91

Have been thinking about this for a couple years. I have old phones kicking around. Battery shot, hardware dated, but the camera(s) and mic and antennas still work. Would be cool if there were a way to set them up (powered) to stream audio/video or even take stills at intervals (or motion-activated) and then sync the content to the rest of the devices on my network.

I don't know how complex the programming for something like this would be. But I suspect it's trivial for those who do know.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago

The camera is on all the time, the recording/streaming only starts when requested or on motion detection. Did you expect a PIR sensor on a phone?

[-] recursivesive@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

The camera is on all the time

That's what I meant: I don't know (as in I have zero clue) the camera is designed to operate that way. Is a naive assumption on my side and I'd be glad to learn this is not the case.

PIR sensor

No, I didn't expect a sensor, that's what I tried to say: the hardware is not there, so (on my mind) a constant image analysis/monitoring would be necessary in order to perceive movement and start recording, as in writing video to storage.

[-] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

I don't know (as in I have zero clue) the camera is designed to operate that way.

There is no reason a camera cannot be on all the time other than power consumption. Why couldn't it? The only limitation is software. Other parts of a phone can overheat from continuous operation (CPU et al., voltage converters, maybe flash LED and vibration motor) but not the camera.

[-] recursivesive@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There is no reason a camera cannot be on all the time... Why couldn't it?

Sensor wear, mechanical parts (if any), heat, etc. Essentially wear and tear. Just like nothing lasts forever, using it in a way that it's not intended/tested/quality assured, may reduce its lifespan.

Basically: "is the device intended to be on and recording 24/7?"

  • yes: good, the device should last and perform for its purpose
  • no: well, let's gamble and see how long it lasts
[-] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Sensor wear

This does not happen AFAIK. Most phones have no shutters so tge sensors receive light all the time, and the little required power does not overheat it.

mechanical parts (if any)

This is a valid point but the actuators in a phone camera's focusing mechanism are more like a speaker than a motor. They can last for ages, and many apps allow disabling autofocus when idle.

heat

This one is valid. Even basic image processing is a load on the CPU, and recording/streaming definitely is. Depends on how the camera is mounted to allow airflow.

gamble and see how long it lasts

Sure. The stakes are not very high if the phone would otherwise lay in a drawer.

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

That should be possible. There was an old security cam app for the iMac built in camera that would do this. There was no motion sensor — you just stepped out of frame to take a “still” image and then the app would monitor for changes compared to it.

this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
91 points (96.0% liked)

Selfhosted

40329 readers
418 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS