Is there a Linux PHP module so that I can process web cam video with
Linux PHP from multiple USB ports? (I'm working on a video surveillance
idea since I found out that my office spent a whopping $30K on their 8
camera system and were told it would cost $13K for 3 more cameras to be
added. If that inspires you to do your own system, please do so -- I
love it when people can make big cash with Linux!)
For discussions here, realize that I'm talking about wired, not
wireless, video cams. Many big corps don't allow wireless video traffic
because it can be jammed with sophisticated tools. I'm also interested
in only non-motion activated video because that's what the security
guard needs to see. (That is, unless I use motion activated video
stream for what gets written to disk, but non-motion activated video
stream goes straight to the security guard. I could combine the two
cameras under a single camera bubble in the ceiling.)
Here's some questions about this if you happen to have ideas.
1) How do I not only record the video to hard drive, but serve it up to
a monitor that the security guard can watch?
2) How do I provide real time video to the security guard, yet for what
gets written to disk, record only time slices with lossy compression so
that it uses less disk space?
3) So, if you answer the separation question in #2, how do I use PHP to
convert video input on USB into time-sliced, lossy compression
recordings to disk?
4) Is it possible to have a single Linux PC process the video from
multiple USB ports, simultaneously?
5) Any ideas on the cheapest way to run USB over very long distances in
an office? I hear I can use ordinary, powered hubs to repeat the
signal, but this requires that I get an electrician to wire me an AC
plug in the drop ceiling somewhere. Has anyone used ordinary CAT 5 to
carry the signal longer?
6) Using this API, how much can I realistically write to disk in a
usual office setting? I'm trying to figure out how much disk space I'll
need. The idea would be that the Linux PC would store the video data on
disk up to about x number of months, making nightly backups to a
DVD-RAM drive that ejects automatically every week. The IT Operations
Manager would then replace the DVD-RAM disc on Friday and store the
other offsite for long-term retention.