OpenCV  4.5.0
Open Source Computer Vision
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cv::VideoCapture Class Reference

Class for video capturing from video files, image sequences or cameras. More...

#include <opencv2/videoio.hpp>

Public Member Functions

 VideoCapture ()
 Default constructor. More...
 
 VideoCapture (const String &filename, int apiPreference=CAP_ANY)
 Opens a video file or a capturing device or an IP video stream for video capturing with API Preference. More...
 
 VideoCapture (int index, int apiPreference=CAP_ANY)
 Opens a camera for video capturing. More...
 
virtual ~VideoCapture ()
 Default destructor. More...
 
virtual double get (int propId) const
 Returns the specified VideoCapture property. More...
 
String getBackendName () const
 Returns used backend API name. More...
 
bool getExceptionMode ()
 query if exception mode is active More...
 
virtual bool grab ()
 Grabs the next frame from video file or capturing device. More...
 
virtual bool isOpened () const
 Returns true if video capturing has been initialized already. More...
 
virtual bool open (const String &filename, int apiPreference=CAP_ANY)
 Opens a video file or a capturing device or an IP video stream for video capturing. More...
 
virtual bool open (int index, int apiPreference=CAP_ANY)
 Opens a camera for video capturing. More...
 
virtual VideoCaptureoperator>> (Mat &image)
 Stream operator to read the next video frame. More...
 
virtual VideoCaptureoperator>> (UMat &image)
 
virtual bool read (OutputArray image)
 Grabs, decodes and returns the next video frame. More...
 
virtual void release ()
 Closes video file or capturing device. More...
 
virtual bool retrieve (OutputArray image, int flag=0)
 Decodes and returns the grabbed video frame. More...
 
virtual bool set (int propId, double value)
 Sets a property in the VideoCapture. More...
 
void setExceptionMode (bool enable)
 

Static Public Member Functions

static bool waitAny (const std::vector< VideoCapture > &streams, std::vector< int > &readyIndex, int64 timeoutNs=0)
 Wait for ready frames from VideoCapture. More...
 

Protected Attributes

Ptr< CvCapturecap
 
Ptr< IVideoCapture > icap
 
bool throwOnFail
 

Friends

class internal::VideoCapturePrivateAccessor
 

Detailed Description

Class for video capturing from video files, image sequences or cameras.

The class provides C++ API for capturing video from cameras or for reading video files and image sequences.

Here is how the class can be used:

#include <opencv2/core.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace cv;
using namespace std;
int main(int, char**)
{
Mat frame;
//--- INITIALIZE VIDEOCAPTURE
// open the default camera using default API
// cap.open(0);
// OR advance usage: select any API backend
int deviceID = 0; // 0 = open default camera
int apiID = cv::CAP_ANY; // 0 = autodetect default API
// open selected camera using selected API
cap.open(deviceID, apiID);
// check if we succeeded
if (!cap.isOpened()) {
cerr << "ERROR! Unable to open camera\n";
return -1;
}
//--- GRAB AND WRITE LOOP
cout << "Start grabbing" << endl
<< "Press any key to terminate" << endl;
for (;;)
{
// wait for a new frame from camera and store it into 'frame'
cap.read(frame);
// check if we succeeded
if (frame.empty()) {
cerr << "ERROR! blank frame grabbed\n";
break;
}
// show live and wait for a key with timeout long enough to show images
imshow("Live", frame);
if (waitKey(5) >= 0)
break;
}
// the camera will be deinitialized automatically in VideoCapture destructor
return 0;
}
Note
In C API the black-box structure CvCapture is used instead of VideoCapture.
  • (C++) A basic sample on using the VideoCapture interface can be found at OPENCV_SOURCE_CODE/samples/cpp/videocapture_starter.cpp
  • (Python) A basic sample on using the VideoCapture interface can be found at OPENCV_SOURCE_CODE/samples/python/video.py
  • (Python) A multi threaded video processing sample can be found at OPENCV_SOURCE_CODE/samples/python/video_threaded.py
  • (Python) VideoCapture sample showcasing some features of the Video4Linux2 backend OPENCV_SOURCE_CODE/samples/python/video_v4l2.py
Examples:
samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp, samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp, samples/cpp/laplace.cpp, samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp, samples/cpp/peopledetect.cpp, samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp, samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp, samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp, samples/cpp/tutorial_code/videoio/video-write/video-write.cpp, samples/cpp/videowriter_basic.cpp, samples/dnn/classification.cpp, samples/dnn/object_detection.cpp, samples/dnn/segmentation.cpp, samples/dnn/text_detection.cpp, and samples/tapi/hog.cpp.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

◆ VideoCapture() [1/3]

cv::VideoCapture::VideoCapture ( )
Python:
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture()
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(filename[, apiPreference])
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(index[, apiPreference])

Default constructor.

Note
In C API, when you finished working with video, release CvCapture structure with cvReleaseCapture(), or use Ptr<CvCapture> that calls cvReleaseCapture() automatically in the destructor.

◆ VideoCapture() [2/3]

cv::VideoCapture::VideoCapture ( const String filename,
int  apiPreference = CAP_ANY 
)
explicit
Python:
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture()
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(filename[, apiPreference])
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(index[, apiPreference])

Opens a video file or a capturing device or an IP video stream for video capturing with API Preference.

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

Parameters
filenameit can be:
  • name of video file (eg. video.avi)
  • or image sequence (eg. img_%02d.jpg, which will read samples like img_00.jpg, img_01.jpg, img_02.jpg, ...)
  • or URL of video stream (eg. protocol://host:port/script_name?script_params|auth)
  • or GStreamer pipeline string in gst-launch tool format in case if GStreamer is used as backend Note that each video stream or IP camera feed has its own URL scheme. Please refer to the documentation of source stream to know the right URL.
apiPreferencepreferred Capture API backends to use. Can be used to enforce a specific reader implementation if multiple are available: e.g. cv::CAP_FFMPEG or cv::CAP_IMAGES or cv::CAP_DSHOW.
See also
cv::VideoCaptureAPIs

◆ VideoCapture() [3/3]

cv::VideoCapture::VideoCapture ( int  index,
int  apiPreference = CAP_ANY 
)
explicit
Python:
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture()
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(filename[, apiPreference])
<VideoCapture object>=cv.VideoCapture(index[, apiPreference])

Opens a camera for video capturing.

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

Parameters
indexid of the video capturing device to open. To open default camera using default backend just pass 0. (to backward compatibility usage of camera_id + domain_offset (CAP_*) is valid when apiPreference is CAP_ANY)
apiPreferencepreferred Capture API backends to use. Can be used to enforce a specific reader implementation if multiple are available: e.g. cv::CAP_DSHOW or cv::CAP_MSMF or cv::CAP_V4L.
See also
cv::VideoCaptureAPIs

◆ ~VideoCapture()

virtual cv::VideoCapture::~VideoCapture ( )
virtual

Default destructor.

The method first calls VideoCapture::release to close the already opened file or camera.

Member Function Documentation

◆ get()

virtual double cv::VideoCapture::get ( int  propId) const
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.get(propId)

Returns the specified VideoCapture property.

Parameters
propIdProperty identifier from cv::VideoCaptureProperties (eg. cv::CAP_PROP_POS_MSEC, cv::CAP_PROP_POS_FRAMES, ...) or one from Additional flags for video I/O API backends
Returns
Value for the specified property. Value 0 is returned when querying a property that is not supported by the backend used by the VideoCapture instance.
Note
Reading / writing properties involves many layers. Some unexpected result might happens along this chain.
VideoCapture -> API Backend -> Operating System -> Device Driver -> Device Hardware
The returned value might be different from what really used by the device or it could be encoded using device dependent rules (eg. steps or percentage). Effective behaviour depends from device driver and API Backend
Examples:
samples/cpp/laplace.cpp, and samples/cpp/tutorial_code/videoio/video-write/video-write.cpp.

◆ getBackendName()

String cv::VideoCapture::getBackendName ( ) const
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.getBackendName()

Returns used backend API name.

Note
Stream should be opened.

◆ getExceptionMode()

bool cv::VideoCapture::getExceptionMode ( )
inline
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.getExceptionMode()

query if exception mode is active

◆ grab()

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::grab ( )
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.grab()

Grabs the next frame from video file or capturing device.

Returns
true (non-zero) in the case of success.

The method/function grabs the next frame from video file or camera and returns true (non-zero) in the case of success.

The primary use of the function is in multi-camera environments, especially when the cameras do not have hardware synchronization. That is, you call VideoCapture::grab() for each camera and after that call the slower method VideoCapture::retrieve() to decode and get frame from each camera. This way the overhead on demosaicing or motion jpeg decompression etc. is eliminated and the retrieved frames from different cameras will be closer in time.

Also, when a connected camera is multi-head (for example, a stereo camera or a Kinect device), the correct way of retrieving data from it is to call VideoCapture::grab() first and then call VideoCapture::retrieve() one or more times with different values of the channel parameter.

Using Kinect and other OpenNI compatible depth sensors

◆ isOpened()

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::isOpened ( ) const
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.isOpened()

◆ open() [1/2]

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::open ( const String filename,
int  apiPreference = CAP_ANY 
)
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.open(filename[, apiPreference])
retval=cv.VideoCapture.open(index[, apiPreference])

Opens a video file or a capturing device or an IP video stream for video capturing.

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

Parameters are same as the constructor VideoCapture(const String& filename, int apiPreference = CAP_ANY)

Returns
true if the file has been successfully opened

The method first calls VideoCapture::release to close the already opened file or camera.

Examples:
samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp, samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp, samples/cpp/laplace.cpp, samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp, samples/cpp/peopledetect.cpp, samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp, samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp, samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp, samples/dnn/classification.cpp, samples/dnn/object_detection.cpp, samples/dnn/segmentation.cpp, samples/dnn/text_detection.cpp, and samples/tapi/hog.cpp.

◆ open() [2/2]

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::open ( int  index,
int  apiPreference = CAP_ANY 
)
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.open(filename[, apiPreference])
retval=cv.VideoCapture.open(index[, apiPreference])

Opens a camera for video capturing.

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

Parameters are same as the constructor VideoCapture(int index, int apiPreference = CAP_ANY)

Returns
true if the camera has been successfully opened.

The method first calls VideoCapture::release to close the already opened file or camera.

◆ operator>>() [1/2]

virtual VideoCapture& cv::VideoCapture::operator>> ( Mat image)
virtual

Stream operator to read the next video frame.

See also
read()

◆ operator>>() [2/2]

virtual VideoCapture& cv::VideoCapture::operator>> ( UMat image)
virtual

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

See also
read()

◆ read()

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::read ( OutputArray  image)
virtual
Python:
retval, image=cv.VideoCapture.read([, image])

Grabs, decodes and returns the next video frame.

Parameters
[out]imagethe video frame is returned here. If no frames has been grabbed the image will be empty.
Returns
false if no frames has been grabbed

The method/function combines VideoCapture::grab() and VideoCapture::retrieve() in one call. This is the most convenient method for reading video files or capturing data from decode and returns the just grabbed frame. If no frames has been grabbed (camera has been disconnected, or there are no more frames in video file), the method returns false and the function returns empty image (with cv::Mat, test it with Mat::empty()).

Note
In C API, functions cvRetrieveFrame() and cv.RetrieveFrame() return image stored inside the video capturing structure. It is not allowed to modify or release the image! You can copy the frame using cvCloneImage and then do whatever you want with the copy.
Examples:
samples/cpp/videowriter_basic.cpp.

◆ release()

virtual void cv::VideoCapture::release ( )
virtual
Python:
None=cv.VideoCapture.release()

Closes video file or capturing device.

The method is automatically called by subsequent VideoCapture::open and by VideoCapture destructor.

The C function also deallocates memory and clears *capture pointer.

◆ retrieve()

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::retrieve ( OutputArray  image,
int  flag = 0 
)
virtual
Python:
retval, image=cv.VideoCapture.retrieve([, image[, flag]])

Decodes and returns the grabbed video frame.

Parameters
[out]imagethe video frame is returned here. If no frames has been grabbed the image will be empty.
flagit could be a frame index or a driver specific flag
Returns
false if no frames has been grabbed

The method decodes and returns the just grabbed frame. If no frames has been grabbed (camera has been disconnected, or there are no more frames in video file), the method returns false and the function returns an empty image (with cv::Mat, test it with Mat::empty()).

See also
read()
Note
In C API, functions cvRetrieveFrame() and cv.RetrieveFrame() return image stored inside the video capturing structure. It is not allowed to modify or release the image! You can copy the frame using cvCloneImage and then do whatever you want with the copy.

◆ set()

virtual bool cv::VideoCapture::set ( int  propId,
double  value 
)
virtual
Python:
retval=cv.VideoCapture.set(propId, value)

Sets a property in the VideoCapture.

Parameters
propIdProperty identifier from cv::VideoCaptureProperties (eg. cv::CAP_PROP_POS_MSEC, cv::CAP_PROP_POS_FRAMES, ...) or one from Additional flags for video I/O API backends
valueValue of the property.
Returns
true if the property is supported by backend used by the VideoCapture instance.
Note
Even if it returns true this doesn't ensure that the property value has been accepted by the capture device. See note in VideoCapture::get()
Examples:
samples/cpp/laplace.cpp.

◆ setExceptionMode()

void cv::VideoCapture::setExceptionMode ( bool  enable)
inline
Python:
None=cv.VideoCapture.setExceptionMode(enable)

Switches exceptions mode

methods raise exceptions if not successful instead of returning an error code

◆ waitAny()

static bool cv::VideoCapture::waitAny ( const std::vector< VideoCapture > &  streams,
std::vector< int > &  readyIndex,
int64  timeoutNs = 0 
)
static

Wait for ready frames from VideoCapture.

Parameters
streamsinput video streams
readyIndexstream indexes with grabbed frames (ready to use .retrieve() to fetch actual frame)
timeoutNsnumber of nanoseconds (0 - infinite)
Returns
true if streamReady is not empty
Exceptions
ExceptionException on stream errors (check .isOpened() to filter out malformed streams) or VideoCapture type is not supported

The primary use of the function is in multi-camera environments. The method fills the ready state vector, grabbs video frame, if camera is ready.

After this call use VideoCapture::retrieve() to decode and fetch frame data.

Friends And Related Function Documentation

◆ internal::VideoCapturePrivateAccessor

friend class internal::VideoCapturePrivateAccessor
friend

Member Data Documentation

◆ cap

Ptr<CvCapture> cv::VideoCapture::cap
protected

◆ icap

Ptr<IVideoCapture> cv::VideoCapture::icap
protected

◆ throwOnFail

bool cv::VideoCapture::throwOnFail
protected

The documentation for this class was generated from the following file: