Access webcam without Flash
I want to create a video chat application using HTML 5 elements and JavaScript, and I don't want to use Flash to access the user's webcams.
How can I accomplish this using only HTML and JavaScript?
Solution 1:
At the moment of writing this the best solution is WebRTC. It is supported in Chrome, Mozilla and Opera, but still unavaialble in Internet Explorer and Safari.
Minimalistic demo.
Index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<video></video>
<script src="webcam.js"></script>
</body>
webcam.js
(function () {
navigator.getMedia = (navigator.getUserMedia || navigator.webkitGetUserMedia || navigator.mozGetUserMedia);
navigator.getMedia(
// constraints
{video:true, audio:false},
// success callback
function (mediaStream) {
var video = document.getElementsByTagName('video')[0];
video.src = window.URL.createObjectURL(mediaStream);
video.play();
},
//handle error
function (error) {
console.log(error);
})
})();
Read more here or there
Solution 2:
Despite the fact the provided example is great and inspired me, at the time of writing this answer, the Navigator.getUserMedia() function is obsolete. I've rewritten the provided example using the video tag's srcObejct and promise approach.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<video id="video-cam"></video>
<script>
navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ video: true, audio: true })
.then(mediaStream => {
const video = document.getElementById('video-cam');
video.srcObject = mediaStream;
video.onloadedmetadata = (e) => {
video.play();
};
})
.catch(error => {
alert('You have to enable the mike and the camera');
});
</script>
</body>