Open source licenses

Last updated October 2, 2026

Reelhouse plays Dolby TrueHD and DTS soundtracks by decoding them on your Apple TV with FFmpeg, which is free software licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License. This page gives you that licence, the exact source code we ship, and what you need to rebuild it.

FFmpeg (libavcodec)

  • What it does in Reelhouse: decodes Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. Nothing else from FFmpeg is included.
  • Version: FFmpeg 7.1.2, unmodified, from ffmpeg.org.
  • Licence: GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later. It is built with --disable-gpl --disable-nonfree, so no GPL or non-free code is included.
  • Copyright: the FFmpeg developers. See the CREDITS and LICENSE.md files in the source tarball.

Source code

These are the exact files used to build the copy of FFmpeg inside Reelhouse:

  • ffmpeg-7.1.2.tar.xz (10.5 MB), the FFmpeg source as released. SHA-256 089bc60fb59d6aecc5d994ff530fd0dcb3ee39aa55867849a2bbc4e555f9c304.
  • ffmpeg-7.1.2.tar.xz.asc, FFmpeg’s signature for that file (release signing key FCF986EA15E6E293A5644F10B4322F04D67658D8).
  • build-libav.sh, the script that configures and builds it. It enables only the truehd, mlp and dca decoders.
  • LibavShim.c, LibavShim.h and module.modulemap, a small adapter compiled into the same library, licensed under the LGPL 2.1 or later like FFmpeg itself.
  • BUILD.md, with the full configure flags and build notes.

Replacing the library

FFmpeg and the adapter are built as a separate dynamic library, Libav.framework, inside the app bundle (Frameworks/Libav.framework). The rest of Reelhouse talks to it only through the five functions declared in LibavShim.h. To use a modified version, change the source, run build-libav.sh on a Mac with Xcode, and replace Libav.framework in a copy of the app that you sign yourself. A replacement that keeps the same five functions works with Reelhouse unchanged.

If you’d like these files sent to you another way, write to support@emberstudios.dev.

Other material

  • TV schedules, movie release dates, artwork and cast come from TheTVDB.
  • This website uses the Fraunces and Figtree fonts (SIL Open Font License) and Phosphor icons (MIT).