Quickstart

Installation

Install QVideo with a Qt binding. PyQt5 and PyQt6 are both supported:

pip install QVideo[pyqt5]   # PyQt5
pip install QVideo[pyqt6]   # PyQt6

To record video to HDF5 files, add the dvr extra:

pip install QVideo[pyqt5,dvr]

Run the full camcorder application

The quickest way to see QVideo in action is to launch the built-in camcorder. Use the flag for your camera type:

python -m QVideo -c          # USB webcam via OpenCV
python -m QVideo -b          # Basler camera
python -m QVideo -f          # FLIR camera
python -m QVideo -i          # IDS camera
python -m QVideo -m          # MATRIX VISION / generic GenICam
python -m QVideo -r          # Allied Vision VimbaX
python -m QVideo -p          # Raspberry Pi camera

The camcorder window shows the live feed, a property tree for adjusting camera settings, and a DVR panel for recording.

Display a live feed in your own application

The minimal wiring is a source connected to a display widget:

import pyqtgraph as pg
from QVideo.cameras.Noise import QNoiseSource
from QVideo.lib import QVideoScreen

app = pg.mkQApp()

source = QNoiseSource()
screen = QVideoScreen()
source.newFrame.connect(screen.setImage)

screen.show()
source.start()
app.exec()

QNoiseSource generates synthetic noise frames — no hardware required. Replace it with any other source to use real hardware:

from QVideo.cameras.OpenCV import QOpenCVSource   # USB webcam
from QVideo.cameras.Genicam import QGenicamSource # GenICam camera
from QVideo.cameras.Basler import QBaslerSource   # Basler camera

The rest of the code is identical — the source, screen, and filter pipeline do not depend on the underlying hardware.

Add camera controls

QCameraTree reads the camera’s registered properties and builds a control panel automatically:

import pyqtgraph as pg
from QVideo.cameras.Noise import QNoiseCamera, QNoiseSource
from QVideo.lib import QCameraTree, QVideoScreen
from qtpy.QtWidgets import QApplication, QHBoxLayout, QWidget

app = QApplication([])

camera = QNoiseCamera()
source = QNoiseSource(camera=camera)
screen = QVideoScreen()
tree   = QCameraTree(camera=camera)

source.newFrame.connect(screen.setImage)

window = QWidget()
layout = QHBoxLayout(window)
layout.addWidget(screen)
layout.addWidget(tree)
window.show()

source.start()
app.exec()

Apply image filters

Insert a QFilterBank between the source and screen to process frames before display:

from QVideo.lib import QFilterBank
from QVideo.filters import QSmoothingFilter, QEdgeFilter

bank = QFilterBank()
bank.addFilter(QSmoothingFilter())
bank.addFilter(QEdgeFilter())

source.newFrame.connect(bank.updateFrame)
bank.newFrame.connect(screen.setImage)

Filters are applied in order. Enable or disable individual filters at runtime via their enabled property.

Next steps

• Architecture — how the camera, threading, UI, and filter layers fit together.

• Core library — full API reference for the core abstractions.

• Camera backends — available camera backends and their options.

• Filters — available image filters.

• DVR — recording and playback.