GCstar forums

Lasse Havelund · 2007-07-20 18:04:08

I was pondering the idea of incorporating a barcode scanner, to allow you to quickly add games/books/films to your collections. I know it's been done before. Is anyone for this?

m_abs · 2007-07-20 19:23:28

#1
Where does you look up those codes?
I assume your referring to "DVD Profiler" (window-only but great movie collection manager), where you can type in or scan the barcode and get the information from their database about the movie. They have their own database, intended only for their own application.

Lasse Havelund · 2007-07-20 21:00:42

Actually no; I'm referring to the Mac OS X application called "Delicious Library". I've seen similar systems elsewhere, too.

Eggy · 2007-12-31 21:42:44

Actually I think that it can be done.
I made some tests and with your webcam (mounted at /dev/video ) you can with little programs get the bar code from a book (or every thing else)

Code:

$ vgrabbj -d /dev/video -o ppm | gocr -
Reading image from /dev/video
_<barcode type="UPC" chars="13" code="9782100488865" crc="0" error="0.055" />

vgrabbj grab images from a v4l-compatible webcam
gocr is a command line text recognition tool

The output could also give some undesirable texts like :

Code:

$ vgrabbj -d /dev/video -o ppm | gocr -
_<barcode type="UPC" chars="13" code="9782100488865" crc="0" error="0.055" />

q 7yl1oo 48886s
I\li't  __'''_;i___1__ i

but you can easily filter it with sed (it depends what you focus on, if there is only the barcode - in facts numbers - or if there is some text of symbols or if the picture is not "perfect" )

It works with dvd books and cd, i don't try other barcodes...

Edit : Happy new year!
(sorry for my English )

Last edited by Eggy (2007-12-31 22:20:42)

Eggy · 2008-02-03 17:13:33

Hello, after many tries i've manage to understand what gocr read, and it's bars and not numbers.
I'm still working on my project a little apps which take jpeg snapshot of the webcam stream and scan through gocr the barcode, and finally write it in a text file, which could be load in gcstar or alexandria for example.

Tian · 2008-02-03 17:25:44

Hello,

Thank you for your work.I didn't have time yet to test what you posted before. But I'll do so when time permits (and after I find my webcam back )

teolemon · 2008-02-06 09:21:39

http://zebra.sourceforge.net/
Zebra Barcode Reader might be the solution. It has C bindings and does exactly what you're looking for.

Eggy · 2008-02-07 21:17:10

I never manage to make it runs ...

Eggy · 2008-05-24 09:47:46

Tellico has now a Webcam barcode scanner feature, and it's quite practical (and very very fun )

Tian · 2008-05-24 12:44:21

Hello,

I began to do a few tests, but none of them worked Actually, I managed to capture using camstreams, but it only works with a GUI. And then the gocr part worked.

vgrabbj doesn't even compile on my Fedora 8 box.

But this would be nice to have something such as Zebra that can output barcodes as long as it recognize some and not in single shot mode. But unfortunately I got some errors with it:

Code:

]$ zebracam --verbose /dev/video0
_zebra_video_open: opened camera device /dev/video0 (fd=5)
_zebra_v4l1_probe: Philips 740 webcam (CAPTURE) (160 x 120) - (640 x 480)
v4l1_init_window: current window: 160 x 120 @(0, 0)
v4l1_init_window: setting max win: 640 x 480 @(0, 0)
v4l1_init_window: set FAILED...trying to recover original window
v4l1_init_window:     final window: 160 x 120 @(0, 0)
v4l1_probe_formats: current format: YU12(32315559) depth=24 palette=15
ERROR: zebra video in v4l1_set_format():
    invalid request: failed to set format (%08x)
ERROR: zebra processor in v4l1_set_format():
    invalid request: failed to set format (%08x)

Eggy > Do you know how this is done in Tellico? I will contact Robby or have a look to the source code if you don't. But maybe you'll have to wait for a long time again

Eggy · 2008-08-11 17:14:46

Hi,

Once again, thank you for according attention to our requests it's very nice!

Tian wrote:
Hello,

I began to do a few tests, but none of them worked Actually, I managed to capture using camstreams, but it only works with a GUI. And then the gocr part worked.

vgrabbj doesn't even compile on my Fedora 8 box.

I use Ubuntu so packages are easy to get . Well it was more attempts to get a barcode rather than making a real app. By the way, all i managed to get was inconclusive. (I made a program in ruby/gtk which captures a picture from the webcam and with gocr and a lot of lines of filtering with sed, i got the barcode)

Tian wrote:
But this would be nice to have something such as Zebra that can output barcodes as long as it recognize some and not in single shot mode. But unfortunately I got some errors with it:

...
Eggy > Do you know how this is done in Tellico? I will contact Robby or have a look to the source code if you don't. But maybe you'll have to wait for a long time again

I didn't manage to do anything with Zebra and the toolkit used in tellico seems to be easier to use. So the answer is yes i know how it's done in Tellico. According to their Changelog :

Tellico's Changelog wrote:
Tellico 1.3 - 29 January 2008
...
* Experimental barcode scanning with a webcam (use --enable-webcam for the configure script). See Sebastian's website about his patch for more details.

And the mentionned website says :

Barcode recognition - not yet finished: preview (tar.bz2)
Features (v11.9.2007):

* uses video4linux/mplayer to capture frames (cheap webcam)
* barcode recognition by BaToo
* ISBN feed to Tellico via DCOP
* live preview by mplayer
* WORKS!

I can't help you more, i tried but did not understand Sebastian's source code, sorry.

Eggy · 2009-01-16 14:35:27

Up ?

Tian, j'ai vu que tu parlais fran�ais si tu veux que je m'explique plus clairement en fran�ais je peux
Je pense que c'est vraiment une fonctionnalit� pratique qui manque..

Tian · 2009-01-31 17:21:09

Hello,

Does it work with something else than books ? Because for them, it's quite easy to convert a barcode to ISBN. That could be done for a future release. But I must admit I didn't have time for that.

Did you test with Amazon plugins? Because it should alreay work if you enter a barcode when performing a search. You just need something that output the barcode just like if someone entered it on the keyboard.

Eggy · 2009-02-10 14:57:29

Yeah it works with books, dvd movies, audio cd's, and that's all i've tested.
It works with Amazon, actually you don't need to convert barcode to isbn, for example, you can try to search something by its barcode in google you will have some results as IMBD or Amazon.

You just need something that output the barcode just like if someone entered it on the keyboard.

Yes, that's very convenient and that make information research a lot quicker.

It's just an idea, it's not very essential, doesn't matter if you don't have time to implement this.

By the way, GCstar is a great software

elitejones · 2010-03-17 08:49:54

As i know cheap webcams dont have the resolution to work as barcode scanners.I would recommend getting webcam with atleast the same specs as the Philips SPC325NC.Thanks.

Katanshi · 2010-06-16 13:05:02

Hi.
Katanshi Barcode Reader allows you to read barcodes with your webcam in the same way like you would do it with harware laser scanner. It reads barcodes directly from webcam or from still image stored on your drive.

http://katanshi.com

Last edited by Katanshi (2010-06-16 13:05:41)

FMFT · 2011-11-03 20:51:06

It is possible to read a barcode using your webcam, Zbar 0.10 and some free software.

I did it, on Ubuntu, and here is a videoclip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPe_9bhPtT4

If someone wants more info, just email me: fmft71@yahoo.es

if someone can understand Spanish, here are the instructions to do it on Debian and Ubuntu:
http://www.tuxbrain.com/en/codigos-de-b … o-de-texto

Regards.

MrFMFT71

Last edited by FMFT (2011-11-03 20:59:56)

GCstar forums - Webcam barcode scanner?

#1 2007-07-20 18:04:08

Webcam barcode scanner?

#2 2007-07-20 19:23:28

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#3 2007-07-20 21:00:42

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#4 2007-12-31 21:42:44

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

Code:

Code:

#5 2008-02-03 17:13:33

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#6 2008-02-03 17:25:44

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#7 2008-02-06 09:21:39

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#8 2008-02-07 21:17:10

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#9 2008-05-24 09:47:46

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#10 2008-05-24 12:44:21

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

Code:

#11 2008-08-11 17:14:46

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

Tian wrote:

Tian wrote:

Tellico's Changelog wrote:

#12 2009-01-16 14:35:27

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#13 2009-01-31 17:21:09

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#14 2009-02-10 14:57:29

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#15 2010-03-17 08:49:54

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#16 2010-06-16 13:05:02

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?

#17 2011-11-03 20:51:06

Re: Webcam barcode scanner?