Hi Ruben,
the problem with the EpiphanProducer aka Kangaroo patch is that it needs
to be completly rewriten for the recent Ubuntu releases because of the
switch from v4l to v4l2. So we are not talking about throwing away a
working piece of code but about removing a not working piece of code. To
make it clear, I don't suggest to remove the EpiphanProducer because of
some know bugs (changing resolution) but because we have to rewrite the
whole code to work with v4l2. With the burden to maintain the Kangaroo
patch we would have to delay upcomming releases of the CA, while we can
have a quick updated release of the CA for Ubuntu 12.04 without the
additional feature for epiphan devices.
The code is not re-useable for other devices as it is highly epiphan
specific. Other manufacturers solve serveral of the Epiphan VGA2USB
problems in the hardware or in their drivers already.
Thanks
Rüdiger
Am 07.08.2012 17:16, schrieb Rubén Pérez:
Dear all,
Sorry about the delay, but my post-vacational depression hit harder
than I expected :)
I'll go right to the topic: I have been thinking about this matter for
a while, and even though I agree with Rüdiger that there is no
developers or resources to fix the CA (or so it seems), the
"EpiphanProducer" (basically the Kangaroo patch code plus some more
"spice") is a piece of software where many hours have been spent, and
even though I does not do all that is expected from it, it works in
all the other aspects.
Regarding this:
All other VGA-grabbers from other manufacturers can only be
connected as custom devices and have to implement these features
in their hardware, need additional hardware scalers (like we
recommend one in the CA reference hardware [1]), or encounter
problems on signal changes.
I don't see why, with little modifications, that piece of code could
be used with those manufacturers too.
Regarding the install scripts, I totally agree we should delete the
part where devices are configured, because it only supports Epiphan,
Hauppauge and (?) bluecherry I think, and the scripts should be
manufacturer-agnostic. Instead, we should include a warning that the
cards to be configured should be correctly installed according to the
manufacturer's indications, and perhaps presenting the users with a
list of "video" devices from which they can choose and configure the
necessary values. Also, a brief documentation about how to configure
device aliases, etc. should be included in the wiki, and I hereby
volunteer to create that documentation myself.
My general feeling is that we are completely abandoning the
development of the Capture Agent in favour of the different vendor
implementations, and that, eventually, the CA will be so outdated that
no one will actually use it. While that's good from a vendor
perspective (and I'm in a vendor's payroll), I don't think a good free
SW community should rely only in commercial solutions for one of the
most important parts of their system.
In short, I'm +1 for changing the installation scripts to remove
device installation support (for all manufacturers currently in there,
not just Epiphan). I'm -0 for removing the EpiphanProducer code
completely.
Again, sorry for keeping you waiting for my response.
Best regards
Rubén
2012/7/29 Christopher Brooks <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>>
Alright, so a -1 until we can get feedback from Rubencino on Thursday.
Chris
On Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:25:16 +0200
Rubén Pérez <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> I'm out of the office until next Thursday. If you can wait until
> then, I can give you an ellaborated opinion. Otherwise, I don't
think
> we should drop the EpiphanProducer from the code but I agree
with the
> opinion that the install scripts should be less Epiphan-oriented (in
> fact, they need some refactoring to make them more user-friendly).
>
> Regards
> Rubén
> On 25 Xul, 2012 21:45, "Greg Logan" <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
> > On 12-07-25 01:39 PM, Christopher Brooks wrote:
> > > Adam, Greg, and Rubencino, can you provide some comments on this
> > > proposal please? Does the epiphan producer provide us only
these
> > > benefits and?
> >
> > Yes, as far as I know. Adam will be able to speak more on this.
> >
> > > Ruediger, what is the effect on the install scripts?
> >
> > Minimal I would think. We still have to configure the device, it
> > just configures differently. Ruediger is not proposing dropping
> > support completely, just that we treat it as we would any other
> > input device. I think this is a good idea overall, especially if
> > it pushes more folks towards using a scaler.
> >
> > G
> >
> > > Chris
> > >
> > > On Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:38:59 +0200
> > > Ruediger Rolf <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi,
> > >>
> > >> when we want to start to get the Capture Agent compatible with
> > >> current Ubuntu releases (11.04 and later) we face the challenge
> > >> that the producer for Epiphan VGA2USB devices needs to be
> > >> completly refactored. This will take quite a lot of development
> > >> resources.
> > >>
> > >> The EpiphanProducer code allows:
> > >> - To start a vga-recording without a signal connected.
> > >> - To detect vga-signal loss and display an image instead.
> > >> - To detect a reconnect of the vga-signal and switch back
to the
> > >> VGA signal.
> > >> - To scale the vga, if the new connected signal has a different
> > >> resoultion. (It cannot detect resoultion changes by the way)
> > >>
> > >> All other VGA-grabbers from other manufacturers can only be
> > >> connected as custom devices and have to implement these
features
> > >> in their hardware, need additional hardware scalers (like we
> > >> recommend one in the CA reference hardware [1]), or encounter
> > >> problems on signal changes.
> > >>
> > >> I don't see any available developers to work on this
problem and
> > >> I have hard feelings about our current preference of the
VGA2USB
> > >> devices. So my #proposal would be to abandon the special
> > >> treatment of the Epiphan devices and remove the EpiphanProducer
> > >> code from the Capture Agent and treat the VGA2USB like any
other
> > >> VGA-grabber. Adopters can still use their old hardware but need
> > >> to buy scalers to make them work reliable. And we need to
update
> > >> to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as many adopters will have a hard time
> > >> getting Ubuntu to work on a recent computer.
> > >>
> > >> If you have objections against this proposal please come up
with
> > >> suggestions on how get the development resources to work on
this
> > >> issue.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks
> > >> Rüdiger
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> [1]
> > >>
http://opencast.jira.com/wiki/display/MHDOC/Reference+Hardware+1.3
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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> >
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Rüdiger Rolf, M.A.
Universität Osnabrück - Zentrum virtUOS
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