libretro / libretro/RetroArch

[Feature Request] DVD-Player core

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#18,068 1 comment 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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feature request
Dominant language
C
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

A dedicated DVD-Player core that should specialize in DVD playback.

Features:

  • support playing redump.org style DVD dumps
  • read from iso/chd files with m3u playlist support
  • full menu support
  • chapter support
  • fast main menu option, if enabled jump to the main menu directly at start if possible
  • allow user to specify a preferred language
  • allow subtitles to be rendered semi transparent
  • switching audio/subtitle tracks
  • subtitle support
  • closed caption support (not the same as subtitles)
  • angles support, some DVDs may have multiple angles
  • auto de-interlace
  • save-state support, save the current playback position (maybe the last I-frame ?), selected audio/subtitle tracks etc.
  • crop border (8px ?) to remove pixel junk
  • able to play DVD games e.g. Dragon's Lair, Scene It?, https://www.mobygames.com/platform/dvd-player/

Have context sensitive inputs depending on if navigation the menu or playing a video.

Button mapping (when playing):
LT/RT: do fancy RW/FF that bases the speed on the analogue value, only as long as the button is being pressed
L1/R1: previous/next chapter
L3/R3: previous/next angle
LEFT/RIGHT: change audio track
UP/DOWN: change subtitle track
START: pause/resume
SELECT: back to menu

Maybe using these?
libdvdread, libdvdnav, libdvdcss

I think this would be a great addition to RetroArch so we can keep perfect copies of our favorite DVDs right beside our retro games.
And being able to play those DVD-Player games in RetroArch would be great.

EDIT:
A simple OSD would be a nice touch as well, maybe a list for each of audio/subtitle tracks, chapters, and angles.
The lists could be like tabs with the LEFT/RIGHT buttons to change between them.
Color for OSD text should be a configurable core option with maybe a nice retro looking green as default.

Button mapping (OSD):
UP/DOWN: navigate current list by one element up/down, with wrap around
LEFT/RIGHT: change current list, previous/next list
OK: change based on current list and selection
CANCEL: hide OSD
Y: toggle simple OSD with current playback information e.g. position, total length, current chapter, etc.
X: toggle simple OSD to change tracks, etc.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reviewing RetroArch's core architecture and investigating libdvdread, libdvdnav, and libdvdcss alongside ISO/CHD and m3u handling. Done would require a dedicated DVD-player core covering playback, menus, tracks, subtitles, chapters, angles, input mappings, OSD, and save states.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
audio-video-rtc
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
15/100

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