Changes to Qt Multimedia#
Migrate Qt Multimedia to Qt 6.
Qt 6 is a result of the conscious effort to make the framework more efficient and easy to use.
We try to maintain binary and source compatibility for all the public APIs in each release. But some changes were inevitable in an effort to make Qt a better framework.
The module has been refactored significantly and has changed classification, from essential to add-on. The Qt Multimedia module in Qt 6 replaces the Qt Multimedia module from Qt 5.x. Existing code that uses Qt Multimedia from Qt 5 can be ported with limited effort.
New features in Qt 6#
There are a number of new features in Qt Multimedia:
QMediaCaptureSession
class is the central object for media capture.
QMediaRecorder
class is now a class limited to recording audio and video. It handles encoding of data produced in a capture session.Using
QMediaFormat
andQMediaRecorder
, setting up the desired encoding when recording has changed significantly.You can now also monitor the audio recorded by a capture session.
Support for selection of audio, video and subtitle tracks when playing back media files has been added.
QAudioDecoder
is now supported on all platforms.
Removed features#
Removed feature
Notes or suggested alternative
Playlist in
QMediaPlayer
QMediaPlayer
does not do any playlist handling anymore in Qt 6.QMediaPlayList
This class has been removed from the API. It does however still exist as part of the Media Player Example .
QAudioProbe and QVideoProbe
The audio and video probing API has been removed.
QAudioRecorder
Use the
QMediaCaptureSession
or CaptureSession QML type.Use MediaPlayer QML type.
QMediaObject and QMediaBindableInterface
These classes have been removed in favor of a more direct API for setting up connections between objects using, for example, setVideoOutput and
QMediaCaptureSession
.QCameraViewFinderSettings
This class has been removed. Use
QCameraFormat
to define the resolution and frame rate the camera should be using.QMediaContent
The class has been removed. Use QUrl for individual media files instead.
QSound
Use
QSoundEffect
instead.QVideoFilterRunnable
Use shader effects in QML instead or access the
QVideoFrame
‘s content in C++.Public back-end API
The back-end API of Qt Multimedia is private in Qt 6. This improves response time for supporting new multimedia use cases. Any classes that contain the words “Control” or “Abstract” in the class name in Qt 5 are now private in Qt 6.
Back-end plugins
Qt Multimedia in Qt 6 does not use a plugin infrastructure for its back ends anymore. This means that users no longer need to ship those back ends with their application. Instead, the back end being used is determined at compile time based on the underlying operating system. Qt uses gstreamer on Linux, WMF on Windows, AVFoundation on macOS and iOS and the Android multimedia APIs on Android.
Changed features#
A number of classes previously offered in Qt Multimedia have changed in ways that may affect previously written code. The following table highlights these changes.
Changed feature
Notes
Handling of Camera resolutions and frame rates
Handling of these has been simplified and a new
QCameraFormat
class helps with selecting the correct resolution and frame rate for the camera.Video output handling on the C++ side has changed significantly.
QAbstractVideoSurface has been replaced by the
QVideoSink
class, and generic rendering support has been enhanced to cover all pixel format s supported by Qt Multimedia.Metadata types
QMediaMetaData
has changed significantly: mainly moving from string based to enum based keys, and reducing the set of supported keys to the ones that can be supported on most platforms.
QMediaFormat
Handling of formats for encoded media and the settings for the media recorder have changed significantly. Qt 5 provides a string-based API, a separated file format, and audio and video codecs into three classes. However, Qt 6 unifies the formats in the
QMediaFormat
class. Additional settings are directly specified inQMediaRecorder
. Setting up file formats and codecs is now implemented with enums and no longer uses strings. This puts some limitations on the set of codecs that can be used, but helps provide a consistent cross-platform API.QCameraImageCapture renamed
QImageCapture
None
Audio inputs and outputs
QMediaPlayer
andQMediaCaptureSession
(and the corresponding QML types MediaPlayer and CaptureSession ) are not connected to any audio devices by default. Explicitly connect them to aQAudioInput
/ AudioInput orQAudioOutput
/ AudioOutput to capture or play back audio.Capturing video
A capture session is by default not connected to a Camera. Connect it to a
QCamera
object (Camera item) to be able to capture video or still images.