What is the video heap?

[GEFORCEXTREME]

vout_thread_t

The vout_thread_t structure is much more complex, but you needn't understand everything. Basically the video output thread manages a heap of pictures and subpictures (5 by default). Every picture has a status (displayed, destroyed, empty...) and eventually a presentation time. The main job of the video output is an infinite loop to : [this is subject to change in the near future]
Find the next picture to display in the heap.
Find the current subpicture to display.
Render the picture (if the video output plug-in doesn't support YUV overlay). Rendering will call an optimized YUV plug-in, which will also do the scaling, add subtitles and an optional picture information field.
Sleep until the specified date.
Display the picture (plug-in function). For outputs which display RGB data, it is often accomplished with a buffer switching. p_vout->p_buffer is an array of two buffers where the YUV transform takes place, and p_vout->i_buffer_index indicates the currently displayed buffer.
Manage events.


My question, is it a buffer of decoded pictures waiting to be display? The number of pictures, is it always fixed?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Basically, yes. Note that vout_thread_t is being decomissioned in favor of a new video output plugin interface in VLC 1.1 and later.