[FFmpeg-user] ffplay frustrations/questions/suggestions

[Toerless Eckert]

It is possible with ffplay to use "-devices" to list output devices, but i could
not find in ffplay(8) or "ffplay --help" or http://ffmpeg.org any indication how
to SELECT a particular output device to use.

  If there is no option to select the output device, i would suggest:
  - Document that there is no such option, eg: following the documentation for
    "-devices".
  - Print in the output of "-devices" which the actual current output device is.

  If there is an option, pls. let me know and document.

With latest git version (3.2.git), ffplay does not work and gives the following
error: "SDL: could not set video mode - exiting". This is running ffmpeg/ffplay
on linux with environment variable DISPLAY set to remote X display (Mac, XQuartz).

ffplay -devices lists:
    sdl,sdl2        SDL2 output device
    (and more)

Older versions of ffmpeg (tried <= 2.8x) did work fine with my display
setup and ddplay, but in those versions, ffplay and ffmpeg only include sdl
(not sdl2).

But also: latest ffmpeg works fine with either SDL or SDL2 with the same setup:
    ffmpeg -i <input> -f [sdl|sdl2] "Window Title"
aka: in same compile, only ffplay does not work with SDL...

Finally: in latest git, ffplay is not even built without SDL2 library
discovered on the system. That doesn't seem to be right either.

Thanks!