Video Distortion Issue Using Easycap USB Capture with Door Phone Composite Signal on MotionEye Add-on

[pcjoih]

Hello,

I'm experiencing an issue with video distortion when using MotionEye on my Home Assistant OS setup. Here’s my current setup:

The video source is a door phone installed at the entrance of my house.
The door phone provides a composite signal (likely NTSC, since I’m located in South Korea, though the resolution is unknown).
I’m using an Easycap USB capture device to convert the composite signal and connect it to my Raspberry Pi 5 running Home Assistant OS (HAOS).
https://www.amazon.com/Capture-Converter-USB-Convert-Camcorder-Compatible/dp/B0CB6BW6X4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=R2D94RRJO1GA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vPvDUBO3YkVgswuBM4QhfYxk_gw-KyRP5AP4uxH4DsicLxylO0TdE7OqZrr2SvnLtbmSHd01wMki2OqETeBfdtqSYd9-mk6mqMf1EgpcPsYlLkeLzX8LZgSxYAcFE1sMIjG5c6srgW5TiJwFTRZ94dOfASPlMz7vh8UwidyXxclEPEmLXhIGMWJFF2G25g0YcejaT48fWq3UBdRUWBpxaQqkoOZD-BN8MfzmiBcngw8.Asnvw1YkX6xDXt3mpgS4bJaJ-xd8Rcu4cixIEAJWcHk&dib_tag=se&keywords=easycap&qid=1727770406&sprefix=easyca%2Caps%2C323&sr=8-2
<- This device.
I can view the video feed through the MotionEye add-on using the /dev/video0 device.
Problem:
The video feed appears heavily distorted, and I’ve tried various resolutions (640x480, 720x480, 720x576) and framerates (from 1 to 30), but the issue persists. I've attached a screenshot of the distorted image for reference.

Steps Tried:
Changing resolution and framerate settings within the MotionEye UI.
Restarting the add-on and the Raspberry Pi.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this? Could it be an issue with the video format (NTSC vs. PAL) or something related to the Easycap USB capture device itself?

Any help or guidance would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[tosiara]

Other things to try:

1. check if the picture is correct in ffplay and/or vlc
2. run motion standalone with -d 9 and check if the issue is still there
3. upload full motion log from the step 2

[pcjoih]

1. Since I have to run it inside the motionEye container on HAOS, I couldn't verify it using ffplay or VLC. However, I tried capturing with ffmpeg, but the result was still the same.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b9bd25d-9e4c-4fe3-b512-bd405ef3c797
<- This is captured video

[mjpeg @ 0x7f87f79870] EOI missing, emulating
Input #0, video4linux2,v4l2, from '/dev/video0':
Duration: N/A, start: 66040.889976, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg (Baseline), yuvj422p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 640x480, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 1000k tbn
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (libx264))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[mjpeg @ 0x7f87f58870] mjpeg_decode_dc: bad vlc: 0:0 (0x7f81ab9338)
[mjpeg @ 0x7f87f58870] error dc
[mjpeg @ 0x7f87f58870] error y=58 x=26
[libx264 @ 0x7f8798d980] using cpu capabilities: ARMv8 NEON
[libx264 @ 0x7f8798d980] profile High 4:2:2, level 3.0, 4:2:2, 8-bit
[libx264 @ 0x7f8798d980] 264 - core 164 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2023 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=hex subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=6 lookahead_threads=1 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=40 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 aq=1:1.00
<- This is ffmpeg log

2. The distortion remains even when running Motion in standalone mode.

3. Motion log
   [0:motion] [ALR] [ALL] conf_load: could not open configfile /etc/motion/motion.conf: No such file or directory
   [0:motion] [CRT] [ALL] conf_load: No config file to process, using default values
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Logging to syslog
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Motion 4.7.0 Started
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Using default log type (ALL)
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Using log type (ALL) log level (ALL)
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] conf_output_parms: Writing configuration parameters from all files (1):
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] Thread 0 - Config file:
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] daemon off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] setup_mode off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] pid_file
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] log_file
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] log_level 9
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] log_type ALL
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] quiet on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] native_language on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] watchdog_tmo 30
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] watchdog_kill 10
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] camera_name
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] camera_id 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] target_dir
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] video_device /dev/video0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] video_params
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] auto_brightness 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] tuner_device
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] roundrobin_frames 1
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] roundrobin_skip 1
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] roundrobin_switchfilter off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] netcam_url
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] netcam_params
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] netcam_high_url
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] netcam_high_params
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] netcam_userpass
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] width 640
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] height 480
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] framerate 15
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] minimum_frame_time 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] rotate 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] flip_axis none
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] locate_motion_mode off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] locate_motion_style box
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] text_left
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] text_right %Y-%m-%d\n%T
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] text_changes off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] text_scale 1
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] text_event %Y%m%d%H%M%S
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] emulate_motion off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] pause off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] threshold 1500
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] threshold_maximum 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] threshold_tune off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] noise_level 32
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] noise_tune on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] despeckle_filter
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] area_detect
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] mask_file
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] mask_privacy
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] smart_mask_speed 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] lightswitch_percent 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] lightswitch_frames 5
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] minimum_motion_frames 1
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] event_gap 60
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] pre_capture 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] post_capture 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_event_start
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_event_end
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_picture_save
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_area_detected
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_motion_detected
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_movie_start
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_movie_end
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_camera_lost
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] on_camera_found
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_output off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_output_motion off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_type jpeg
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_quality 75
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_exif
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] picture_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-%q
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] snapshot_interval 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] snapshot_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S-snapshot
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_output on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_output_motion off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_max_time 120
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_bps 400000
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_quality 60
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_codec mkv
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_duplicate_frames off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_passthrough off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_filename %v-%Y%m%d%H%M%S
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_extpipe_use off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] movie_extpipe
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] timelapse_interval 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] timelapse_mode daily
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] timelapse_fps 30
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] timelapse_codec mpg
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] timelapse_filename %Y%m%d-timelapse
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] video_pipe
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] video_pipe_motion
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_port 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_ipv6 off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_localhost on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_parms 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_interface 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_auth_method 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_authentication
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_tls off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_cert
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_key
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_header_params
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_lock_minutes 5
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_lock_attempts 5
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] webcontrol_lock_max_ips 25
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_port 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_localhost on
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_auth_method 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_authentication
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_tls off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_header_params
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_preview_scale 25
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_preview_newline off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_preview_method 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_quality 50
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_grey off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_motion off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_maxrate 1
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] stream_limit 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_type
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_dbname
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_host localhost
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_port 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_user
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_password
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] database_busy_timeout 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_log_picture off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_log_snapshot off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_log_movie off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_log_timelapse off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_query_start
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_query_stop
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] sql_query
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_type 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_auto off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_port
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_motorx 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_motorx_reverse off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_motory 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_motory_reverse off
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_maxx 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_minx 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_maxy 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_miny 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_homex 128
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_homey 128
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_iomojo_id 0
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_step_angle_x 10
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_step_angle_y 10
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_move_wait 10
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_speed 255
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_stepsize 40
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] track_generic_move
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] camera
   [0:motion] [INF] [ALL] camera_dir
   [0:motion] [DBG] [ALL] motion_ntc: v4l2 : available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [ALL] motion_ntc: bktr : not available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [ALL] motion_ntc: webp : available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [ALL] motion_ntc: ffmpeg : available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] motion_ntc: mysql : not available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] motion_ntc: MariaDB: not available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] motion_ntc: sqlite3: not available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] motion_ntc: pgsql : not available
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] motion_ntc: nls : available
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ENC] ffmpeg_global_init: ffmpeg libavcodec version 60.31.102 libavformat version 60.16.100
   [0:motion] [DBG] [DBL] dbse_global_init: Initializing database
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] translate_init: Language: English
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] motion_start_thread: Camera ID: 0 Camera Name: (null) Device: /dev/video0
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] main: Waiting for threads to finish, pid: 492
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] motion_init: Camera 0 started: motion detection Enabled
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] vid_start: Opening V4L2 device
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [ALL] util_parms_add: Parsed: >palette< >17<
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [ALL] util_parms_add: Parsed: >input< >-1<
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [ALL] util_parms_add: Parsed: >norm< >0<
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [ALL] util_parms_add: Parsed: >frequency< >0<
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_device_open: Using videodevice /dev/video0 and input -1
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: ------------------------
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: cap.driver: "uvcvideo"
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: cap.card: "USB2.0 PC CAMERA"
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: cap.bus_info: "usb-xhci-hcd.0-2"
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: cap.capabilities=0x84A00001
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: ------------------------
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: - VIDEO_CAPTURE
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_device_capability: - STREAMING
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_input_select: Name = "Camera 1", type 0x00000002, status 00000000
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_input_select: Name = "Camera 1"- CAMERA
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_norm_select: Device does not support specifying PAL/NTSC norm
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_try: Unable to use YU12 (640x480)
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_select: Configuration palette index 17 (YU12) for 640x480 doesn't work.
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_select: Supported palettes:
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_select: (0) MJPG (Motion-JPEG)
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_select: 0 - Motion-JPEG (compressed : 1) (0x47504a4d)
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_try: Testing palette MJPG (640x480)
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_stride: Checking image size 640x480 with stride 0
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_stride: No stride value provided from device.
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_set: Using palette MJPG (640x480)
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_pixfmt_select: Selected palette MJPG
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_fps_set: Trying to set fps to 15
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_fps_set: Device set fps to 15
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ---------Controls---------
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: V4L2 ID Name and Range
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963776 Brightness, 0 to 255
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963777 Contrast, 0 to 255
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963778 Saturation, 0 to 255
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963779 Hue, -127 to 127
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963792 Gamma, 1 to 8
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963795 Gain, 0 to 65535
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963800 Power Line Frequency, 0 to 2
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: menu item: Value 0 Disabled
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: menu item: Value 1 50 Hz
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: menu item: Value 2 60 Hz
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: ID09963803 Sharpness, 0 to 255
   [1:ml1] [INF] [VID] v4l2_ctrls_list: --------------------------
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_mmap_request: mmap information: frames=4
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_mmap_query: 0 length=614400 Address (7de6b000) offset 0
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_mmap_query: 1 length=614400 Address (7ddd5000) offset 614400
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_mmap_query: 2 length=614400 Address (7dd3f000) offset 1228800
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_mmap_query: 3 length=614400 Address (7dca9000) offset 1843200
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] jpgutl_emit_message: msg_level: -1, Corrupt JPEG data: premature end of data segment
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] Above message repeats 31 times
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] motion_detected: Motion detected - starting event 1.
   [1:ml1] [INF] [EVT] event_ffmpeg_newfile: Source FPS 15
   [1:ml1] [INF] [ENC] ffmpeg_set_quality: libx264 codec vbr/crf/bit_rate: 20
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [EVT] event_newfile: Writing movie to file: ./01-20241002091411.mkv
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] jpgutl_emit_message: msg_level: -1, Corrupt JPEG data: premature end of data segment
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] Above message repeats 187 times
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] sig_handler: Received signal 2.
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] jpgutl_emit_message: msg_level: -1, Corrupt JPEG data: premature end of data segment
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [EVT] event_closefile: Saved movie to file: ./01-20241002091411.mkv
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] mlp_actions: End of event 1
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [ALL] motion_loop: Thread exiting
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] vid_close: Cleaning up V4L2 device
   [1:ml1] [NTC] [VID] v4l2_cleanup: Closing video device /dev/video0
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_close: close
   [1:ml1] [DBG] [VID] v4l2_device_cleanup: vid_source
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] main: Threads finished
   [0:motion] [NTC] [ALL] main: Motion terminating

[tosiara]

Since ffmpeg has the same issue, then it most probably an issue with Easycap V4L driver. Did you compile it yourself? Used some pre-compiled binary? Or did it come together with HAOS?

[pcjoih]

Just come together with HAOS

[tosiara]

In that case you should contact HAOS community, which linux kernel they use and where Easycap driver came from