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ffmpeg_image_transport

  • Software
  • Perception
  • Library

A ROS 2 image transport plugin that encodes and decodes camera frames with FFmpeg/libav, such as H.264 and HEVC packets, to stream images across a network.

Made by ros-misc-utilities.

Source on GitHub: github.com/ros-misc-utilities/ffmpeg_image_transport (opens in a new tab). Facts read at commit cd8bf30 (opens in a new tab).

Licenses

Code
Apache-2.0 (opens in a new tab)

Read by Robotheca from LICENSE (opens in a new tab) (Apache-2.0) at commit cd8bf30 (opens in a new tab), on 16 Oct 2026.

Commercial use
Yes

What it does

  • Publisher plugin encodes image frames into FFmpeg compressed packets; subscriber plugin decodes them, so it must be installed on both sides.
  • Supports hardware acceleration such as Nvidia NVENC or VA-API when available, with libx264 as the default CPU encoder.
  • Encoding parameters include encoder choice, encoder options, GOP size, bit rate, quantization limit and pixel format.
  • Subscriber parameters choose decoders per codec and pixel format, and set decoder options and output encoding.
  • Can republish raw images from rosbags as FFmpeg packets, or republish stored FFmpeg packets with full image transport support.
  • Troubleshooting notes cover lag from frame buffering, poor quality settings, and decoder pixel format support.

Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit cd8bf30.

Getting started

Difficulty
Intermediate
Hardware it needs, as the project states it
Continuous integration is tested on Ubuntu running ROS 2 Humble and later distros; hardware acceleration needs supporting hardware such as an Nvidia GPU, but no specific requirements are stated.

Maintenance

Status
Active: a commit in the last 90 days
Newest commit
8 Oct 2026 on master
Latest release
None published on GitHub

Checked on GitHub on 16 Oct 2026.

Links

Robots on Robotheca that use it

No robot on Robotheca is linked to it yet. Links come from a robot's robot.yaml, from its dependency files read as text, or from Robotheca's editors.

Robotheca lists software as a reference: nothing is hosted or run here, and every fact links to where it was read.