# Single camera streaming
Source: [https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70020-50/topic/gst-camera-single-stream-example.html](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70020-50/topic/gst-camera-single-stream-example.html)
The **gst-camera-single-stream-example** application allows you to use a single
camera with various outputs, including preview, encode, YUV dump, and RTSP
streaming.
For example, you can use this application in a security system where the goal is to
capture a video from one camera and stream it across a network. You can either view it
or archive it for future review.
The following figure shows the pipeline flow for various single camera stream use cases.
For more information, see [Pipeline flow](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70020-50/topic/gst-camera-single-stream-example.html#gst-camera-single-stream-example__section_dq4_h2s_nbc).
Figure : gst-camera-single-stream-example pipeline
## Prerequisites
- [Get started with the Qualcomm IM SDK](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-51/install-sdk.html)
for your Qualcomm Linux 1.5 or Ubuntu Server.
- Activate SSH on your Qualcomm Linux or Ubuntu to sign in with SSH and connect to
the target device. For instructions see:
- [Sign in using SSH](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-254/how_to.html#use-ssh) for Qualcomm
Linux
- [Sign in using SSH](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-90441-1/Use_Ubuntu_on_RB3_Gen2_3.html#sign-in-to-the-rb3-gen-2-console-using-ssh) for Ubuntu
Server
Note: If SSH is already set up and Wi-Fi is
connected, skip this step.
- Use the HDMI port to connect the display to the device. For instructions, see
[Set up HDMI display](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-18/samples.html).
- Sign in to the target device using SSH.
- In the terminal of the target device, run the following commands from the SSH
shell of the target device to activate the display on the host computer:
- For
Linux:
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/dev/socket/weston && export WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1Copy to clipboard
- For Ubuntu Server:
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u ubuntu)/ && export WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1 Copy to clipboard
- Connect the speaker to activate the audio on the target device. For
instructions, see [Set up audio hardware](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-16/enable-audio.html).
If you face
issues in recording the audio, run the following command in the terminal of
the target
device:
pactl set-default-source pal_source_speaker_micCopy to clipboard
- If you face issues with the camera or display, see [Camera troubleshooting](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-17/troubleshooting.html) and [Display troubleshooting](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70020-18/debug.html).
## Run the application
1. In the terminal of the target device, select any of the following use cases and
run the respective command:
- **Live camera use case**: View the live camera on
Waylandsink:
gst-camera-single-stream-example -o 0 -w 1920 -h 1080Copy to clipboard
- **MP4 use case**: Dump the MP4 to the
/etc/media/
folder:
gst-camera-single-stream-example -o 1 -w 1920 -h 1080Copy to clipboard
- **YUV use case**: Dump the YUV data to the
`/etc/media/`
folder:
gst-camera-single-stream-example -o 2 -w 1920 -h 1080Copy to clipboard
- **RTSP use case**: View the RTSP stream (run the RTSP server) on the
Linux host computer:
1. Run the RTSP server in a separate console on the target device
with `udpsrc` (you can run it in the background
as a
service):
gst-rtsp-server -a -p 8900 -m /live "( udpsrc name=pay0 port= caps=\"application/x-rtp,media=video,clock-rate=90000,encoding-name=H264,payload=96\" )"Copy to clipboard
For
example:
gst-rtsp-server -p 8900 -a 10.92.182.47 -m /live "( udpsrc name=pay0 port=8554 caps=\"application/x-rtp,media=video,clock-rate=90000,encoding-name=H264,payload=96\" )"Copy to clipboard
2. Run the following
command:
gst-camera-single-stream-example -o 3 -w 1280 -h 720 -i -p Copy to clipboard
2. In the terminal of the host computer, run the following commands to view the
stream on the VLC player or FFplay respectively:
**For VLC:**
vlc -vvv rtsp://:8900/liveCopy to clipboard
**For FFplay:**
ffplay rtsp://:8900/liveCopy to clipboard
3. To stop the use case, use CTRL + C.
4. In the terminal of the target device, run the following command in the SSH shell
to display the available help
options:
gst-camera-single-stream-example --helpCopy to clipboard
5. In the terminal of the host computer, run the following command to pull the
files from the target
device:
scp root@:/etc/media/Copy to clipboard
## Expected output
The following table lists the expected output based on the selected output type.
Table : Expected output for gst-camera-single-stream-example
| Output | Description |
| :--- | :--- |
| Display | Preview the stream. |
| Dump the MP4 and YUV data | Save the output to a file at /etc/media/. |
| RTSP | View the output on a remote display. |
Figure : Expected output for gst-camera-single-stream-example application
## Pipeline flow
The following table lists the plugins used in the single camera streaming
pipeline:| Pipeline | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Live camera preview on display |
Capsfilter is applied to enforce constraints on the raw video data.
v4l2h264enc is used to encode the video using the H.264 format.
H264parse is used to parse the video, rtph264pay is used to load the stream to RTSP, and then the stream is sent to a UDP sink for RTSP streaming.
|
## Related information
[Camera streaming using OpenCV](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70020-50/topic/gst-camera-opencv-resize-py.html)
**Parent Topic:** [Run sample applications for a camera](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70020-50/topic/camera-sample-applications.html)
Last Published: Jan 30, 2026
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