OpenCV : How to display webcam capture in windows form application?

Question

generally we display webcam or video motion in opencv windows with :

      CvCapture* capture = cvCreateCameraCapture(0);
            cvNamedWindow( "title", CV_WINDOW_AUTOSIZE );
   cvMoveWindow("title",x,y);
   while(1) 
   {
    frame = cvQueryFrame( capture );
    if( !frame )
    {
     break;
    }
    cvShowImage( "title", frame );
    char c = cvWaitKey(33);
    if( c == 27 )
    {
     break;
    }
   }

i tried to use pictureBox that is successful to display image in windows form with this :

 pictureBox1->Image = gcnew System::Drawing::Bitmap( image->width,image->height,image->widthStep,System::Drawing::Imaging::PixelFormat::Undefined, ( System::IntPtr ) image-> imageData);

but when im trying to display captured image from video it wont works, here is the source :

            CvCapture* capture = cvCreateCameraCapture(0);
   while(1) 
   {
    frame = cvQueryFrame( capture );
    if( !frame )
    {
     break;
    }
    pictureBox1->Image = gcnew System::Drawing::Bitmap( frame->width,frame->height,frame->widthStep,System::Drawing::Imaging::PixelFormat::Undefined, ( System::IntPtr ) frame-> imageData);
    char c = cvWaitKey(33);
    if( c == 27 )
    {
     break;
    }
   }

is there anyway to use windows form instead opencv windows to show video or webcam?

or is there something wrong with my code? thanks for your help.. :)

Answer 1

Piece of advice : use VideoInput instead of CvCapture (CvCapture is a part of highgui a library that is not intended for production use, but just for quick testing). Yes the VideoInput homepage looks strange, but the library is quite worthwhile.

Here is a quick sample for the usage of VideoInput (extracted from the VideoInput.h file):

//create a videoInput object
videoInput VI;

//Prints out a list of available devices and returns num of devices found
int numDevices = VI.listDevices();  

int device1 = 0;  //this could be any deviceID that shows up in listDevices
int device2 = 1;  //this could be any deviceID that shows up in listDevices

//if you want to capture at a different frame rate (default is 30) 
//specify it here, you are not guaranteed to get this fps though.
//VI.setIdealFramerate(dev, 60);    

//setup the first device - there are a number of options:

VI.setupDevice(device1);                          //setup the first device with the default settings
//VI.setupDevice(device1, VI_COMPOSITE);              //or setup device with specific connection type
//VI.setupDevice(device1, 320, 240);                  //or setup device with specified video size
//VI.setupDevice(device1, 320, 240, VI_COMPOSITE);  //or setup device with video size and connection type

//VI.setFormat(device1, VI_NTSC_M);                 //if your card doesn't remember what format it should be
                                                    //call this with the appropriate format listed above
                                                    //NOTE: must be called after setupDevice!

//optionally setup a second (or third, fourth ...) device - same options as above
VI.setupDevice(device2);                          

//As requested width and height can not always be accomodated
//make sure to check the size once the device is setup

int width   = VI.getWidth(device1);
int height  = VI.getHeight(device1);
int size    = VI.getSize(device1);

unsigned char * yourBuffer1 = new unsigned char[size];
unsigned char * yourBuffer2 = new unsigned char[size];

//to get the data from the device first check if the data is new
if(VI.isFrameNew(device1)){
    VI.getPixels(device1, yourBuffer1, false, false);   //fills pixels as a BGR (for openCV) unsigned char array - no flipping
    VI.getPixels(device1, yourBuffer2, true, true);     //fills pixels as a RGB (for openGL) unsigned char array - flipping!
}

//same applies to device2 etc

//to get a settings dialog for the device
VI.showSettingsWindow(device1);


//Shut down devices properly
VI.stopDevice(device1);
VI.stopDevice(device2);

Answer 2

The pixel format should be known when you capture images from a camera, it's very likely the format of 24-bit BGR. System::Drawing::Imaging::PixelFormat::Format24bppRgb will be the closest format but you might get weird color display. A re-arrange of the color component will solve this problem.

Actually, there are .net version opencv library available here: http://code.google.com/p/opencvdotnet/ and here: http://www.emgu.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Hope it helps!