Video4Linux

Video4Linux or V4L is a video capture^[1] and output device API and driver framework for the Linux kernel, supporting many USB webcams, TV tuners, and other devices. Video4Linux is closely integrated with the Linux kernel. Video4Linux was named after Video for Windows (which is sometimes abbreviated "V4W"), but is not technically related to it.^[2][3]

Version 1

V4L had been introduced late into the 2.1.X development cycle of the Linux kernel. V4L1 support was dropped in kernel 2.6.38.

• http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Gspca

Version 2

V4L2 is the second version of V4L. Video4Linux2 fixed some design bugs and started appearing in the 2.5.X kernels. Video4Linux2 drivers include a compatibility mode for Video4Linux1 applications, though the support can be incomplete and it is recommended to use Video4Linux1 devices in V4L2 mode. The project DVB-Wiki is now hosted on LinuxTV web site.

Some programs support V4L2 through the media resource locator v4l2://.

Software supporting Video4Linux

• aMSN
• Cinelerra
• DVswitch
• Ekiga
• FFmpeg
• FreeJ
• GStreamer
• kdetv
• Kopete
• LiVES
• Motion_(surveillance_software) ^[4]
• MPlayer
• MythTV
• OpenCV
• PyGame
• Skype
• tvtime
• VLC media player
• xawtv
• ZoneMinder

See also

• Direct Rendering Manager – defines a kernel-to-user-space interface for access to graphics rendering and video acceleration
• Mesa 3D – implements video acceleration APIs

References

External links

• media_tree development git
• v4l-utils development git
• Linux Media Infrastructure API (V4L2, DVB and Remote Controllers)
• Video4Linux-DVB wiki
• Video4Linux resources
• Video For Linux (V4L) sample applications
• Video For Linux 2 (V4L2) sample application
• Access Video4Linux devices from Java
• kernel.org
• OpenWrt Wiki
• Linux UVC driver and tools, USB video device class (UVC)