AVFrame

This structure describes decoded (raw) audio or video data.

AVFrame must be allocated using av_frame_alloc(). Note that this only allocates the AVFrame itself, the buffers for the data must be managed through other means (see below). AVFrame must be freed with av_frame_free().

AVFrame is typically allocated once and then reused multiple times to hold different data (e.g. a single AVFrame to hold frames received from a decoder). In such a case, av_frame_unref() will free any references held by the frame and reset it to its original clean state before it is reused again.

The data described by an AVFrame is usually reference counted through the AVBuffer API. The underlying buffer references are stored in AVFrame.buf / AVFrame.extended_buf. An AVFrame is considered to be reference counted if at least one reference is set, i.e. if AVFrame.buf[0] != NULL. In such a case, every single data plane must be contained in one of the buffers in AVFrame.buf or AVFrame.extended_buf. There may be a single buffer for all the data, or one separate buffer for each plane, or anything in between.

sizeof(AVFrame) is not a part of the public ABI, so new fields may be added to the end with a minor bump. Similarly fields that are marked as to be only accessed by av_opt_ptr() can be reordered. This allows 2 forks to add fields without breaking compatibility with each other.

Members

Variables

best_effort_timestamp
int64_t best_effort_timestamp;

frame timestamp estimated using various heuristics, in stream time base Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_best_effort_timestamp(frame) - encoding: unused - decoding: set by libavcodec, read by user.

buf
AVBufferRef*[AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS] buf;

AVBuffer references backing the data for this frame. If all elements of this array are NULL, then this frame is not reference counted.

channel_layout
uint64_t channel_layout;

Channel layout of the audio data.

channels
int channels;

number of audio channels, only used for audio. Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_channels(frame) - encoding: unused - decoding: Read by user.

chroma_location
AVChromaLocation chroma_location;
Undocumented in source.
coded_picture_number
int coded_picture_number;

picture number in bitstream order

color_primaries
AVColorPrimaries color_primaries;
Undocumented in source.
color_range
AVColorRange color_range;

MPEG vs JPEG YUV range. It must be accessed using av_frame_get_color_range() and av_frame_set_color_range(). - encoding: Set by user - decoding: Set by libavcodec

color_trc
AVColorTransferCharacteristic color_trc;
Undocumented in source.
colorspace
AVColorSpace colorspace;

YUV colorspace type. It must be accessed using av_frame_get_colorspace() and av_frame_set_colorspace(). - encoding: Set by user - decoding: Set by libavcodec

data
uint8_t*[AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS] data;

pointer to the picture/channel planes. This might be different from the first allocated byte

decode_error_flags
int decode_error_flags;

decode error flags of the frame, set to a combination of FF_DECODE_ERROR_xxx flags if the decoder produced a frame, but there were errors during the decoding. Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_decode_error_flags(frame) - encoding: unused - decoding: set by libavcodec, read by user.

display_picture_number
int display_picture_number;

picture number in display order

error
deprecated uint64_t[AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS] error;

@deprecated unused

extended_buf
AVBufferRef** extended_buf;

For planar audio which requires more than AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS AVBufferRef pointers, this array will hold all the references which cannot fit into AVFrame.buf.

extended_data
uint8_t** extended_data;

pointers to the data planes/channels.

flags
int flags;

Frame flags, a combination of @ref lavu_frame_flags

format
int format;

format of the frame, -1 if unknown or unset Values correspond to enum AVPixelFormat for video frames, enum AVSampleFormat for audio)

height
int height;

width and height of the video frame

interlaced_frame
int interlaced_frame;

The content of the picture is interlaced.

key_frame
int key_frame;

1 -> keyframe, 0-> not

linesize
int[AV_NUM_DATA_POINTERS] linesize;

For video, size in bytes of each picture line. For audio, size in bytes of each plane.

metadata
AVDictionary* metadata;

metadata. Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_metadata(frame) - encoding: Set by user. - decoding: Set by libavcodec.

nb_extended_buf
int nb_extended_buf;

Number of elements in extended_buf.

nb_samples
int nb_samples;

number of audio samples (per channel) described by this frame

nb_side_data
int nb_side_data;
Undocumented in source.
opaque
void* opaque;

for some private data of the user

palette_has_changed
int palette_has_changed;

Tell user application that palette has changed from previous frame.

pict_type
AVPictureType pict_type;

Picture type of the frame.

pkt_dts
int64_t pkt_dts;

DTS copied from the AVPacket that triggered returning this frame. (if frame threading isn't used) This is also the Presentation time of this AVFrame calculated from only AVPacket.dts values without pts values.

pkt_duration
int64_t pkt_duration;

duration of the corresponding packet, expressed in AVStream->time_base units, 0 if unknown. Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_pkt_duration(frame) - encoding: unused - decoding: Read by user.

pkt_pos
int64_t pkt_pos;

reordered pos from the last AVPacket that has been input into the decoder Code outside libavcodec should access this field using: av_frame_get_pkt_pos(frame) - encoding: unused - decoding: Read by user.

pkt_pts
int64_t pkt_pts;

PTS copied from the AVPacket that was decoded to produce this frame.

pkt_size
int pkt_size;

size of the corresponding packet containing the compressed frame. It must be accessed using av_frame_get_pkt_size() and av_frame_set_pkt_size(). It is set to a negative value if unknown. - encoding: unused - decoding: set by libavcodec, read by user.

pts
int64_t pts;

Presentation timestamp in time_base units (time when frame should be shown to user).

qp_table_buf
AVBufferRef* qp_table_buf;

Not to be accessed directly from outside libavutil

qscale_table
deprecated int8_t* qscale_table;

QP table Not to be accessed directly from outside libavutil

qscale_type
deprecated int qscale_type;
Undocumented in source.
qstride
deprecated int qstride;

QP store stride Not to be accessed directly from outside libavutil

quality
int quality;

quality (between 1 (good) and FF_LAMBDA_MAX (bad))

reordered_opaque
int64_t reordered_opaque;

reordered opaque 64bit (generally an integer or a double precision float PTS but can be anything). The user sets AVCodecContext.reordered_opaque to represent the input at that time, the decoder reorders values as needed and sets AVFrame.reordered_opaque to exactly one of the values provided by the user through AVCodecContext.reordered_opaque @deprecated in favor of pkt_pts

repeat_pict
int repeat_pict;

When decoding, this signals how much the picture must be delayed. extra_delay = repeat_pict / (2*fps)

sample_aspect_ratio
AVRational sample_aspect_ratio;

Sample aspect ratio for the video frame, 0/1 if unknown/unspecified.

sample_rate
int sample_rate;

Sample rate of the audio data.

side_data
AVFrameSideData** side_data;
Undocumented in source.
top_field_first
int top_field_first;

If the content is interlaced, is top field displayed first.

width
int width;

width and height of the video frame

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