GStreamer is an open source library, a complex piece of software that acts as a multimedia framework for numerous GNU/Linux operating systems, as well as Android, OpenBSD, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Symbian OSes.
Features at a glance
Key features include a comprehensive core library, intelligent plugin architecture, extended coverage of multimedia technologies, as well as extensive development tools, so you can easily add support for GStreamer in your applications.
It is the main multimedia backend for a wide range of open source projects, raging from audio and video playback applications, such as Totem (Videos) from the GNOME desktop environment, and complex video and audio editors.
Additionally, the software features very high performance and low latency, thanks to its extremely lightweight data passing technology, as well as global inter-stream (audio/video) synchronization through clocking.
Comprises of multiple codec packs
The project is comprised of several different packages, also known as code packs, which can be easily installed on any GNU/Linux distribution from their default software repositories all at once or separately. They are as follows: GStreamer Plugins Base, GStreamer Plugins Good, GStreamer Plugins Bad, and GStreamer Plugins Ugly.
GStreamer is a compact core library that allows for random pipleline constructions thanks to its graph-based structure, based on the GLib 2.0 object model library, which can be used for object-oriented design and inheritance.
Uses the QoS (Quality of Service) technology
In order to guarantee the best possible audio and video quality under high CPU load, the project uses QoS (Quality of Service) technology. In addition, it provides transparent and trivial construction of multi-threaded pipelines.
Thanks to its simple, stable and clean API (Application Programming Interface), developers can easily integrate it into their applications, as well as to create plugins that will extend its default functionality. It also provides them with a full featured debugging system.
Bottom line
In conclusion, GStreamer is a very powerful and highly appreciated multimedia framework for the open source ecosystem, providing GNU/Linux users with a wide range of audio and video codecs for media playback and processing.
