ustreamer - Man Page
stream MJPEG video from any V4L2 device to the network
Synopsis
ustreamer [Options]
Description
µStreamer (ustreamer) is a lightweight and very quick server to stream MJPEG video from any V4L2 device to the network. All new browsers have native support of this video format, as well as most video players such as mplayer, VLC etc. µStreamer is a part of the PiKVM project designed to stream VGA and HDMI screencast hardware data with the highest resolution and FPS possible.
Usage
Without arguments, ustreamer will try to open /dev/video0 with 640x480 resolution and start streaming on http://127.0.0.1:8080. You can override this behavior using parameters --device, --host and --port. For example, to stream to the world, run: ustreamer --device=/dev/video1 --host=0.0.0.0 --port=80
Please note that since µStreamer v2.0 cross-domain requests were disabled by default for security reasons. To enable the old behavior, use the option --allow-origin=\*.
For example, the recommended way of running µStreamer with TC358743-based capture device on a Raspberry Pi is:
ustreamer \
--format=uyvy \ # Device input format
--encoder=m2m-image \ # Hardware encoding with V4L2 M2M intraface --workers=3 \ # Maximum workers for V4L2 encoder --persistent \ # Suppress repetitive signal source errors (for example when HDMI cable was disconnected) --dv-timings \ # Use DV-timings --drop-same-frames=30 # Save the traffic
Please note that to use --drop-same-frames for different browsers you need to use some specific URL /stream parameters (see URL / for details).
You can always view the full list of options with ustreamer --help. Some features may not be available on your platform. To find out which features are enabled, use ustreamer --features.
Options
Capturing options
- -d /dev/path, --device /dev/path
Path to V4L2 device. Default: /dev/video0.
- -i N, --input N
Input channel. Default: 0.
- -r WxH, --resolution WxH
Initial image resolution. Default: 640x480.
- -m fmt, --format fmt
Image format. Available: YUYV, YVYU, UYVY, RGB565, RGB24, JPEG; default: YUYV.
- -a std, --tv-standard std
Force TV standard. Available: PAL, NTSC, SECAM; default: disabled.
- -I method, --io-method method
Set V4L2 IO method (see kernel documentation). Changing of this parameter may increase the performance. Or not. Available: MMAP, USERPTR; default: MMAP.
- -f N, --desired-fps N
Desired FPS. Default: maximum possible.
- -z N, --min-frame-size N
Drop frames smaller then this limit. Useful if the device produces small-sized garbage frames. Default: 128 bytes.
- -n, --persistent
Suppress repetitive signal source errors. Default: disabled.
- -t, --dv-timings
Enable DV-timings querying and events processing to automatic resolution change. Default: disabled.
- -b N, --buffers N
The number of buffers to receive data from the device. Each buffer may processed using an independent thread. Default: 2 (the number of CPU cores (but not more than 4) + 1).
- -w N, --workers N
The number of worker threads but not more than buffers. Default: 1 (the number of CPU cores (but not more than 4)).
- -q N, --quality N
Set quality of JPEG encoding from 1 to 100 (best). Default: 80. Note: If HW encoding is used (JPEG source format selected), this parameter attempts to configure the camera or capture device hardware's internal encoder. It does not re-encode MJPEG to MJPEG to change the quality level for sources that already output MJPEG.
- -c type, --encoder type
Use specified encoder. It may affect the number of workers.
CPU ─ Software MJPEG encoding (default).
HW ─ Use pre-encoded MJPEG frames directly from camera hardware.
M2M-VIDEO ─ GPU-accelerated MJPEG encoding.
M2M-IMAGE ─ GPU-accelerated JPEG encoding.
- -g WxH,..., --glitched-resolutions WxH,...
It doesn't do anything. Still here for compatibility.
- -k path, --blank path
It doesn't do anything. Still here for compatibility.
- -K sec, --last-as-blank sec
It doesn't do anything. Still here for compatibility.
- -l, --slowdown
Slowdown capturing to 1 FPS or less when no stream or sink clients are connected. Useful to reduce CPU consumption. Default: disabled.
- --device-timeout sec
Timeout for device querying. Default: 1.
- --device-error-delay sec
Delay before trying to connect to the device again after an error (timeout for example). Default: 1.
- --m2m-device /dev/path
Path to V4L2 mem-to-mem encoder device. Default: auto-select.
Image control options
- --image-default
Reset all image settings below to default. Default: no change.
- --brightness N, auto, default
Set brightness. Default: no change.
- --contrast N, default
Set contrast. Default: no change.
- --saturation N, default
Set saturation. Default: no change.
- --hue N, auto, default
Set hue. Default: no change.
- --gamma N, default
Set gamma. Default: no change.
- --sharpness N, default
Set sharpness. Default: no change.
- --backlight-compensation N, default
Set backlight compensation. Default: no change.
- --white-balance N, auto, default
Set white balance. Default: no change.
- --gain N, auto, default
Set gain. Default: no change.
- --color-effect N, default
Set color effect. Default: no change.
- --flip-vertical 1, 0, default
Set vertical flip. Default: no change.
- --flip-horizontal 1, 0, default
Set horizontal flip. Default: no change.
HTTP server options
- -s address, --host address
Listen on Hostname or IP. Default: 127.0.0.1.
- -p N, --port N
Bind to this TCP port. Default: 8080.
- -U path, --unix path
Bind to UNIX domain socket. Default: disabled.
- -D, --unix-rm
Try to remove old unix socket file before binding. default: disabled.
- -M mode, --unix-mode mode
Set UNIX socket file permissions (like 777). Default: disabled.
- -S, --systemd
Bind to systemd socket for socket activation. Required WITH_SYSTEMD feature. Default: disabled.
- --user name
HTTP basic auth user. Default: disabled.
- --passwd str
HTTP basic auth passwd. Default: empty.
- --static path
Path to dir with static files instead of embedded root index page. Symlinks are not supported for security reasons. Default: disabled.
- -e N, --drop-same-frames N
Don't send identical frames to clients, but no more than specified number. It can significantly reduce the outgoing traffic, but will increase the CPU loading. Don't use this option with analog signal sources or webcams, it's useless. Default: disabled.
- -R WxH, --fake-resolution WxH
Override image resolution for the /state. Default: disabled.
- --tcp-nodelay
Set TCP_NODELAY flag to the client /stream socket. Only for TCP socket. Default: disabled.
- --allow-origin str
Set Access-Control-Allow-Origin header. Default: disabled.
- --instance-id str
A short string identifier to be displayed in the /state handle. It must satisfy regexp ^[a-zA-Z0-9./+_-]*$. Default: an empty string.
- --server-timeout sec
Timeout for client connections. Default: 10.
JPEG sink options
With shared memory sink you can write a stream to a file. See ustreamer-dump(1) for more info.
- --jpeg-sink name
Use the specified shared memory object to sink JPEG frames. The name should end with a suffix ".jpeg" or ":jpeg". Default: disabled.
- --jpeg-sink-mode mode
Set JPEG sink permissions (like 777). Default: 660.
- --jpeg-sink-rm
Remove shared memory on stop. Default: disabled.
- --jpeg-sink-client-ttl sec
Client TTL. Default: 10.
- --jpeg-sink-timeout sec
Timeout for lock. Default: 1.
H264 sink options
- --h264-sink name
Use the specified shared memory object to sink H264 frames. The name should end with a suffix ".h264" or ":h264". Default: disabled.
- --h264-sink-mode mode
Set H264 sink permissions (like 777). Default: 660.
- --h264-sink-rm
Remove shared memory on stop. Default: disabled.
- --h264-sink-client-ttl sec
Client TTL. Default: 10.
- --h264-sink-timeout sec
Timeout for lock. Default: 1.
- --h264-bitrate kbps
H264 bitrate in Kbps. Default: 5000.
- --h264-gop N
Interval between keyframes. Default: 30.
- --h264-m2m-device /dev/path
Path to V4L2 mem-to-mem encoder device. Default: auto-select.
RAW sink options
- --raw-sink name
Use the specified shared memory object to sink RAW frames. The name should end with a suffix ".raw" or ":raw". Default: disabled.
- --raw-sink-mode mode
Set RAW sink permissions (like 777). Default: 660.
- --raw-sink-rm
Remove shared memory on stop. Default: disabled.
- --raw-sink-client-ttl sec
Client TTL. Default: 10.
- --raw-sink-timeout sec
Timeout for lock. Default: 1.
Process options
- --exit-on-parent-death
Exit the program if the parent process is dead. Required HAS_PDEATHSIG feature. Default: disabled.
- --exit-on-no-clientssec
Exit the program if there have been no stream or sink clients or any HTTP requests in the last N seconds. Default: 0 (disabled).
- --process-name-prefix str
Set process name prefix which will be displayed in the process list like 'str: ustreamer --blah-blah-blah'. Required WITH_SETPROCTITLE feature. Default: disabled.
- --notify-parent
Send SIGUSR2 to the parent process when the stream parameters are changed. Checking changes is performed for the online flag and image resolution. Required WITH_SETPROCTITLE feature.
GPIO options
Available only if WITH_GPIO feature enabled.
- --gpio-device /dev/path
Path to GPIO character device. Default: /dev/gpiochip0.
- --gpio-consumer-prefix str
Consumer prefix for GPIO outputs. Default: ustreamer.
- --gpio-prog-running pin
Set 1 on GPIO pin while µStreamer is running. Default: disabled.
- --gpio-stream-online pin
Set 1 while streaming. Default: disabled.
- --gpio-has-http-clients pin
Set 1 while stream has at least one client. Default: disabled.
Logging options
- --log-level N
Verbosity level of messages from 0 (info) to 3 (debug). Enabling debugging messages can slow down the program. Available levels: 0 (info), 1 (performance), 2 (verbose), 3 (debug). Default: 0.
- --perf
Enable performance messages (same as --log-level=1). Default: disabled.
- --verbose
Enable verbose messages and lower (same as --log-level=2). Default: disabled.
- --debug
Enable debug messages and lower (same as --log-level=3). Default: disabled.
- --force-log-colors
Force color logging. Default: colored if stderr is a TTY.
- --no-log-colors
Disable color logging. Default: ditto.
Help options
- -h, --help
Print this text and exit.
- -v, --version
Print version and exit.
- --features
Print list of supported features.
See Also
Bugs
Please file any bugs and issues at https://github.com/pikvm/ustreamer/issues
Author
Maxim Devaev <mdevaev@gmail.com>
Homepage
Copyright
GNU General Public License v3.0