Video4Linux or V4L is a API Vidéo for Linux. Video4Linux is integrated in the core of Linux.

V4L is a layer abstracted between the software of videos and the peripheral video. It allows in particular the capture of video streams and images coming from numerical video cameras, charts of video acquisition, tuner TV and radio, webcam etc…

There exist 2 versions of API, Video4Linux (in old cores 2.2,2.4 and 2.6) and more recently Video4Linux2, major change out of standard in the cores Linux 2.6.

Software using Video4Linux

• Ekiga, videoconference;

• Framework (software), software of capture and realization of cartoon film;
• FreeJ, software of video effects real-time for video Jockey (VJ);
• GStreamer, audio library/video high level;
• GLTV, visualization TV using OpenGL;
• kdetvn visualization TV;
• Motion, automatic software of monitoring;
• MPlayer, software of video visualization (accompanied by mencoder for conversion);
• MythTV, visualization TV;
• SImg, software specialized in the image processing astronomical
• Stopmotion, software of capture and realization of cartoon films;
• Tvtime ;
• VLC media player video visualization and streaming;
• Xawtv, visualization TV;
• Zapping

External bonds

• Wiki de Video4Linux
• Resources Video4Linux
• Video4Linux HQ
• List of software using V4L on freshmeat.