[opensuse] Video for Linux questions
Hi all, I've got a little webcam that seems to be supported (via some extras, it doesn't seem to be mainstream) as a video for linux (v4l) device. I travel a lot in my work, and it occurs to me that it would be quite a nice trick if I could get several of these and mount them in various rooms in the house so that I can a) check on the general state of the house (and perhaps most importantly my cats who are left home alone) while I'm away and b) possibly capture slow-frame video that might help in case I had burglars. So, this raises several questions: 1) What webcam devices are best supported under linux? 2) If I simply plug multiple (supported) USB-based webcams into my system, will they all "just show up", i.e. will I find that I have /dev/video0, /dev/video "by magic"? If it's not that simple is is hard to have multiple video devices? 2a) Not a linux question, but can I make USB work with a long cable? I'd need these devices in separate rooms to be useful, and that would require them to be on tens of feet of wire. That, I suspect, would not be a simple matter, but can I daisy chain usb hubs to get around this, or some other approach? 3) What tools/applications should I look at to support this kind of idea? I have found xawtv (which I think allows me to select the video device I'm viewing) and streamer, which looks like it can grab snapshots at slow rates, but doesn't work for grabbing a video stream in my installation. But are there other tools I haven't noticed? 3a) In particular, it would be really valuable to have a compression mechanism that drops frames that are close to identical to the previous one, but that grabs at a higher frame rate when consecutive frames differ a lot (i.e. when someone is walking around in the camera's view :) Any suggestions on this? I think it's behavior that is inherent to mpeg compression, but I don't see how to insert this "into the stream". Anything else I should know, or haven't thought about yet? TIA, Cheers, Simon "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." — Naguib Mahfouz __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thu, 2006-12-21 at 11:07 -0800, Simon Roberts wrote:
Hi all,
Go to zoneminder.com, it is a superb security system/web interface. I'm running it on 9.3 with 8 cameras. Perfect for what you want...and then some! -- Tom in NM SuSE 9.3/Evolution 12:47pm up 10 days 23:28, 3 users, load average: 0.13, 0.11, 0.19 ==== -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 06:47 AM 22/12/2006, Tom Patton wrote:
On Thu, 2006-12-21 at 11:07 -0800, Simon Roberts wrote:
Hi all,
Go to zoneminder.com, it is a superb security system/web interface. I'm running it on 9.3 with 8 cameras. Perfect for what you want...and then some!
-- Tom in NM SuSE 9.3/Evolution 12:47pm up 10 days 23:28, 3 users, load average: 0.13, 0.11, 0.19 ====
Apologies in advance for hijacking but... This has appeared just at the right time and is interesting and I will have a use in the new year. BUT, zoneminder.com doesn't reply or connect from australia, just says it couldn't be found. Any ideas folks. scsijon -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 07:07 PM 22/12/2006, scsijon wrote:
At 06:47 AM 22/12/2006, Tom Patton wrote:
On Thu, 2006-12-21 at 11:07 -0800, Simon Roberts wrote:
Hi all,
Go to zoneminder.com, it is a superb security system/web interface. I'm running it on 9.3 with 8 cameras. Perfect for what you want...and then some!
-- Tom in NM SuSE 9.3/Evolution 12:47pm up 10 days 23:28, 3 users, load average: 0.13, 0.11, 0.19 ====
Apologies in advance for hijacking but...
This has appeared just at the right time and is interesting and I will have a use in the new year.
BUT, zoneminder.com doesn't reply or connect from australia, just says it couldn't be found.
Any ideas folks.
scsijon --
forget it, I think my isp or the web over here is having some problems, just tried again and it finally came up. sorry to have troubled all and a merry christmas scsijon -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 21 December 2006 13:07, Simon Roberts wrote:
Hi all,
I've got a little webcam that seems to be supported (via some extras, it doesn't seem to be mainstream) as a video for linux (v4l) device. I travel a lot in my work, and it occurs to me that it would be quite a nice trick if I could get several of these and mount them in various rooms in the house so that I can a) check on the general state of the house (and perhaps most importantly my cats who are left home alone) while I'm away and b) possibly capture slow-frame video that might help in case I had burglars.
Probably all those questions (and the app you need, called 'Motion') can be found here: http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome The mailing list for it is great for answers too! -- Moderate thinkers: Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented worker', is like calling a home intruder an 'unwanted houseguest'. Liberal...whatever: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (4)
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JB
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scsijon
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Simon Roberts
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Tom Patton