
58coordinates are also expressed in the same coordinate system as the
59bounds rectangle. The composing rectangle must lie completely inside
60bounds rectangle. The driver must adjust the composing rectangle to fit
61to the bounding limits. Moreover, the driver can perform other
62adjustments according to hardware limitations. The application can
63control rounding behaviour using
64:ref:`constraint flags <v4l2-selection-flags>`.
65
66For capture devices the default composing rectangle is queried using
67``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE_DEFAULT``. It is usually equal to the bounding
68rectangle.
69
70The part of a buffer that is modified by the hardware is given by
71``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE_PADDED``. It contains all pixels defined using
72``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE`` plus all padding data modified by hardware
73during insertion process. All pixels outside this rectangle *must not*
74be changed by the hardware. The content of pixels that lie inside the
75padded area but outside active area is undefined. The application can
76use the padded and active rectangles to detect where the rubbish pixels
77are located and remove them if needed.
78
79
80Configuration of video output
81=============================
82
83For output devices targets and ioctls are used similarly to the video
84capture case. The *composing* rectangle refers to the insertion of an
85image into a video signal. The cropping rectangles refer to a memory
86buffer. It is recommended to configure the composing targets before to
87the cropping targets.
88
89The cropping targets refer to the memory buffer that contains an image
90to be inserted into a video signal or graphical screen. The limits of
91cropping coordinates are obtained using ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_BOUNDS``.
92All coordinates are expressed in pixels. The top/left corner is always
93point ``(0,0)``. The width and height is equal to the image size
94specified using :ref:`VIDIOC_S_FMT <VIDIOC_G_FMT>` ioctl.
95
96The top left corner, width and height of the source rectangle, that is
97the area from which image date are processed by the hardware, is given
98by the ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP``. Its coordinates are expressed in the
99same coordinate system as the bounds rectangle. The active cropping area
100must lie completely inside the crop boundaries and the driver may
101further adjust the requested size and/or position according to hardware
102limitations.
103
104For output devices the default cropping rectangle is queried using
105``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP_DEFAULT``. It is usually equal to the bounding
106rectangle.
107
108The part of a video signal or graphics display where the image is
109inserted by the hardware is controlled by ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE``
110target. The rectangle's coordinates are expressed in pixels. The
111composing rectangle must lie completely inside the bounds rectangle. The
112driver must adjust the area to fit to the bounding limits. Moreover, the
113driver can perform other adjustments according to hardware limitations.
114
115The device has a default composing rectangle, given by the
116``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE_DEFAULT`` target. This rectangle shall cover what
117the driver writer considers the complete picture. It is recommended for
118the driver developers to put the top/left corner at position ``(0,0)``.
119Drivers shall set the active composing rectangle to the default one when
120the driver is first loaded.
121
122The devices may introduce additional content to video signal other than
123an image from memory buffers. It includes borders around an image.
124However, such a padded area is driver-dependent feature not covered by
125this document. Driver developers are encouraged to keep padded rectangle
126equal to active one. The padded target is accessed by the
127``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE_PADDED`` identifier. It must contain all pixels
128from the ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE`` target.
129
130
131Scaling control
132===============
133
134An application can detect if scaling is performed by comparing the width
135and the height of rectangles obtained using ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_CROP`` and
136``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE`` targets. If these are not equal then the
137scaling is applied. The application can compute the scaling ratios using
138these values.
139