3.5.0 - Camera Tuning and Manual Recordings

[roflcoopter]

The main highlights of this release are camera tuning in the frontend, manual recordings, and improved MQTT support. Additionally, there are various performance optimizations and fixes.

Breaking changes

CUDA has been upgraded to 12.9.1.
If you run the roflcoopter/amd64-cuda-viseron image, it may cause compatibility issues if you are using an older version on your system. Please make sure to update your host if you experience any issues.

New features

Camera tuning

Camera tuning allows you to adjust various settings of a camera directly in the frontend.
Not all options are available yet but that is the long-term plan.

Another welcome change to this feature is that you can now draw masks directly in the frontend, instead of having to use external tools to generate the masks and then pasting it into the config.yaml. This makes it much easier to set up motion detection areas and ignore areas.

Note that you still need to restart Viseron after changing the settings for the changes to take effect.
The next release will include hot reloading of all settings to make this process more seamless.
Most code is already in place for this but it has not been exposed to the frontend properly yet.
Documentation on this feature can be found here

A big shoutout to @kaburagisec who contributed the camera tuning!

Manual recordings

You can now start and stop recordings manually from the frontend, via MQTT and through Telegram.
Visual feedback is provided when a recording is ongoing as well.

Documentation on this feature can be found here

Camera toggle in frontend

There is now a camera toggle in the frontend to stop/start cameras on-demand:

Profile page

A new profile page has been added to the frontend where users can set their preferences for the frontend.
This currently only supports setting the users display name and timezone but will be expanded in the future to include more settings like language and date format.

Other notable features

• External DB support for PostgreSQL. Documentation is available here
• New config option base_topic for mqtt to set the base topic for all MQTT messages. Still defaults to the value client_id if not set.
• New config option publish_states_on_reconnect (default: true) for mqtt to control if MQTT state messages should be re-published on reconnect. This is useful to not miss state updates that happened during downtime or if using an MQTT broker that does not persist messages.
• New config option publish_ha_config_on_reconnect (default: false) for mqtt to control if Home Assistant MQTT discovery config messages should be re-published on reconnect. This is useful if using an MQTT broker that does not persist messages.
• MJPEG camera sources are now automatically transcoded to be compatible with HLS streaming.

Changes

• Ruamel YAML is now used for parsing the configuration file instead of PyYAML. This allows for preserving comments and formatting in the config file.
• Recordings on the Recordings pages are now using HLS.js for playback instead of Video.js. This improves compatibility across browsers and devices, and provides a more uniform playback experience.
• Uses default_entity_id in mqtt instead of object_id when publishing Home Assistant MQTT discovery messages, since the latter is deprecated.

Fixes

• Fixes an issue where multiple API calls were re-fetching the same data unnecessarily, improving performance.
• Camera segment fragmenter no longer runs for stopped cameras, reducing CPU usage.
• Fixes a problem where cameras that were disconnected never properly reconnected. Closes Camera Disconnects - Timeout waiting for frame #1164
• Fixes a problem where the segment process that is spawned when using a substream was not monitored correctly, leading to missing recordings in case of crashes. Closes Feature/ffmpeg segments monitor #1215
• Upgrades HLS.js to version 1.6.15, which includes a fix to Timeline loads infinitely after source change #1106
• Fixes segmentation faults on some models for the YOLO component
• mog2 motion detector no longer triggers motion during startup.

Developer experience

• Framework for generating screenshots for documentation added, using Playwright
• Slight changes to the developer environment setup instructions for VS Code

Docker images will be on Docker Hub shortly

All changes

• YOLO component documentation now indicates model_path is required by @john- in YOLO component documentation now indicates model_path is required #1170
• Manual recordings by @roflcoopter in Manual recordings #1172
• Master by @roflcoopter in Master #1183
• Feature/dev container install docs by @roflcoopter in Feature/dev container install docs #1186
• use ruamel instead of PyYAML by @roflcoopter in use ruamel instead of PyYAML #1187
• Add Camera Tuning Implementation (Tuning Interface, Zone/Mask Drawer Tool, Labels Editor, OSD Texts, and Miscellaneous UI) by @kaburagisec in Add Camera Tuning Implementation (Tuning Interface, Zone/Mask Drawer Tool, Labels Editor, OSD Texts, and Miscellaneous UI)  #1165
• Playwright screenshot updater by @roflcoopter in Playwright screenshot updater #1189
• fix syntax in mqtt docs by @roflcoopter in fix syntax in mqtt docs #1190
• Start manual recording via live player by @roflcoopter in Start manual recording via live player #1193
• set max-old-space-size in azure builds to avoid out of memory issues by @roflcoopter in set max-old-space-size in azure builds to avoid out of memory issues #1195
• Frontend performance improvements (session expiry, onboarding, useEffect's) by @roflcoopter in Frontend performance improvements (session expiry, onboarding, useEffect's) #1196
• support using an external postgres database by @roflcoopter in support using an external postgres database #1197
• Start and stop cameras from frontend by @roflcoopter in Start and stop cameras from frontend #1198
• add manual recording button to MJPEG player by @roflcoopter in add manual recording button to MJPEG player #1199
• improve ffmpeg camera stopping mechanism by @roflcoopter in improve ffmpeg camera stopping mechanism #1200
• ignore fragmenting commands when camera is stopped by @roflcoopter in ignore fragmenting commands when camera is stopped #1201
• add docs on live player context menu by @roflcoopter in add docs on live player context menu #1203
• add recreate_db script by @roflcoopter in add recreate_db script #1204
• replace object_id with default_entity_id for home assistant MQTT entities by @roflcoopter in replace object_id with default_entity_id for home assistant MQTT entities #1208
• User profile page by @roflcoopter in User profile page #1211
• Several Frontend Refactoring by @kaburagisec in Several Frontend Refactoring #1212
• Feature/ffmpeg segments monitor by @roflcoopter in Feature/ffmpeg segments monitor #1215
• feat(mqtt): publish states on broker reconnect by @roflcoopter in feat(mqtt): publish states on broker reconnect #1216
• feat(mqtt): allow setting base_topic directly by @roflcoopter in feat(mqtt): allow setting base_topic directly #1217
• Remove VideoJS by @roflcoopter in Remove VideoJS #1219
• feat(ui): upgrade hls.js to 1.6.15 by @roflcoopter in feat(ui): upgrade hls.js to 1.6.15 #1221
• refactor(ui): fix all circular dependencies by @roflcoopter in refactor(ui): fix all circular dependencies #1222
• fix(api/hls): track target duration for hls client by @roflcoopter in fix(api/hls): track target duration for hls client #1223
• Support iOS Fullscreen for new recordings player by @roflcoopter in Support iOS Fullscreen for new recordings player #1224
• refator(backend): remove all direct usage of DataStream by @roflcoopter in refator(backend): remove all direct usage of DataStream #1230
• Update YOLO component Ultralytics library to v8.4.2 by @john- in Update YOLO component Ultralytics library to v8.4.2 #1229
• feat(motion_detector): add unload support by @roflcoopter in feat(motion_detector): add unload support #1232
• refactor(backend): add domain registry by @roflcoopter in refactor(backend): add domain registry #1233
• refactor(backend): keep track of entity owner component/domain by @roflcoopter in refactor(backend): keep track of entity owner component/domain #1234
• refactor(backend): start using DomainRegistry by @roflcoopter in refactor(backend): start using DomainRegistry #1237
• refactor(backend): prepare for full typing of vis.data by @roflcoopter in refactor(backend): prepare for full typing of vis.data #1239
• fix(domains): make registered domain event publish EventData by @roflcoopter in fix(domains): make registered domain event publish EventData #1240
• Domain unload functionality by @roflcoopter in Domain unload functionality #1241
• feat(domains): add method to reload domains and dependencies by @roflcoopter in feat(domains): add method to reload domains and dependencies #1245
• Test cases for yolo component by @john- in Test cases for yolo component #1243
• Introduce setup_domains for components by @roflcoopter in Introduce setup_domains for components #1246
• feat(nvr): prepare nvr for config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(nvr): prepare nvr for config reload #1250
• feat(object_detector): prepare object detector for config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(object_detector): prepare object detector for config reload #1251
• Config diffing by @roflcoopter in Config diffing #1252
• fix(domains): cancel retries using a threading event by @roflcoopter in fix(domains): cancel retries using a threading event #1253
• feat(tests): update pytest to 9.0.2 by @roflcoopter in feat(tests): update pytest to 9.0.2 #1254
• feat(tests): add test suite for component setup by @roflcoopter in feat(tests): add test suite for component setup #1256
• Config reload orchestrator by @roflcoopter in Config reload orchestrator #1257
• Pylint changes by @roflcoopter in Pylint changes #1260
• Config reload support for camera domain by @roflcoopter in Config reload support for camera domain #1266
• fix(reload): make sure failed deps are reloaded when an identifier is added by @roflcoopter in fix(reload): make sure failed deps are reloaded when an identifier is added #1267
• Support reloading for all domain base classes by @roflcoopter in Support reloading for all domain base classes #1268
• fix(reload): reload deps of newly added identifiers by @roflcoopter in fix(reload): reload deps of newly added identifiers #1269
• feat(compreface): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(compreface): support config reload #1271
• feat(darknet): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(darknet): support config reload #1272
• Discord reload by @roflcoopter in Discord reload #1273
• feat(gstreamer): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(gstreamer): support config reload #1276
• feat(dlib): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(dlib): support config reload #1275
• feat(hailo): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(hailo): support config reload #1279
• feat(go2rtc): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(go2rtc): support config reload #1281
• feat(gotify): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(gotify): support config reload #1282
• feat(ffmpeg): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(ffmpeg): support config reload #1280
• fix(ffmpeg) auto transcode to h264 for mjpeg sources by @roflcoopter in fix(ffmpeg) auto transcode to h264 for mjpeg sources #1283
• fix(ffmpeg): handle UNDEFINED in encoder_tuning_args by @roflcoopter in fix(ffmpeg): handle UNDEFINED in encoder_tuning_args #1285
• fix(ffmpeg): add stdin to RestartablePopen calls by @roflcoopter in fix(ffmpeg): add stdin to RestartablePopen calls #1286
• feat(mqtt): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(mqtt): support config reload #1287
• fix(mog2): avoid triggering motion on first frame by @roflcoopter in fix(mog2): avoid triggering motion on first frame #1288
• fix(nvr): correctly log first frame and typing updates by @roflcoopter in fix(nvr): correctly log first frame and typing updates #1289
• fix(yolo): fix segmentation fault for some models by @roflcoopter in fix(yolo): fix segmentation fault for some models #1290
• feat(webhook): support config reload by @roflcoopter in feat(webhook): support config reload #1292
• feat(reload): changes to default components require restart by @roflcoopter in feat(reload): changes to default components require restart #1293
• feat(docker): upgrade cuda to 12.9.1 by @roflcoopter in feat(docker): upgrade cuda to 12.9.1 #1294
• feat(docs): add docs on camera arm/disarm toggle by @roflcoopter in feat(docs): add docs on camera arm/disarm toggle #1295
• feat(docs): add profle page screenshot by @roflcoopter in feat(docs): add profle page screenshot #1296
• feat(docs): add basic camera tuning docs by @roflcoopter in feat(docs): add basic camera tuning docs #1298

Full Changelog: v3.4.1...v3.5.0

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This discussion was created from the release 3.5.0 - Camera Tuning and Manual Recordings.