video w/stamp

hotshot

I am controlling a relay with the·bs2 to turn a 12v camera on and off.· I have two questions: 1) (this is unrelated to the stamp) How do I convert a composite video signal to digital, and 2) Is it possible to send the digital signal through the stamp so that I can send it to a pc through the serial port/usb?

If I can not send it through the stamp, how do I send a digital video signal to a serial/usb port?

Any help would be of great assistance.·

Mike Green

1) There are a variety of commercial converters available. I use one from EyeTV that streams the video over a USB 2.0 connection to a Mac, but there are all sorts of others on the market. It's not a simple task and requires special programs on the PC end. Remember that there are all sorts of ways to encode video digitally. You can make it into files or you can stream it and there are multiple ways of doing each. Some of them are accepted standards and some are proprietary. For composite video, there are only a couple of standards (NTSC / PAL / SECAM).

2) You can't send the digital signal through the Stamp. There's too much data and the data rate is way too high.

A serial port is much too slow for a normal digital video signal unless you highly compress it, either by handling only still or slowly changing images or by reducing the resolution so the data rate is lower. Slow scan TV is one way to do this that both reduces the resolution and the image rate. It's only good for still images, but can transmit them over an audio channel (or slow serial channel). Look up "slow scan tv" on the Wikipedia for details.

Post Edited (Mike Green) : 1/16/2009 5:38:54 PM GMT

ErikdS

I've been wondering about this too....

So what would the minimal hardware be to store video footage?
I mean
1.) no PC (I want that out of the loop, too big&expensive for a small standalone application),
2.) no stamp (since that's too slow),
3.) but I still want the video footage on a memory stick,

can that be achieved and if so, what does it take?

Erik

Mike2545

Erik, here is a stand alone video with a 4 gig flash memory

You may be able to connect a Stamp to operate it ON/OFF

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18087

All for less than $25.00

Mike2545


Post Edited (Mike2545) : 2/5/2009 7:20:38 PM GMT

ErikdS

Nice! Thanks for the tip. It's good to know such things exist.
I was looking for somewhat better image quality though.

Should I just surf around some more, or do have a lead?

Thx in advance!!!

Erik

Mike2545

That site has some other options (higher res) for around $65.00.

Surf around on that link to see if they have what you are looking for.

Mike2545