GStreamer Plugins

Multimedia User Guide (UG1449)

Document ID
UG1449
Release Date
2023-10-19
Revision
1.7 English

GStreamer is a library for constructing graphs of media-handling components. The applications it supports range from simple playback and audio/video streaming to complex audio (mixing) and video processing.

GStreamer uses a plug-in architecture which makes the most of GStreamer functionality implemented as shared libraries. The GStreamer base functionality contains functions for registering and loading plug-ins and for providing the fundamentals of all classes in the form of base classes. Plug-in libraries get dynamically loaded to support a wide spectrum of codecs, container formats, and input/output drivers.

The following table describes the plug-ins used in the GStreamer interface library.

Table 1. Verified GStreamer Plug-ins
Plug-in Description
v4l2src

Use v4l2src to capture video from V4L2 devices like Xilinx HDMI-RX and TPG.

kmssink

The kmssink is a simple video sink that renders raw video frames directly in a plane of a DRM device.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src ! “video/x-raw, format=NV12, width=3840, 
height=2160” !kmssink
h26xparse

Parses a H.26x encoded stream.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=/media/card/abc.mp4 ! qtdemux ! h26xparse !
omxh26xdec ! kmssink							
omxh26xdec The omxh26xdec is a hardware-accelerated video decoder that decodes encoded video frames.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=/media/card/abc.mp4 ! qtdemux ! h26xparse ! 
omxh26xdec ! kmssink

This pipeline shows a .mp4 multiplexed file where the encoded format is h26x encoded video.

Note: Use the omxh264dec for H264 decoding, and the omxh265dec for H265 decoding. h264parse parses a H.264 encoded stream. h265parse parses a H.265 encoded stream.
omxh26xenc

The omxh26xenc is a hardware-accelerated video encoder that encodes raw video frames.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 v4l2src ! omxh26xenc ! filesink location=out.h26x

This pipeline shows the video captured from a V4L2 device that delivers raw data. The data is encoded to the h26x encoded video type, and stored to a file.

Note: Use the omxh264enc for H264 encoding, and the omxh265enc for H265 encoding.
alsasrc

Use the alsasrc plug-in to capture audio from audio devices such as AMD HDMI-RX.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 alsasrc device=hw:1,1 ! queue ! audioconvert ! 
audioresample ! audio/x-raw, rate=48000, channels=2, format=S24_32LE 
! alsasink device="hw:1,0"

This pipeline shows that the audio captured from an ALSA source, plays on an ALSA sink.

alsasink

The alsasink is a simple audio sink that plays raw audio frames.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 alsasrc device=hw:1,1 ! queue ! audioconvert ! 
audioresample ! audio/x-raw, rate=48000, channels=2, format=S24_32LE 
! alsasink device="hw:1,0"

This pipeline shows that the audio captured from the ALSA source, plays on an ALSA sink.

faad 1

Decoder faad is an audio decoder that decodes encoded audio frames.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 filesrc location=out.ts ! tsdemux ! aacparse ! faad ! 
audioconvert ! audioresample ! audio/x-raw,rate=48000,channels=2, 
format=S24_32LE ! alsasink device="hw:1,0"

This pipeline shows a .ts multiplexed file where the encoded format is aac encoded audio. The data is decoded and played on an ALSA sink device.

faac 1 The faac is an audio encoder that encodes raw audio frames.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 alsasrc device=hw:1,1 num-buffers=500 ! 
audio/x-raw, format=S24_32LE, rate=48000 ,channels=2 ! queue ! audioconvert ! 
audioresample ! faac ! aacparse ! mpegtsmux ! filesink location=out.ts

This pipeline shows the audio captured from an ALSA device that delivers raw data. The data is encoded to aac format and stored to a file.

xilinxscd

The xilinxscd is hardware-accelerated IP that enables detection of scene change in a video stream. This plugin generates upstream events whenever there is scene change in an incoming video stream so the encoder can insert an Intra frame to improve video quality.

Example pipeline:

gst-launch-1.0 -v v4l2src ! video/x-raw, width=3840, height=2160, 
format=NV12, framerate=60/1 ! xilinxscdio-mode=5 ! omxh26xenc ! 
filesink location=/run/out.h26x

This pipeline shows the video captured from a V4L2 device that delivers raw data. This raw data is passed through the xilinxscd plugin which analyzes the stream in runtime and provides an event to the encoder that determines whether or not a scene change is detected in a video stream. The encoder uses this information to insert an I-frame in an encoded bit-stream.

Note: Use the omxh264enc for H264 encoding, and the omxh265enc for H265 encoding.
appsrc The appsrc element can be used by applications to insert data into a GStreamer pipeline. Unlike most GStreamer elements, appsrc provides external API functions.
appsink The appsink is a sink plugin that supports many different methods, enabling the application to manage the GStreamer data in a pipeline. Unlike most GStreamer elements, appsink provides external API functions.
queue Queues data until one of the limits specified by the max-size-buffers, max-size-bytes, or max-size-time properties has been reached
  1. The faac/faad plugin is not actively maintained in the community. For higher audio quality and less noise, Opus Codec (opusenc/opusdec) is an alternative.

For more details, see H.264/H.265 Video Codec Unit LogiCORE IP Product Guide (PG252).