Introduction

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Play RV565 video files on CircuitPython displays.

RV565 stores video as frames whose decoded bytes are already in the display’s native pixel format (format specification, paper: arXiv:2610.35935). This library reads them in pure Python with CircuitPython’s built-in zlib and shows them with displayio, or sends them straight to an ST7789.

Version 2.0 reads format version 7: all nine pixel formats (rgb565be, rgb565le, rgb444, rgb666, rgb888, gray8, gray4, mono, mono_vpage), both codecs (stored and zlib), and keyframes, XOR delta frames and repeat frames, with seeking through the keyframe interval. Version 6 files (RGB565 big-endian, zlib, every frame a keyframe) still read.

Player

Pixel formats it shows

Player

rgb565be, rgb565le, gray8, gray4, mono

DirectPlayer

rgb565be, rgb666 (ST7789 in 18-bit mode)

Clip.frame()

all nine (raw bytes in the clip’s format)

Either player raises RV565Error naming the formats it supports for any other clip. The version 7 paths are tested on a computer against every RV565 conformance vector (tests/data/v7); on a board, only version 6 clips have been played so far (Raspberry Pi Pico 2, CircuitPython 10.3.1).

clip.frame(i) returns the clip’s own frame buffer, overwritten by the next call; copy it with bytes() to keep it. With a 180x135 RGB565 zlib clip, Player needs roughly 150 to 200 KiB of heap at its peak and DirectPlayer roughly 100 KiB: one frame buffer kept between frames, the inflate output, and for Player the bitmap. A delta frame adds one XOR over the frame, done in 2 KiB chunks through long integers where the board has them. Repeat frames are neither decoded nor drawn.

It is the easy way to try RV565 on a board without a C toolchain. The RV565 C library (Arduino, ESP-IDF, Pico SDK) is the fast way: it reaches the clip’s full 24 FPS.

Dependencies

This library depends on:

Please ensure all dependencies are available on the CircuitPython filesystem. This is easily achieved by downloading the Adafruit library and driver bundle or individual libraries can be installed using circup.

Performance

Measured on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350, CircuitPython 10.3.1), playing the 180x135, 24 FPS test pattern to a 320x240 ST7789 on SPI at 40 MHz. Colours, orientation and position were correct with both players:

Player

FPS

inflate per frame

draw per frame

Player

8.0

51.0 ms

73.3 ms

DirectPlayer

16.5

47.7 ms

12.6 ms

DirectPlayer’s draw is close to the SPI wire time (9.7 ms for the frame), so inflating with CircuitPython’s zlib (about 48 ms a frame, against about 16 ms for the C library’s tinfl on the same chip) is what limits it. Film clips compress less than the test pattern and inflate more slowly.

Expect a fraction of the clip’s rate, not 24. The C library reaches 24 FPS by inflating on one core while DMA sends the previous frame from the other. Here, inflating and drawing happen one after the other in a single Python thread. Frames that fall behind are skipped, so playback keeps the clip’s timing, and play() returns the frame rate it actually achieved.

Installing from PyPI

On supported GNU/Linux systems like the Raspberry Pi, you can install the library locally from PyPI. To install for current user:

pip3 install circuitpython-rv565

To install system-wide (this may be required in some cases):

sudo pip3 install circuitpython-rv565

To install in a virtual environment in your current project:

mkdir project-name && cd project-name
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip3 install circuitpython-rv565

The reader (rv565.open(), Clip.frame()) works under CPython too; the players need displayio.

Installing to a Connected CircuitPython Device with Circup

Make sure that you have circup installed in your Python environment. Install it with the following command if necessary:

pip3 install circup

With circup installed and your CircuitPython device connected use the following command to install:

circup install circuitpython_rv565

Or the following command to update an existing version:

circup update

Without circup, copy circuitpython_rv565.mpy from the CircuitPython Community Bundle (or from this repository’s releases) to the lib folder on your CIRCUITPY drive.

Usage Example

Copy examples/testpattern.rv565 (180x135, 24 FPS, 24 frames, 6 KB) to the root of CIRCUITPY, then run this as code.py:

import board

import circuitpython_rv565 as rv565

clip = rv565.open("/testpattern.rv565")  # path, file object or bytes
print(clip.width, clip.height, clip.fps, len(clip))

player = rv565.Player(clip, board.DISPLAY)
stats = player.play()  # paced to clip.fps, late frames skipped
print(stats)  # <PlayStats x.xx of 24 FPS: n shown, m skipped ...>

rv565.open() reads only the 12-byte header. The frame index is built on first use with one pass over the length fields (4 bytes of RAM per frame), which also validates the whole container; call clip.build_index() to do that before playback. Frames are read from the file one at a time, so a clip on CIRCUITPY or an SD card does not have to fit in RAM. clip.frame(i) returns frame i as big-endian RGB565 bytes and raises RV565Error if it does not inflate to exactly 2 * width * height bytes.

The examples folder has:

  • rv565_simpletest.py: any board with board.DISPLAY.

  • rv565_pico2_st7789.py: Raspberry Pi Pico 2 with a 2.0” 320x240 ST7789 on SPI0 (SCK GP18, MOSI GP19, CS GP17, DC GP20, RST GP21, BL GP22).

  • rv565_pico2_direct.py: the same wiring with DirectPlayer.

  • rv565_esp32s3_tft.py: Adafruit ESP32-S3 TFT Feather (built-in 240x135 ST7789).

Making clips

Use the online converter, which runs in your browser, or the Python tool:

pip install rv565
rv565 encode input.mp4 clip.rv565 --size 180x135 --fps 12
rv565 verify clip.rv565

Because this library will not reach 24 FPS, a lower rate such as 8 or 12 FPS wastes less of the file on frames that will be skipped. Keep clips at 180x135 or smaller on boards without PSRAM, such as the Pico 2: a 320x240 frame needs 150 KiB inflated and as much again for the bitmap.

How a frame reaches the display

Player inflates each frame into a displayio.Bitmap with 65536 values, drawn through ColorConverter(input_colorspace=Colorspace.RGB565_SWAPPED). The bitmap stores each value as a little-endian 16-bit word, so copying the file’s big-endian bytes in unchanged gives byte-swapped values, which is exactly what RGB565_SWAPPED describes (the same convention gifio uses). The copy is one bitmaptools.readinto() call; boards without it fall back to a much slower per-pixel loop.

DirectPlayer skips displayio: since RV565 bytes are already what an ST7789 expects, it sets the address window and sends each frame with one bus.send(). It needs the display to be initialised first (for example by adafruit_st7789) and takes the panel over while playing. displayio rotation is done in software and never reaches the controller, so for a landscape panel DirectPlayer sets MADCTL to 0x60 before playing and back to 0xC0 (adafruit_st7789’s value) afterwards; pass madctl= and restore_madctl= for other orientations or drivers. Modules smaller than the controller’s 240x320 RAM need x_offset/y_offset as well.

Testing on a computer

The tests run with CPython and stand-ins for displayio and bitmaptools:

python3 -m pytest

They check the reader against examples/testpattern.rv565 (all 24 frames must equal CPython’s zlib output), every validation rule of the format, that the bitmap shows the right colour for every pixel, frame pacing and skipping, the bytes DirectPlayer sends, and that every example runs.

Documentation

API documentation for this library can be found on Read the Docs.

For information on building library documentation, please check out this guide.

RV565

The Oreo family

One project in three repositories, grouped under the oreo-badge topic:

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Code of Conduct before contributing to help this project stay welcoming.

Table of Contents

Examples

API Reference

Other Links

Indices and tables