Quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > I am currenly doing a project that requires me to access multiple > webcams and transmit any combination of images over a network. > > 1) Is it possible at all to connect multiple webcams to a single USB ?
Most webcams really hate being connected to a single USB HC, but that is no longer a problem because you can have multiple USB busses easily - there are PCI cards with many controllers, and many modern m/boards come with several controllers as well. > 2) The above problem requires that I need a many-to-one multiplexer to > access the webcams. Do such devices exist ? If they do, are they > supported on Linux ? I am not sure what multiplexer you have in mind. I assume that all cameras work at the same time and stream data into your box - and there you make your decisions what to do with those images (such as ignore, or file, or process for movement detection, or whatever.) Most webcams will stop streaming if they are not open()'ed, so if you are interested in multiplexing this way, it is already working like that. > 3) What are the corresponding issues on S/W side ? No issues. > 4) Do APIs exist that will allow me to access any specified webcam > directly from the USB ? V4L API allows you to access any connected webcam, in any combination. > I intend to run the system on Linux Red Hat 7.2 with Kernel 2.4.7-10 > on a i686 config.I have a Pentium III with 256 MB RAM and some QuickCam > webcams. I have no experience with Quickcams. Dmitri -- "For thousands more years the mighty ships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming onto the first planet they came across -- which happened to be the Earth -- where due to a terribble miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog."
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