libcamera

libcamera is an open-source camera stack for Linux-based systems that provides a unified user-space API and a set of applications to simplify capturing images and video from cameras across embedded and desktop environments. The project aims to standardize camera access and offer a modern, extensible alternative to legacy, V4L2-centric pipelines.

Architecturally, libcamera includes a core library (libcamera) that models camera devices, streams, buffers, and controls; a collection of user-space tools and examples (the libcamera-apps) for capturing stills and video; and various backends that interface with kernel drivers via the Linux kernel’s media controller API and V4L2. The media controller graph represents the device topology (sensor, CSI bridge, ISP, and other components), and libcamera coordinates asynchronous, request-based streaming and control handling.

Libcamera supports multi-camera configurations, multiple image formats (including RAW and processed outputs), and a range of controls such as exposure, white balance, and focus. It is designed to be portable across Linux-supported hardware and is actively used on embedded systems, with community integration for platforms like Raspberry Pi.

The project is maintained by the Linux camera stack community and ongoing contributors, emphasizing a vendor-agnostic interface and extensible architecture. It is released under the Apache License 2.0.