Unsolved analog video stream
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So I tested out VLC and OBS. Both are pretty cool and I learned a bit by messing with them. In the end I don't think either will meet my needs for now.
VLC had no problem letting me select my webcam I could see the live video. There was a 1 second delay with the video and audio viewing it locally. Then I set up a http stream and viewed that with VLC player on my laptop. There is a 30 second delay on a wired connection. That would have been acceptable except I couldn't find anyway to view the stream on my Samsung smart TV.
So then I downloaded OBS https://obsproject.com/ Thanks @DustinB3403
This is a cool program that answered another question I had, but in the end doesn't work for this application because there is no way (that I could find) to stream it to a TV. It's set up to stream to commercial stream services, but not to your own. This guy figured out how to put together all the pieces to set up a custom server that VLC can read from, but there again, I can figure out how to get my TV to connect to the stream. https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/custom-stream-option-and-vlc-under-windows-fixed-with-instruction.15925/ -
@Mike-Davis in those cases, you'd not use the TV directly but get a cheaper TV that doesn't have a media system built in and connect it to a Roku or Raspberry Pi or something else simple that will handle the decoding.
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@scottalanmiller said in analog video stream:
@Mike-Davis in those cases, you'd not use the TV directly but get a cheaper TV that doesn't have a media system built in and connect it to a Roku or Raspberry Pi or something else simple that will handle the decoding.
Yes, and again, that gets out of your scope. I seriously think your best choice will be a standard camcorder, HDMI splitter, and long HDMI cables to the other rooms. If Long HDMI is not going to work, then HDMI to Ethernet converters.
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I did notice that running VLC and doing the transcoding was using up 60% of my Xeon CPU, so a faster computer would probably be needed, then we have to deal with running VLC and making sure the Roku picks back up if the stream was interrupted. In my testing if I made a setting change, VLC on the client side just stopped and didn't pick back up even if the stream resumed. So bottom line, I would probably have at least $600-$1000 in to a PC.
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@Mike-Davis said in analog video stream:
I did notice that running VLC and doing the transcoding ...
That's the secret to any of those kinds of things....don't transcode. Transcoding is a massive power user and reduces quality a lot and introduces latency. If you need to transcode, reconsider your sources.
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I think @JaredBusch is right.
I just found this:
Bosch DINION AN 5000 1/3" CCD 960H True D/N WDR Camera Kit with 5-50 mm Lens
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1140425-REG/bosch_f_01u_295_530_dinion_an_5000_1_3.html
Add to that a $120 splitter and some coax cable and I can go straight in to the back of the TV via the composite RCA input.I'm sure for a little more I could find one with a HDMI output and do just what Jared said.
If they ever want to go digital, a $50 capture card in the PC will accept the composite video.
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@Mike-Davis said in analog video stream:
I think @JaredBusch is right.
I just found this:
Bosch DINION AN 5000 1/3" CCD 960H True D/N WDR Camera Kit with 5-50 mm Lens
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1140425-REG/bosch_f_01u_295_530_dinion_an_5000_1_3.html
Add to that a $120 splitter and some coax cable and I can go straight in to the back of the TV via the composite RCA input.I'm sure for a little more I could find one with a HDMI output and do just what Jared said.
If they ever want to go digital, a $50 capture card in the PC will accept the composite video.
That is a security camera and not something you can typically just hook up to a TV. They do not output on a "channel."
You are still over shopping.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/534312-REG/Hamilton_HDV5200_1_HDV5200_High_Definition_Digital.html -
The only issue I would expect with a camcorder is turning it on after a power fail or something.
A GoPro Hero 5 will give you bluetooth/wifi acces as well as HDMI out. and is only $400 MSRP.
https://shop.gopro.com/cameras -
GoPro specifically works for broadcasting and is cheaper than the camera you listed.
https://gopro.com/support/articles/best-ways-to-achieve-video-out-signal-via-hdmi -
@JaredBusch said in analog video stream:
GoPro specifically works for broadcasting and is cheaper than the camera you listed.
https://gopro.com/support/articles/best-ways-to-achieve-video-out-signal-via-hdmiAnd GoPro image quality is amazing. I have one, as does @MarigabyFrias and @rob, and we all love them. Even a 2 or a 3 would do a great job. I have a Hero 4 Black and it is definitely significant overkill.
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@scottalanmiller said in analog video stream:
@JaredBusch said in analog video stream:
GoPro specifically works for broadcasting and is cheaper than the camera you listed.
https://gopro.com/support/articles/best-ways-to-achieve-video-out-signal-via-hdmiAnd GoPro image quality is amazing. I have one, as does @MarigabyFrias and @rob, and we all love them. Even a 2 or a 3 would do a great job. I have a Hero 4 Black and it is definitely significant overkill.
Yes a used one from the list in the broadcast article would be even cheaper.
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Hero3 would be probably the best bet and super cheap.
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So after a few more hours working with OBS, I discovered that you can output to a second screen. You have to right click on the source window, and choose "Full Screen Projector Preview" and then select the right output depending on your system such as "Display 1"
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I also discovered that to get a full screen output of a IP cam (in my case an old Foscam) you have to find the right URL from the manufacture. In my case it ended up being:
http://username:[email protected]/videostream.cgi?&resolution=32&rate=0even though the documentation from Foscam said to use:
http://192.168.0.37/videostream.cgi?user=username&pwd=password&resolution=32&rate=0 -
@Mike-Davis said in analog video stream:
So after a few more hours working with OBS, I discovered that you can output to a second screen. You have to right click on the source window, and choose "Full Screen Projector Preview" and then select the right output depending on your system such as "Display 1"
So is that the direction that you are going now? How is it working? Are you doing long run HDMI for this?
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@scottalanmiller said in analog video stream:
@Mike-Davis said in analog video stream:
So after a few more hours working with OBS, I discovered that you can output to a second screen. You have to right click on the source window, and choose "Full Screen Projector Preview" and then select the right output depending on your system such as "Display 1"
So is that the direction that you are going now? How is it working? Are you doing long run HDMI for this?
I hope it is not. The time wasted doing all of this testing with old gear is crazy.
I mean, OBS sounds like good technology, but who is paying him to do all this work?
The simple solution is a camera (used or new GoPro) and direct HDMI with a splitter. HDMI extender if needed.
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When I laid out the options, they started to have second thoughts about being able to record, create streams, etc. Basically I told them that if they weren't sure which way they were going to go to run all the cables back to the sound booth so that for today we could put in a simple HDMI splitter , but tomorrow we could feed the camera(s) in to a capture card on the computer along with an output from the sound board and take it from there. I tested OBS and I was able to use a feed from a webcam, a feed from a firewire (IEEE 1394) camera, an IP camera feed, and display the desktop. If they get a HDMI camera today and then upgrade to IP cameras tomorrow, they HDMI camera can be used to get another angle.
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@Mike-Davis so the current plan is to use OBS and any number of cameras to create a stream, and watch that stream in preview mode on the TVs?
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@DustinB3403 They are weighing out the options. I suspect they will go with a single HDMI camera and splitter for today, but I don't know. If they go the computer route, they will still need the splitter to send the signal to the TVs, so nothing is wasted.
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@Mike-Davis said in analog video stream:
When I laid out the options, they started to have second thoughts about being able to record, create streams, etc.
I called it. That's why you generally avoid legacy deployments in any arena. Customers always commit verbally to hard limits that they will "never need to exceed" that makes the project seem easy. And the moment that it's too late, they want those features. In this day and age, it's so obvious that being able to record, stream online or whatever should "just be available" that often people will commit to not being able to do things assuming that they really are not committing to those things or that they are trivial to add, no matter what you tell them.
Same thing with VoIP. People commit to the limits of legacy phones all the time and are shocked when all modern features are unavailable to them because they just assumed, as VoIP is everywhere, that they would magically get that stuff too.
