Updated README

README.md

@@ -1,17 +1,174 @@
-web_video_server [![Build Status](https://api.travis-ci.org/RobotWebTools/web_video_server.png)](https://travis-ci.org/RobotWebTools/web_video_server)
-================
+# web_video_server - HTTP Streaming of ROS Image Topics in Multiple Formats
 
-#### HTTP Streaming of ROS Image Topics in Multiple Formats
-This node combines the capabilities of [ros_web_video](https://github.com/RobotWebTools/ros_web_video) and [mjpeg_server](https://github.com/RobotWebTools/mjpeg_server) into a single node.
+This node provides HTTP streaming of ROS image topics in various formats, making it easy to view robot camera feeds and other image topics in a web browser without requiring special plugins or extensions.
 
-For full documentation, see [the ROS wiki](http://ros.org/wiki/web_video_server).
+## Features
 
-[Doxygen](http://docs.ros.org/indigo/api/web_video_server/html/) files can be found on the ROS wiki.
+- Stream ROS image topics over HTTP in multiple formats:
+  - MJPEG (Motion JPEG)
+  - VP8 (WebM)
+  - VP9 (WebM)
+  - H264 (MP4)
+  - PNG streams
+  - ROS compressed image topics
+- Adjustable quality, size, and other streaming parameters
+- Web interface to browse available image topics
+- Single image snapshot capability
+- Support for different QoS profiles in ROS 2
 
-This project is released as part of the [Robot Web Tools](http://robotwebtools.org/) effort.
+## Installation
 
-### License
+### Dependencies
+
+- ROS (Noetic) or ROS 2 (Humble+)
+- OpenCV
+- FFmpeg/libav
+- Boost
+- async_web_server_cpp
+
+### Installing packages
+
+For newer ROS2 distributions (humble, jazzy, rolling) it is possible to install web_video_server as a package:
+
+```
+sudo apt install ros-<ROS_DISTRO>-web-video-server
+```
+
+### Building from Source
+
+```bash
+# For ROS 1
+mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
+cd ~/catkin_ws/src
+git clone https://github.com/RobotWebTools/web_video_server.git
+git checkout ros1
+cd ..
+catkin_make
+
+# For ROS 2
+mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
+cd ~/ros2_ws/src
+git clone https://github.com/RobotWebTools/web_video_server.git
+cd ..
+colcon build --packages-select web_video_server
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+### Starting the Server
+
+```bash
+# ROS 1
+rosrun web_video_server web_video_server
+
+# ROS 2
+ros2 run web_video_server web_video_server
+```
+
+
+### Configuration
+
+#### Server Configuration Parameters
+
+| Parameter | Type | Default | Possible Values | Description |
+|-----------|------|---------|----------------|-------------|
+| `port` | int | 8080 | Any valid port number | HTTP server port |
+| `address` | string | "0.0.0.0" | Any valid IP address | HTTP server address (0.0.0.0 allows external connections) |
+| `server_threads` | int | 1 | 1+ | Number of server threads for handling HTTP requests |
+| `ros_threads` | int | 2 | 1+ | Number of threads for ROS message handling |
+| `verbose` | bool | false | true, false | Enable verbose logging |
+| `default_stream_type` | string | "mjpeg" | "mjpeg", "vp8", "vp9", "h264", "png", "ros_compressed" | Default format for video streams |
+| `publish_rate` | double | -1.0 | -1.0 or positive value | Rate for republishing images (-1.0 means no republishing) |
+
+#### Running with Custom Parameters
+
+You can configure the server by passing parameters via the command line:
+
+```bash
+# ROS 1
+rosrun web_video_server web_video_server _port:=8081 _address:=localhost _server_threads:=4
+
+# ROS 2
+ros2 run web_video_server web_video_server --ros-args -p port:=8081 -p address:=localhost -p server_threads:=4
+```
+
+### View Available Streams
+```
+http://localhost:8080/
+```
+The interface allows quick navigation between different topics and formats without having to manually construct URLs.
+
+This page displays:
+- All available ROS image topics currently being published
+- Direct links to view each topic in different formats:
+  - Web page with streaming image
+  - Direct stream
+  - Single image snapshot
+
+### Stream an Image Topic
+
+There are two ways to stream the Image, as a HTML page via 
+```
+http://localhost:8080/stream_viewer?topic=/camera/image_raw
+```
+or as a HTTP multipart stream on
+
+```
+http://localhost:8080/stream?topic=/camera/image_raw
+```
+#### URL Parameters for Streaming
+
+The following parameters can be added to the stream URL:
+
+| Parameter | Type | Default | Possible Values | Description |
+|-----------|------|---------|----------------|-------------|
+| `topic` | string | (required) | Any valid ROS image topic | The ROS image topic to stream |
+| `type` | string | "mjpeg" | "mjpeg", "vp8", "vp9", "h264", "png", "ros_compressed" | Stream format |
+| `width` | int | 0 | 0+ | Width of output stream (0 = original width) |
+| `height` | int | 0 | 0+ | Height of output stream (0 = original height) |
+| `quality` | int | 95 | 1-100 | Quality for MJPEG and PNG streams |
+| `bitrate` | int | 100000 | Positive integer | Bitrate for H264/VP8/VP9 streams in bits/second |
+| `invert` | flag | not present | present/not present | Invert image when parameter is present |
+| `default_transport` | string | "raw" | "raw", "compressed", "theora" | Image transport to use |
+| `qos_profile` | string | "default" | "default", "system_default", "sensor_data", "services_default" | QoS profile for ROS 2 subscribers |
+
+Examples:
+
+```
+# Stream an MJPEG at 640x480 with 90% quality
+http://localhost:8080/stream?topic=/camera/image_raw&type=mjpeg&width=640&height=480&quality=90
+
+# Stream H264 with higher bitrate
+http://localhost:8080/stream?topic=/camera/image_raw&type=h264&bitrate=500000
+
+# Stream with inverted image (rotated 180°)
+http://localhost:8080/stream?topic=/camera/image_raw&invert
+
+```
+
+### Get a Snapshot
+It is also possible to get a single image snapshot 
+```
+http://localhost:8080/snapshot?topic=/camera/image_raw
+```
+#### URL Parameters for Snapshot
+
+| Parameter | Type | Default | Possible Values | Description |
+|-----------|------|---------|----------------|-------------|
+| `topic` | string | (required) | Any valid ROS image topic | The ROS image topic to stream |
+| `width` | int | 0 | 0+ | Width of output picture (0 = original width) |
+| `height` | int | 0 | 0+ | Height of output picture (0 = original height) |
+| `quality` | int | 95 | 1-100 | Quality for JPEG snapshots |
+| `invert` | flag | not present | present/not present | Invert image when parameter is present |
+| `default_transport` | string | "raw" | "raw", "compressed", "theora" | Image transport to use |
+| `qos_profile` | string | "default" | "default", "system_default", "sensor_data", "services_default" | QoS profile for ROS 2 subscribers |
+
+## About
+
+This project is released as part of the [Robot Web Tools](https://robotwebtools.github.io/) effort.
+
+## License
 web_video_server is released with a BSD license. For full terms and conditions, see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file.
 
-### Authors
+## Authors
 See the [AUTHORS](AUTHORS.md) file for a full list of contributors.