Subject: Re: Webcam API
To: Jeff McMahill <jmcm@FRC2.frc.ri.cmu.edu>
From: Lennart Augustsson <lennart@augustsson.net>
List: tech-kern
Date: 11/14/2000 23:58:48
Jeff McMahill wrote:

> > I'm considering writing a driver for a USB webcam.
>
> Good timing - I was just trying to get my USB CPiA camera to
> work last night with the ugen driver...
> (I can get images now, but not reliably.)
> Is there any particular reason to write a specific driver,
> as opposed to using ugen and maybe a userland libvideo
> or something to provide a common API?

Well, there are at least two reasons:
 * the ugen driver is probably not general enough to do anything you
   might need (that can be fixed, I guess).  There are also performance
   issues.
 * hopefully the API would be used for all kind of video equipment
   and some of them may require kernel drivers.  I'd really like
   for all of them to share an API.

I'll have a look at video4linux and video4linux2.  The latter might
be all right.

--

        -- Lennart