1 .. -*- coding: utf-8; mode: rst -*-
9 The complex nature of V4L2 devices, where hardware is often made of
10 several integrated circuits that need to interact with each other in a
11 controlled way, leads to complex V4L2 drivers. The drivers usually
12 reflect the hardware model in software, and model the different hardware
13 components as software blocks called sub-devices.
15 V4L2 sub-devices are usually kernel-only objects. If the V4L2 driver
16 implements the media device API, they will automatically inherit from
17 media entities. Applications will be able to enumerate the sub-devices
18 and discover the hardware topology using the media entities, pads and
19 links enumeration API.
21 In addition to make sub-devices discoverable, drivers can also choose to
22 make them directly configurable by applications. When both the
23 sub-device driver and the V4L2 device driver support this, sub-devices
24 will feature a character device node on which ioctls can be called to
26 - query, read and write sub-devices controls
28 - subscribe and unsubscribe to events and retrieve them
30 - negotiate image formats on individual pads
32 Sub-device character device nodes, conventionally named
33 ``/dev/v4l-subdev*``, use major number 81.
39 Most V4L2 controls are implemented by sub-device hardware. Drivers
40 usually merge all controls and expose them through video device nodes.
41 Applications can control all sub-devices through a single interface.
43 Complex devices sometimes implement the same control in different pieces
44 of hardware. This situation is common in embedded platforms, where both
45 sensors and image processing hardware implement identical functions,
46 such as contrast adjustment, white balance or faulty pixels correction.
47 As the V4L2 controls API doesn't support several identical controls in a
48 single device, all but one of the identical controls are hidden.
50 Applications can access those hidden controls through the sub-device
51 node with the V4L2 control API described in :ref:`control`. The ioctls
52 behave identically as when issued on V4L2 device nodes, with the
53 exception that they deal only with controls implemented in the
56 Depending on the driver, those controls might also be exposed through
57 one (or several) V4L2 device nodes.
63 V4L2 sub-devices can notify applications of events as described in
64 :ref:`event`. The API behaves identically as when used on V4L2 device
65 nodes, with the exception that it only deals with events generated by
66 the sub-device. Depending on the driver, those events might also be
67 reported on one (or several) V4L2 device nodes.
70 .. _pad-level-formats:
77 Pad-level formats are only applicable to very complex devices that
78 need to expose low-level format configuration to user space. Generic
79 V4L2 applications do *not* need to use the API described in this
84 For the purpose of this section, the term *format* means the
85 combination of media bus data format, frame width and frame height.
87 Image formats are typically negotiated on video capture and output
88 devices using the format and
89 :ref:`selection <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_SELECTION>` ioctls. The driver is
90 responsible for configuring every block in the video pipeline according
91 to the requested format at the pipeline input and/or output.
93 For complex devices, such as often found in embedded systems, identical
94 image sizes at the output of a pipeline can be achieved using different
95 hardware configurations. One such example is shown on
96 :ref:`pipeline-scaling`, where image scaling can be performed on both
97 the video sensor and the host image processing hardware.
100 .. _pipeline-scaling:
102 .. figure:: pipeline.*
103 :alt: pipeline.pdf / pipeline.svg
106 Image Format Negotiation on Pipelines
108 High quality and high speed pipeline configuration
112 The sensor scaler is usually of less quality than the host scaler, but
113 scaling on the sensor is required to achieve higher frame rates.
114 Depending on the use case (quality vs. speed), the pipeline must be
115 configured differently. Applications need to configure the formats at
116 every point in the pipeline explicitly.
118 Drivers that implement the :ref:`media API <media-controller-intro>`
119 can expose pad-level image format configuration to applications. When
120 they do, applications can use the
121 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` and
122 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_S_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` ioctls. to
123 negotiate formats on a per-pad basis.
125 Applications are responsible for configuring coherent parameters on the
126 whole pipeline and making sure that connected pads have compatible
127 formats. The pipeline is checked for formats mismatch at
128 :ref:`VIDIOC_STREAMON <VIDIOC_STREAMON>` time, and an ``EPIPE`` error
129 code is then returned if the configuration is invalid.
131 Pad-level image format configuration support can be tested by calling
132 the :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT` ioctl on pad
133 0. If the driver returns an ``EINVAL`` error code pad-level format
134 configuration is not supported by the sub-device.
140 Acceptable formats on pads can (and usually do) depend on a number of
141 external parameters, such as formats on other pads, active links, or
142 even controls. Finding a combination of formats on all pads in a video
143 pipeline, acceptable to both application and driver, can't rely on
144 formats enumeration only. A format negotiation mechanism is required.
146 Central to the format negotiation mechanism are the get/set format
147 operations. When called with the ``which`` argument set to
148 :ref:`V4L2_SUBDEV_FORMAT_TRY <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>`, the
149 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` and
150 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_S_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` ioctls operate on
151 a set of formats parameters that are not connected to the hardware
152 configuration. Modifying those 'try' formats leaves the device state
153 untouched (this applies to both the software state stored in the driver
154 and the hardware state stored in the device itself).
156 While not kept as part of the device state, try formats are stored in
157 the sub-device file handles. A
158 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` call will return
159 the last try format set *on the same sub-device file handle*. Several
160 applications querying the same sub-device at the same time will thus not
161 interact with each other.
163 To find out whether a particular format is supported by the device,
165 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_S_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` ioctl. Drivers
166 verify and, if needed, change the requested ``format`` based on device
167 requirements and return the possibly modified value. Applications can
168 then choose to try a different format or accept the returned value and
171 Formats returned by the driver during a negotiation iteration are
172 guaranteed to be supported by the device. In particular, drivers
173 guarantee that a returned format will not be further changed if passed
174 to an :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_S_FMT <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_FMT>` call as-is
175 (as long as external parameters, such as formats on other pads or links'
176 configuration are not changed).
178 Drivers automatically propagate formats inside sub-devices. When a try
179 or active format is set on a pad, corresponding formats on other pads of
180 the same sub-device can be modified by the driver. Drivers are free to
181 modify formats as required by the device. However, they should comply
182 with the following rules when possible:
184 - Formats should be propagated from sink pads to source pads. Modifying
185 a format on a source pad should not modify the format on any sink
188 - Sub-devices that scale frames using variable scaling factors should
189 reset the scale factors to default values when sink pads formats are
190 modified. If the 1:1 scaling ratio is supported, this means that
191 source pads formats should be reset to the sink pads formats.
193 Formats are not propagated across links, as that would involve
194 propagating them from one sub-device file handle to another.
195 Applications must then take care to configure both ends of every link
196 explicitly with compatible formats. Identical formats on the two ends of
197 a link are guaranteed to be compatible. Drivers are free to accept
198 different formats matching device requirements as being compatible.
200 :ref:`sample-pipeline-config` shows a sample configuration sequence
201 for the pipeline described in :ref:`pipeline-scaling` (table columns
202 list entity names and pad numbers).
207 \begin{adjustbox}{width=\columnwidth}
209 .. tabularcolumns:: |p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|p{4.5cm}|
211 .. _sample-pipeline-config:
213 .. flat-table:: Sample Pipeline Configuration
216 :widths: 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
223 - Scaler/0 compose selection rectangle
226 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
232 * - Configure frontend sink format
233 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
234 - *2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8*
235 - *2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8*
239 * - Configure scaler sink format
240 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
241 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
242 - 2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8
243 - *2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8*
245 - *2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8*
246 * - Configure scaler sink compose selection
247 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
248 - 2048x1536/SGRBG8_1X8
249 - 2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8
250 - 2046x1534/SGRBG8_1X8
252 - *1280x960/SGRBG8_1X8*
256 \end{adjustbox}\newline\newline
258 1. Initial state. The sensor source pad format is set to its native 3MP
259 size and V4L2_MBUS_FMT_SGRBG8_1X8 media bus code. Formats on the
260 host frontend and scaler sink and source pads have the default
261 values, as well as the compose rectangle on the scaler's sink pad.
263 2. The application configures the frontend sink pad format's size to
264 2048x1536 and its media bus code to V4L2_MBUS_FMT_SGRBG_1X8. The
265 driver propagates the format to the frontend source pad.
267 3. The application configures the scaler sink pad format's size to
268 2046x1534 and the media bus code to V4L2_MBUS_FMT_SGRBG_1X8 to
269 match the frontend source size and media bus code. The media bus code
270 on the sink pad is set to V4L2_MBUS_FMT_SGRBG_1X8. The driver
271 propagates the size to the compose selection rectangle on the
272 scaler's sink pad, and the format to the scaler source pad.
274 4. The application configures the size of the compose selection
275 rectangle of the scaler's sink pad 1280x960. The driver propagates
276 the size to the scaler's source pad format.
278 When satisfied with the try results, applications can set the active
279 formats by setting the ``which`` argument to
280 ``V4L2_SUBDEV_FORMAT_ACTIVE``. Active formats are changed exactly as try
281 formats by drivers. To avoid modifying the hardware state during format
282 negotiation, applications should negotiate try formats first and then
283 modify the active settings using the try formats returned during the
284 last negotiation iteration. This guarantees that the active format will
285 be applied as-is by the driver without being modified.
288 .. _v4l2-subdev-selections:
290 Selections: cropping, scaling and composition
291 ---------------------------------------------
293 Many sub-devices support cropping frames on their input or output pads
294 (or possible even on both). Cropping is used to select the area of
295 interest in an image, typically on an image sensor or a video decoder.
296 It can also be used as part of digital zoom implementations to select
297 the area of the image that will be scaled up.
299 Crop settings are defined by a crop rectangle and represented in a
300 struct :c:type:`v4l2_rect` by the coordinates of the top
301 left corner and the rectangle size. Both the coordinates and sizes are
304 As for pad formats, drivers store try and active rectangles for the
305 selection targets :ref:`v4l2-selections-common`.
307 On sink pads, cropping is applied relative to the current pad format.
308 The pad format represents the image size as received by the sub-device
309 from the previous block in the pipeline, and the crop rectangle
310 represents the sub-image that will be transmitted further inside the
311 sub-device for processing.
313 The scaling operation changes the size of the image by scaling it to new
314 dimensions. The scaling ratio isn't specified explicitly, but is implied
315 from the original and scaled image sizes. Both sizes are represented by
316 struct :c:type:`v4l2_rect`.
318 Scaling support is optional. When supported by a subdev, the crop
319 rectangle on the subdev's sink pad is scaled to the size configured
321 :ref:`VIDIOC_SUBDEV_S_SELECTION <VIDIOC_SUBDEV_G_SELECTION>` IOCTL
322 using ``V4L2_SEL_TGT_COMPOSE`` selection target on the same pad. If the
323 subdev supports scaling but not composing, the top and left values are
324 not used and must always be set to zero.
326 On source pads, cropping is similar to sink pads, with the exception
327 that the source size from which the cropping is performed, is the
328 COMPOSE rectangle on the sink pad. In both sink and source pads, the
329 crop rectangle must be entirely contained inside the source image size
330 for the crop operation.
332 The drivers should always use the closest possible rectangle the user
333 requests on all selection targets, unless specifically told otherwise.
334 ``V4L2_SEL_FLAG_GE`` and ``V4L2_SEL_FLAG_LE`` flags may be used to round
335 the image size either up or down. :ref:`v4l2-selection-flags`
338 Types of selection targets
339 --------------------------
345 Actual targets (without a postfix) reflect the actual hardware
346 configuration at any point of time. There is a BOUNDS target
347 corresponding to every actual target.
353 BOUNDS targets is the smallest rectangle that contains all valid actual
354 rectangles. It may not be possible to set the actual rectangle as large
355 as the BOUNDS rectangle, however. This may be because e.g. a sensor's
356 pixel array is not rectangular but cross-shaped or round. The maximum
357 size may also be smaller than the BOUNDS rectangle.
360 Order of configuration and format propagation
361 ---------------------------------------------
363 Inside subdevs, the order of image processing steps will always be from
364 the sink pad towards the source pad. This is also reflected in the order
365 in which the configuration must be performed by the user: the changes
366 made will be propagated to any subsequent stages. If this behaviour is
367 not desired, the user must set ``V4L2_SEL_FLAG_KEEP_CONFIG`` flag. This
368 flag causes no propagation of the changes are allowed in any
369 circumstances. This may also cause the accessed rectangle to be adjusted
370 by the driver, depending on the properties of the underlying hardware.
372 The coordinates to a step always refer to the actual size of the
373 previous step. The exception to this rule is the source compose
374 rectangle, which refers to the sink compose bounds rectangle --- if it
375 is supported by the hardware.
377 1. Sink pad format. The user configures the sink pad format. This format
378 defines the parameters of the image the entity receives through the
379 pad for further processing.
381 2. Sink pad actual crop selection. The sink pad crop defines the crop
382 performed to the sink pad format.
384 3. Sink pad actual compose selection. The size of the sink pad compose
385 rectangle defines the scaling ratio compared to the size of the sink
386 pad crop rectangle. The location of the compose rectangle specifies
387 the location of the actual sink compose rectangle in the sink compose
390 4. Source pad actual crop selection. Crop on the source pad defines crop
391 performed to the image in the sink compose bounds rectangle.
393 5. Source pad format. The source pad format defines the output pixel
394 format of the subdev, as well as the other parameters with the
395 exception of the image width and height. Width and height are defined
396 by the size of the source pad actual crop selection.
398 Accessing any of the above rectangles not supported by the subdev will
399 return ``EINVAL``. Any rectangle referring to a previous unsupported
400 rectangle coordinates will instead refer to the previous supported
401 rectangle. For example, if sink crop is not supported, the compose
402 selection will refer to the sink pad format dimensions instead.
405 .. _subdev-image-processing-crop:
407 .. figure:: subdev-image-processing-crop.*
408 :alt: subdev-image-processing-crop.pdf / subdev-image-processing-crop.svg
411 **Figure 4.5. Image processing in subdevs: simple crop example**
413 In the above example, the subdev supports cropping on its sink pad. To
414 configure it, the user sets the media bus format on the subdev's sink
415 pad. Now the actual crop rectangle can be set on the sink pad --- the
416 location and size of this rectangle reflect the location and size of a
417 rectangle to be cropped from the sink format. The size of the sink crop
418 rectangle will also be the size of the format of the subdev's source
422 .. _subdev-image-processing-scaling-multi-source:
424 .. figure:: subdev-image-processing-scaling-multi-source.*
425 :alt: subdev-image-processing-scaling-multi-source.pdf / subdev-image-processing-scaling-multi-source.svg
428 **Figure 4.6. Image processing in subdevs: scaling with multiple sources**
430 In this example, the subdev is capable of first cropping, then scaling
431 and finally cropping for two source pads individually from the resulting
432 scaled image. The location of the scaled image in the cropped image is
433 ignored in sink compose target. Both of the locations of the source crop
434 rectangles refer to the sink scaling rectangle, independently cropping
435 an area at location specified by the source crop rectangle from it.
438 .. _subdev-image-processing-full:
440 .. figure:: subdev-image-processing-full.*
441 :alt: subdev-image-processing-full.pdf / subdev-image-processing-full.svg
444 **Figure 4.7. Image processing in subdevs: scaling and composition with multiple sinks and sources**
446 The subdev driver supports two sink pads and two source pads. The images
447 from both of the sink pads are individually cropped, then scaled and
448 further composed on the composition bounds rectangle. From that, two
449 independent streams are cropped and sent out of the subdev from the