GStreamer

Psychtoolbox requires GStreamer for all display functionality on Windows, or for movie and other specific functionality on Mac. (On Linux it's generally pre-installed.) See here for the Psychtoolbox page on GStreamer, which contains important notes. Links to the version Psychtoolbox recommends as of PTB 3.0.19 (17 Feb 2023) are below:

Windows: GStreamer 64-bit MSVC runtime 1.20.5

Mac: GStreamer runtime 1.22.0

If an element can end on its own, you don't need to set end conditions for it in property end (unless you want it to maybe end earlier).

position
nn_eyes
rotation
colorMask
alpha
intensity
contrastMult

fileName

No default

A string that is name of movie file to show. Include path if the file is not in the MATLAB current folder or search path (or not the first file with that name on the search path). File can be any format and codec GStreamer accepts, which should include all the major ones.

crop

Default: show whole movie image

A 1×4 vector [x_tl y_tl x_br y_br] setting part of the movie image to show. +x = right, +y = down, <cd>[0 0]<cd> = top left of image. Units are px in the movie file (independent of your screen or the size you show the movie at). For right and bottom you can use <cd>inf<cd> to mean that edge of the image, e.g. <cd>[0 0 inf inf]<cd> = show whole image. Other properties like height and position below are applied after crop.

height

Default: 1 px in movie file = 1 px on screen

A number that is height on screen to show at (deg).

OR a string setting overall size of the movie on screen:

<cds>"fit"  <cds> – fit movie to window
<cds>"fitw" <cds> – fit movie width to window
<cds>"fith" <cds> – fit movie height to window
<cds>"fill" <cds> – fill window with movie
<cds>"px"   <cds> – native resolution: 1 pixel in movie file = 1 pixel on screen (scaled down if you use a partial screen window)

All the fit and fill options assume the movie is centered in the window.

times

Default: play whole movie

You can set this to a vector [t1 t2] (sec) to play only a specific time range in the movie file. t1 = <cd>0<cd> = start of file, t2 = <cd>inf<cd> = end of file.

Note: Currently this property only works if the movie is not set to repeat, i.e. if you leave repeat below = default <cd>false<cd>.

speed

Default: normal

Play speed: +1 = normal, −1 = backward, etc. Not all play speeds are possible for all movie formats—see Psychtoolbox Screen('PlayMovie') for more information.

repeat
phase

Default: repeat = ends on its own when movie file ends
Default: phase = start at start

repeat = <cd>true<cd>/<cd>false<cd>: play indefinitely by repeating until a condition you set in property end. If <cd>false<cd>, the element ends on its own at the end of the movie file. Or you can set to a number for more options—see Psychtoolbox Screen('PlayMovie') input loop.

If repeat = <cd>true<cd>, you can set phase to specify a start time in the movie file (sec). 0 = start.

grayscale

Default: show a color movie in color

<cd>true<cd>/<cd>false<cd>: show a color movie in grayscale.

volume

Default: current system volume

A number between 0–1: 0 = no sound, 1 = current system volume. This scales the volume in your system sound settings. Mainly useful if you want different movie elements to play at different volumes.

Input properties all objects have

report
info

PsychBench uses record properties to record information during experiments. You can't set record properties but you can see them in experiment results by listing them input property report.