CameraGetPreviewFrame

Camera preview frame sample

This sample applies an end-to-end approach to demonstrate how to write a camera application using the Windows.Media.Capture API in conjunction with the DisplayInformation API to acquire preview frames from the camera stream for further processing.

Specifically, this sample will cover how to:

1. Manage the MediaCapture object throughout the lifecycle of the app and through navigation events.
2. Acquire a camera located on a specific side of the device. In this case, the sample attempts to get the rear camera.
3. Start and stop the preview to a UI element, including mirroring for front-facing cameras.
4. Get a preview frame using both overloads for the method.
5. Get it as a Direct3DSurface and display information about the frame: Width, Height, Format.
6. Get it as a SoftwareBitmap, display information about the frame: Width, Height, Format, and optionally display it on the screen and/or save it to disk.
7. Handle page rotation events to apply any necessary corrections to the preview stream rotation, ensuring acquired preview frames have the correct orientation and aspect ratio.
8. Handle MediaCapture Failed event to clean up the MediaCapture instance when an error occurs.

Due to the custom UI that this sample implements, any messages intended for the developer are printed to the debug console.

Related topics

Conceptual

Capture photos and video with MediaCapture

Get a preview frame

Reference

Windows.Media.Capture.MediaCapture namespace

Windows.Media.Capture.MediaCaptureInitializationSettings constructor

Windows.Media.Capture.MediaCaptureInitilizationSettings.VideoDeviceId property

Windows.Devices.Enumeration namespace

Windows.Devices.Enumeration.DeviceInformation class

Windows.Devices.Sensors.SimpleOrientationSensor class

Windows.Graphics.Display.DisplayInformation class

Windows.UI.Xaml.Media.Imaging.WriteableBitmap class

System requirements

Hardware: Camera

Client: Windows 10

Server: Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview

Phone: Windows 10

Build the sample

1. If you download the samples ZIP, be sure to unzip the entire archive, not just the folder with the sample you want to build.
2. Start Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 and select File > Open > Project/Solution.
3. Starting in the folder where you unzipped the samples, go to the Samples subfolder, then the subfolder for this specific sample, then the subfolder for your preferred language (C++, C#, or JavaScript). Double-click the Visual Studio 2015 Solution (.sln) file.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+B, or select Build > Build Solution.

Run the sample

The next steps depend on whether you just want to deploy the sample or you want to both deploy and run it.

Deploying the sample:

1. Select Build > Deploy Solution.

Deploying and running the sample:

1. To debug the sample and then run it, press F5 or select Debug > Start Debugging. To run the sample without debugging, press Ctrl+F5 or select Debug > Start Without Debugging.