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      1 page.title=Media
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     19 <div id="qv-wrapper">
     20   <div id="qv">
     21     <h2>In this document</h2>
     22     <ol id="auto-toc">
     23     </ol>
     24   </div>
     25 </div>
     26 
     27 <p>
     28   Android provides a media playback engine at the native level called Stagefright that comes built-in with
     29   software-based codecs for several popular media formats. Stagefright features for audio and video playback
     30   include integration with OpenMAX codecs, session management, time-synchronized rendering, transport control,
     31   and DRM. In addition, Stagefright supports integration with custom hardware codecs that you provide.
     32   There actually isn't a HAL to implement for custom codecs, but to provide a hardware path to encode and
     33   decode media, you must implement your hardware-based codec as an OpenMax IL (Integration Layer) component.
     34 </p>
     35 <h2 id="overview">
     36 Overview
     37 </h2>
     38 <p>The following diagram shows how media applications interact with the Android native multimedia framework.</p>
     39 <p>
     40   <img src="images/media.png">
     41 </p>
     42 <dl>
     43 <dt>Application Framework</dt>
     44   <dd>At the application framework level is the app's code, which utilizes the
     45   <a href="http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/package-summary.html">android.media</a>
     46   APIs to interact with the multimedia hardware.</dd>
     47   <dt>Binder IPC</dt>
     48   <dd>The Binder IPC proxies facilitate communication over process boundaries. They are located in 
     49     the <code>frameworks/av/media/libmedia</code> directory and begin with the letter "I".</dd>
     50   <dt>Native Multimedia Framework</dt>
     51   <dd>At the native level, Android provides a multimedia framework that utilizes the Stagefright engine for
     52   audio and video recording and playback. Stagefright comes with a default list of supported software codecs
     53   and you can implement your own hardware codec by using the OpenMax integration layer standard. For more
     54   implementation details, see the various MediaPlayer and Stagefright components located in
     55   <code>frameworks/av/media</code>.
     56   </dd>
     57   <dt>OpenMAX Integration Layer (IL)</dt>
     58   <dd>The OpenMAX IL provides a standardized way for Stagefright to recognize and use custom hardware-based
     59   multimedia codecs called components. You must provide an OpenMAX plugin in the form of a shared library
     60   named <code>libstagefrighthw.so</code>. This plugin links your custom codec components to Stagefright.
     61   Your custom codecs must be implemented according to the OpenMAX IL component standard.
     62    </dd>
     63 </dl>
     64 
     65 
     66 <h2 id="codecs">
     67 Implementing Custom Codecs
     68 </h2>
     69 <p>Stagefright comes with built-in software codecs for common media formats, but you can also add your
     70   own custom hardware codecs as OpenMAX components. To do this, you need to create OMX components and also an
     71   OMX plugin that hooks together your custom codecs with the Stagefright framework. For an example, see
     72   the <code>hardware/ti/omap4xxx/domx/</code> for example components and <code>hardware/ti/omap4xx/libstagefrighthw</code>
     73   for an example plugin for the Galaxy Nexus.
     74 </p>
     75   <p>To add your own codecs:</p>
     76 <ol>
     77 <li>Create your components according to the OpenMAX IL component standard. The component interface is located in the
     78   <code>frameworks/native/include/media/OpenMAX/OMX_Component.h</code> file. To learn more about the
     79   OpenMAX IL specification, see the <a href="http://www.khronos.org/openmax/">OpenMAX website</a>.</li>
     80 <li>Create a OpenMAX plugin that links your components with the Stagefright service.
     81   See the <code>frameworks/native/include/media/hardware/OMXPluginBase.h</code> and <code>HardwareAPI.h</code> header
     82   files for the interfaces to create the plugin.
     83 </li>
     84 <li>Build your plugin as a shared library with the name <code>libstagefrighthw.so</code> in your product Makefile. For example:
     85 <pre>LOCAL_MODULE := libstagefrighthw</pre>
     86 
     87 <p>In your device's Makefile, ensure that you declare the module as a product package:</p>
     88 <pre>
     89 PRODUCT_PACKAGES += \
     90   libstagefrighthw \
     91   ...
     92 </pre>
     93 </li>
     94 </ol>
     95 
     96 <h2 id="expose">Exposing Codecs to the Framework</h2>
     97 <p>The Stagefright service parses the <code>system/etc/media_codecs.xml</code> and <code>system/etc/media_profiles.xml</code>
     98   to expose the supported codecs and profiles on the device to app developers via the <code>android.media.MediaCodecList</code> and
     99   <code>android.media.CamcorderProfile</code> classes. You need to create both files in the
    100   <code>device/&lt;company_name&gt;/&lt;device_name&gt;/</code> directory
    101  and copy this over to the system image's <code>system/etc</code> directory in your device's Makefile.
    102  For example:</p>
    103 
    104  <pre>
    105 PRODUCT_COPY_FILES += \
    106   device/samsung/tuna/media_profiles.xml:system/etc/media_profiles.xml \
    107   device/samsung/tuna/media_codecs.xml:system/etc/media_codecs.xml \
    108 </pre>
    109 
    110 <p>See the <code>device/samsung/tuna/media_codecs.xml</code> and
    111   <code>device/samsung/tuna/media_profiles.xml</code> file for complete examples.</p>
    112 
    113 <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The <code>&lt;Quirk&gt;</code> element for media codecs is no longer supported
    114   by Android starting in Jelly Bean.</p>