ImageCapture

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The ImageCapture interface of the MediaStream Image Capture API provides methods to enable the capture of images or photos from a camera or other photographic device. It provides an interface for capturing images from a photographic device referenced through a valid MediaStreamTrack.

Constructor

ImageCapture() Experimental

Creates a new ImageCapture object which can be used to capture still frames (photos) from a given MediaStreamTrack which represents a video stream.

Instance properties

ImageCapture.track Read only Experimental

Returns a reference to the MediaStreamTrack passed to the constructor.

Instance methods

ImageCapture.takePhoto() Experimental

Takes a single exposure using the video capture device sourcing a MediaStreamTrack and returns a Promise that resolves with a Blob containing the data.

ImageCapture.getPhotoCapabilities() Experimental

Returns a Promise that resolves with an object containing the ranges of available configuration options.

ImageCapture.getPhotoSettings() Experimental

Returns a Promise that resolves with an object containing the current photo configuration settings.

ImageCapture.grabFrame() Experimental

Takes a snapshot of the live video in a MediaStreamTrack, returning an ImageBitmap, if successful.

Example

The following code is taken from Chrome's Grab Frame - Take Photo Sample. Since ImageCapture requires some place to capture an image from, the example below starts with a device's media device (in other words a camera).

This example shows, roughly, a MediaStreamTrack extracted from a device's MediaStream. The track is then used to create an ImageCapture object so that takePhoto() and grabFrame() can be called. Finally, it shows how to apply the results of these calls to a canvas object.

js
let imageCapture;

function onGetUserMediaButtonClick() {
  navigator.mediaDevices
    .getUserMedia({ video: true })
    .then((mediaStream) => {
      document.querySelector("video").srcObject = mediaStream;

      const track = mediaStream.getVideoTracks()[0];
      imageCapture = new ImageCapture(track);
    })
    .catch((error) => console.error(error));
}

function onGrabFrameButtonClick() {
  imageCapture
    .grabFrame()
    .then((imageBitmap) => {
      const canvas = document.querySelector("#grabFrameCanvas");
      drawCanvas(canvas, imageBitmap);
    })
    .catch((error) => console.error(error));
}

function onTakePhotoButtonClick() {
  imageCapture
    .takePhoto()
    .then((blob) => createImageBitmap(blob))
    .then((imageBitmap) => {
      const canvas = document.querySelector("#takePhotoCanvas");
      drawCanvas(canvas, imageBitmap);
    })
    .catch((error) => console.error(error));
}

/* Utils */

function drawCanvas(canvas, img) {
  canvas.width = getComputedStyle(canvas).width.split("px")[0];
  canvas.height = getComputedStyle(canvas).height.split("px")[0];
  let ratio = Math.min(canvas.width / img.width, canvas.height / img.height);
  let x = (canvas.width - img.width * ratio) / 2;
  let y = (canvas.height - img.height * ratio) / 2;
  canvas.getContext("2d").clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  canvas
    .getContext("2d")
    .drawImage(
      img,
      0,
      0,
      img.width,
      img.height,
      x,
      y,
      img.width * ratio,
      img.height * ratio,
    );
}

document.querySelector("video").addEventListener("play", () => {
  document.querySelector("#grabFrameButton").disabled = false;
  document.querySelector("#takePhotoButton").disabled = false;
});

Specifications

Specification
MediaStream Image Capture
# imagecaptureapi

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
ImageCapture
Experimental
ImageCapture() constructor
Experimental
getPhotoCapabilities
Experimental
getPhotoSettings
Experimental
grabFrame
Experimental
takePhoto
Experimental
track
Experimental

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Partial support
Partial support
No support
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.
Uses a non-standard name.
Has more compatibility info.