title: Streaming IP Camera solutions that do not require a computer?
body: <p>I want to embed a video stream into my web page, which is part of our own cloud based software. The video should be low-latency (like video conferencing), and it would be preferable, but not required, for it to include audio. I am comfortable serving streaming binary data from the server-side, and embedding it into the page using HTML5 video.</p>
  
  <p>What I am not comfortable with is the ability to capture the video data to begin with. The client does not already have a solution in place, and is looking to us for assistance. The video would be routed through our server equipment, and not be an embedded peice that connects directly to the video source.</p>
  
  <p>It is a known quantity for us to use a USB or built-in camera from the computer. What I would like more information is about stand-alone cameras.</p>
  
  <p>Some models of cameras have their own API documentation <a href="http://www.paillassou.com/DCS-2121/CGI_2121.pdf" rel="nofollow">(example)</a>. It would seem from what I am reading that a manufacturer would typically have their own API which they repeat on many or all of their models, and that each manufacturer would be different in their API. However, I have only done surface reading and hope to gain more knowledge from someone who has already researched this, or perhaps even had first hand experience.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Do stand-alone cameras generally include an API? (Wouldn't this is a common requirement, so that security software can use multiple lines of cameras?) Or if not an API, how is the data retrieved from the on-board webserver? Is it usually flash based? Perhaps there is a re-useable video stream I could capture from there? Or is the stream formatting usually diverse?</p>
  
  <p>What would I run into when trying to get the server-side to capture that data?</p></li>
  <li><p>How does latency on a stand-alone device compare with a USB camera solution?</p></li>
  <li><p>Do you have tips on picking out a stand-alone camera that would be a good fit for streaming through a server?</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I am experienced at using JavaScript (both HTML5 and Node.JS), Perl and Java.</p>