HasciiCam enables users to publish live ascii video on the web. It captures video from a tv card and renders it into ASCII letters, formatting the output into an html page with a refresh tag, or in a live ASCII window, or in a simple text file.
The software enables users with a tv card, Linux box, and a cheap modem line to show live (h)ascii video which can be viewed without any need for extra applications, plugins, Java etc.
Hasciicam grabs video using Video4Linux api: gets a YUV422 plane and uses the luminance component to obtain a grayscale frame, then renders each frame into hascii using the AA-lib engine, armoring it in a html with a refresh tag.
Hasciicam is operated via the command line.
When using a usb webcam, a supported size needs to be specified. The minimum or maximum detected size should work, also a size of 160×120 mostly gives good results, with unsupported sizes you will get unexpected results.
Key Features
- Low bandwidth live cam “streaming”.
- Command line settings.
- Customizable refresh rate.
- Live mode.
- Gives you the coolest .plan you ever had.
- Draws nifty symbols on your face.
Website: dyne.org/software/hasciicam
Support: Mailing List, GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Jaromil (also known as Denis Roio) and contributors
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
Hasciicam is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Webcam Tools | |
|---|---|
| Webcamoid | Full featured and multi-platform webcam suite with a simple interface |
| ZoneMinder | All-in-one security camera solution |
| Motion | V4L capture program supporting motion detection |
| DroidCam | Turn a mobile device into a network-attached IP camera |
| Kerberos.io | Video surveillance solution |
| Clight | Webcam becomes light sensor |
| webcamize | Use your camera as a webcam |
| Guvcview | Full-featured video grabber |
| Cheese | Take pictures and videos from your webcam |
| Kamoso | Qt-based webcam utility |
| Ekiga | VoIP and video conferencing application |
| camera-streamer | Low-latency camera streaming project for Raspberry Pi systems |
| WebCamControl | GUI app for controlling properties of a webcam |
| Photobooth | Photobooth software for the Raspberry Pi and PC |
| HasciiCam | Live ascii video on the web for the masses |
| camorama | View, alter and save images from a webcam |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |