Re: [FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] avformat/mpegts: Add AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES

[Pavel Koshevoy <pkoshevoy-at-gmail.com@ffmpeg.org>]

On Sat, Jun 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM Michael Niedermayer <michael@niedermayer.cc>
wrote:

> Hi
>
> On Sun, Jun 22, 2025 at 12:10:30PM -0600, Pavel Koshevoy wrote:
> > Make midstream AVStream.codecpar updates optional and disabled
> > by default, so that avformat API clients can enable this feature
> > explicitly when they add support for midstream codec changes.
> > ---
> >  doc/APIchanges              | 3 +++
> >  doc/formats.texi            | 5 +++++
> >  libavformat/avformat.h      | 2 ++
> >  libavformat/mpegts.c        | 4 +++-
> >  libavformat/options_table.h | 1 +
> >  libavformat/version.h       | 2 +-
> >  tests/fate/demux.mak        | 2 +-
> >  7 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/doc/APIchanges b/doc/APIchanges
> > index 91710bb27d..43172fbcdd 100644
> > --- a/doc/APIchanges
> > +++ b/doc/APIchanges
> > @@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ The last version increases of all libraries were on
> 2025-03-28
> >
> >  API changes, most recent first:
> >
> > +2025-06-17 - xxxxxxxxxx - lavf 62.2.100 - avformat.h
> > +  Add AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES flag.
> > +
> >  2025-05-21 - xxxxxxxxxx - lavu 60.3.100 - avassert.h
> >    Add av_unreachable() and av_assume() macros.
> >
> > diff --git a/doc/formats.texi b/doc/formats.texi
> > index 876a9e92b3..5a0d070247 100644
> > --- a/doc/formats.texi
> > +++ b/doc/formats.texi
> > @@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ Set format flags. Some are implemented for a limited
> number of formats.
> >
> >  Possible values for input files:
> >  @table @samp
> > +@item allow_codec_changes
> > +Allow AVStream.codecpar to change midstream if input changes
> > +(for example when MPEG-TS ES stream_type changes).
> > +This is disabled by default, because most clients of avformat API
> > +do not support random midstream codec changes.
> >  @item discardcorrupt
> >  Discard corrupted packets.
> >  @item fastseek
>
> should this document the relation to resolution & pixfmt changes ?
>

How about this:

Allow AVStream.codecpar to change midstream if input changes
(for example when MPEG-TS ES stream_type changes).
This is disabled by default, because most clients of avformat API
do not support random midstream codec changes.
Changes may include media type, codec id, pixel format, color specs,
channel layout, sample rate, and may be accompanied by timeline anomalies.




>
>
> > diff --git a/libavformat/avformat.h b/libavformat/avformat.h
> > index b6c63e2237..2e5232c96d 100644
> > --- a/libavformat/avformat.h
> > +++ b/libavformat/avformat.h
> > @@ -1436,6 +1436,8 @@ typedef struct AVFormatContext {
> >  #define AVFMT_FLAG_FAST_SEEK   0x80000 ///< Enable fast, but inaccurate
> seeks for some formats
> >  #define AVFMT_FLAG_AUTO_BSF   0x200000 ///< Add bitstream filters as
> requested by the muxer
> >
> > +#define AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES 0x400000 ///< Allow
> AVStream.codecpar to be updated midstream if input changes (e.g. MPEG-TS ES
> stream_type changes)
> > +
> >      /**
> >       * Maximum number of bytes read from input in order to determine
> stream
> >       * properties. Used when reading the global header and in
> > diff --git a/libavformat/mpegts.c b/libavformat/mpegts.c
> > index deb69a0548..ed4ff580e5 100644
> > --- a/libavformat/mpegts.c
> > +++ b/libavformat/mpegts.c
> > @@ -2510,7 +2510,9 @@ static void pmt_cb(MpegTSFilter *filter, const
> uint8_t *section, int section_len
> >          if (!st)
> >              goto out;
> >
> > -        if (pes && pes->stream_type != stream_type)
> > +        if (pes && (!pes->stream_type ||
> > +                    (pes->stream_type != stream_type &&
> > +                     !!(ts->stream->flags &
> AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES))))
> >              mpegts_set_stream_info(st, pes, stream_type, prog_reg_desc);
> >
> >          add_pid_to_program(prg, pid);
> > diff --git a/libavformat/options_table.h b/libavformat/options_table.h
> > index e2e690fd2a..811dd342cc 100644
> > --- a/libavformat/options_table.h
> > +++ b/libavformat/options_table.h
> > @@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ static const AVOption avformat_options[] = {
> >  {"sortdts", "try to interleave outputted packets by dts", 0,
> AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.i64 = AVFMT_FLAG_SORT_DTS }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, D,
> .unit = "fflags"},
> >  {"fastseek", "fast but inaccurate seeks", 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.i64 =
> AVFMT_FLAG_FAST_SEEK }, INT_MIN, INT_MAX, D, .unit = "fflags"},
> >  {"nobuffer", "reduce the latency introduced by optional buffering", 0,
> AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, {.i64 = AVFMT_FLAG_NOBUFFER }, 0, INT_MAX, D, .unit =
> "fflags"},
> > +{"allow_codec_changes", "allow AVStream.codecpar to change at runtime
> if input changes", 0, AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST, { .i64 =
> AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES }, 0, 0, D, .unit = "fflags" },
>
> If the option is user settable then ffmpeg/ffplay should possibly print a
> warning, that they do not support this if the user forces the flag
>

Well, it's not as if they don't support it at all ... they consume the
option and set the flag, and the demuxer does what it's supposed to.
In case of ffplay, with -fflags +allow_codec_changes it's actually able to
play 1_poc.mp4 and render a partially decoded image.

Anyway, what would this warning look like?
I'm having a hard time coming up with a warning message that isn't
misleading or confusing.
Would you like to suggest one? Would something like this work:

    if (!!(ic->flags & AVFMT_FLAG_ALLOW_CODEC_CHANGES))
      av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_WARNING, "downstream support for
allow_codec_changes is not implemented");


Thank you,
    Pavel.
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