How can we make a Live streaming Video Calling App

In this blog, we will do live streaming using the cv2 ie the Computer Vision module in python, and then integrate it with the Socket Programming.

For solving our use case we need a Server and a Client as we already know that Live-streaming would only be possible when the client requests a server and in response, the server responds back to the Client.

we will use Socket Programming in this to fulfill the agenda for the client and server and hence make a Client and Server files wherein the Client gives the IP address and the port number to make the secure connection.

For the Camera live-streaming app over the network, protocols like TCP(Transmission Control Protocol) or IP(Internet Protocol )can be used. This method allows a large piece of information or data which may be in the form of images of burst images to form a video that needs to be transmitted reliably, as it manages how a larger packet is broken into a smaller number of packets to be transmitted and again reassembled in the right order at the destination without losing the property.

Another known network protocol is the UDP (User Datagram Protocol). The use of this protocol is for faster data transmission over a wide network. However, UDP’s drawback is less reliable compared to TCP/IP as there is always the chance of data loss in packets which is not in the TCP protocol (packet drop).

TCP Server functions –
1. using create(), Create a TCP socket.
2. using bind(), bind the socket to the server address.
3. using listen(), but the server socket is in a passive mode, where it waits for the client to approach the server and make a connection
4. using accept(), At this point, the connection is well established between the client and server, and they are ready to transfer data.

TCP Client –
 Create a TCP socket.
 connect the newly created client socket with the server.

Step 1: In this task, we have used socket programming and the CV2 module in python-

CV2 module-
Using the Python-OpenCV module, we can easily transform the image from color to black-white images, from black-white to gray images, or from RGB to Hue Saturation and Value images. Understand Image types and color channels is essential when working with the cv2 module in Python.

As we know that the Images in Python are generally NumPy arrays, and using the cv2 module, we can easily modify the arrays and transform the images into various forms as per our needs.

Socket Programming-
Sockets and their API are used to send messages across a network. They provide a form of inter-process communication between server and client. The network can be a logical, local network direct to the computer, or one that’s physically connected to an external network, with its own connections to other networks. The simplest example is the Internet, which you connect to via your ISP.

Socket programming is a way of connecting two nodes present on a network and having the ability to communicate with each other. One socket(node) always listens to a particular port at an IP, while the other socket then reaches out to the other to form a connection. The server here forms the listener socket while the client reaches out to the server.
They are the real backbones behind web browsing. 

We have created two python files in this i.e. client.py and server.py which are sufficient to build a connection.