TS-07 Video Format

[stacyh3]

Can the TS-07 handle MPEG4 video or only Motion JPEG? I don't see this on the Elk web site.

Thanks!

 

[electron]

I am pretty sure it only supports Motion JPEG, judging by the GUI. I haven't tried it tho.

 

[stacyh3]

I see what you mean in the ElkRM setup utility. So, if I have MPEG4 cameras, I need to find a way to convert the cideo to MJPEG.

Thanks!
Stacy

 

[electron]

What camera are you trying to get to work? Are you using ElkRM or ElkRMS?

 

[stacyh3]

I don't have the cameras yet. A friend of mine has some cameras from DVTel that he's going to give me. They are IP cameras that stream MPEG4.

ElkRMS

Stacy

 

[fleetz]

Be nice to find composite video > MJPEG encoder that the TS-07 accepts ..the info on this is pretty thin on the ground.

Cheers,

Fleetz

 

[Spanky]

The TS07 video driver only support MJPEG and each camera family has its driver as listed in the setup program.

There is not a driver for MPEG4 yet.

 

[icellama21]

For composite video --> ElkRM, check out the VIP1. It doubles as a web server and can email or ftp photos based on contact closure or motion. It is also "officially" supported by elkrm. It is plug-n-play to work with elkRM, and the configuration interface is purely web based.

http://www.visiontechintl.com/pdf/VIP1.swf

 

[stacyh3]

Thanks. I'll check out the VIP1!

 

[fleetz]

Thanks that is exactly what I am looking for..... Any suggest as to the best place to buy these on line?

Cheers,

Fleetz

For composite video --> ElkRM, check out the VIP1. It doubles as a web server and can email or ftp photos based on contact closure or motion. It is also "officially" supported by elkrm. It is plug-n-play to work with elkRM, and the configuration interface is purely web based.

http://www.visiontechintl.com/pdf/VIP1.swf

 

[stacyh3]

In my research on this topic I started to think about how I could use a plain old web cam with the TS-07. Since I've been doing all of my own HA software with Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (MRDS), I figured I'd try using it for this. In fact, I got it to work without writing any code! Now I'm wondering if a software based approach might work for the DVTel cameras I mentioned earlier in this thread. It might be a bit CPU intensive, but my HA machine could convert the MPEG4 stream to MJPEG. I'll look to see if there are existing software solutions. The VIP1 looks cool, but if I can find a cheaper or free way to do this, I'd prefer that.

For the hackers, here's what I did with Robotics Studio. If you aren't interested in MRDS, you can skip this bit.

1. Make sure your webcam is plugged in. I used an MS LifeCam and a Logitech.
2. Go to a DSS command prompt. This should take you to your installation directory.
3. Type the following: dsshost -p:50000 -t:50001 -m:samples\config\webcam.manifest.xml. This will start the included webcam service with the default camera.
4. You'll want to verify that the node starts with no security and that DSSHOST is allowed through your firewall on TCP port 50000. If you do start with security you'll need to configure the camera with a username and password.
5. In "ElkRM Setup" configure a custom STILL camera at the IP address of the machine running the webcam with a port setting of 50000 and query string of "/webcam/jpeg". and send this to the TS-07.
6. Open the camera on the TS-07 and see live video!!!

The frame rate is a little slow, but it works well enough. Also, this can all be done in VPL, VB.NET or C# as well. Until I get my "real" cameras, this will be a fun way to experiment.

Stacy