Servers contain COM objects, which will be loaded and given to clients on-demand. The fact that COM has servers and clients is another notable point. This means that many components can interact, while being located in different processes or even on different machines.

What matters here is that COM objects are using interfaces to connect between each other and binary standardized interfaces only. It has a very extensive, almost bloated documentation. This means that COM could potentially be implemented on any platform. DirectShow Overview Brief summary of component object modelĬOM is a binary-interface standard for software components developed by Microsoft. Services are just custom implementations for streaming services which are used in conjunction with outputs for that particular service.įor any plugin, to implement a corresponding object, you need to define a particular structure and fill it out with information and callbacks related to your plugin. Outputs allow to output rendered video and audio in the forms of raw or encoded data. Encoders are obviously encoders of video and audio data, implemented specifically for OBS. Sources are used to render video and audio. Plugins could be made for four types of modules: sources, outputs, encoders, and services. OBS has extensive documentation including module API reference.

Thus, DirectShow is the only remaining option. Windows 11 API allows this, but it is available only for the aforementioned operating system and is not as widespread as the alternative ones. Media Foundation lacks a method to add virtual camera that could be discovered naturally, in the same way as other (non-virtual) devices. Usually, the most recent technology is a go-to option, but not in the current circumstances. The real choice has always been between the old DirectShow and the new Media Foundation. Most often, there are three options available: Video for Windows, DirectShow, and Media Foundation, but DirectShow normally wins over the other options. In development of any standardized media application for Windows one faces the choice of media back-end. The purpose of this article is to break down the work of OBS virtual camera for Windows operating system. How does OBS virtual camera plugin work on Windows?

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