doc/ffprobe.texi

\input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-

@settitle ffprobe Documentation
@titlepage
@center @titlefont{ffprobe Documentation}
@end titlepage

@top

@contents

@chapter Synopsis

The generic syntax is:

@example
@c man begin SYNOPSIS
ffprobe [options] [@file{input_file}]
@c man end
@end example

@chapter Description
@c man begin DESCRIPTION

ffprobe gathers information from multimedia streams and prints it in
human- and machine-readable fashion.

For example it can be used to check the format of the container used
by a multimedia stream and the format and type of each media stream
contained in it.

If a filename is specified in input, ffprobe will try to open and
probe the file content. If the file cannot be opened or recognized as
a multimedia file, a positive exit code is returned.

ffprobe may be employed both as a standalone application or in
combination with a textual filter, which may perform more
sophisticated processing, e.g. statistical processing or plotting.

Options are used to list some of the formats supported by ffprobe or
for specifying which information to display, and for setting how
ffprobe will show it.

ffprobe output is designed to be easily parsable by a textual filter,
and consists of one or more sections of the form:
@example
[SECTION]
key1=val1
...
keyN=valN
[/SECTION]
@end example

Metadata tags stored in the container or in the streams are recognized
and printed in the corresponding "FORMAT" or "STREAM" section, and
are prefixed by the string "TAG:".

@c man end

@chapter Options
@c man begin OPTIONS

@include fftools-common-opts.texi

@section Main options

@table @option

@item -f @var{format}
Force format to use.

@item -unit
Show the unit of the displayed values.

@item -prefix
Use SI prefixes for the displayed values.
Unless the "-byte_binary_prefix" option is used all the prefixes
are decimal.

@item -byte_binary_prefix
Force the use of binary prefixes for byte values.

@item -sexagesimal
Use sexagesimal format HH:MM:SS.MICROSECONDS for time values.

@item -pretty
Prettify the format of the displayed values, it corresponds to the
options "-unit -prefix -byte_binary_prefix -sexagesimal".

@item -show_format
Show information about the container format of the input multimedia
stream.

All the container format information is printed within a section with
name "FORMAT".

@item -show_packets
Show information about each packet contained in the input multimedia
stream.

The information for each single packet is printed within a dedicated
section with name "PACKET".

@item -show_streams
Show information about each media stream contained in the input
multimedia stream.

Each media stream information is printed within a dedicated section
with name "STREAM".

@item -i @var{input_file}
Read @var{input_file}.

@end table
@c man end

@include decoders.texi
@include demuxers.texi
@include protocols.texi
@include indevs.texi

@ignore

@setfilename ffprobe
@settitle ffprobe media prober

@c man begin SEEALSO
ffmpeg(1), ffplay(1), ffserver(1) and the FFmpeg HTML documentation
@c man end

@c man begin AUTHORS
The FFmpeg developers
@c man end

@end ignore

@bye