Livestreaming Guideline with RICOH THETA Cameras

[DaisukeHohjoh]

About

RICOH often receive inquiries about live streaming feature with using RICOH THETA cameras, so we have compiled the information in this thread.

2026.02.09: New Created.

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Contents

• USB Live Streaming
• Motion JPEG over HTTP
• Wireless LIVE Streaming Plugin
• Other Plugins

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🖥️ USB Live Streaming

Related RICOH360 Blog Posts

• English: Try 360° live streaming with RICOH THETA X!
• Japanese: THETA Xで360度ライブストリーミングにトライしてみよう！

Related YouTube Video

THETA X Spec

• Video

  • Protocol: USB Video Class (UVC) version 1.5
  • Resolution: 3840*1920px 30/15fps, 1920*960px 30/15fps
  • Codec: H.264/AVC, GOP=1 (Intra-only), Bitrate setting is
    • 3840*1920px 30fps: 100Mbps
    • 3840*1920px 15fps: 64Mbps
    • 1920*960px 30fps: 32Mbps
    • 1920*960px 15fps: 16Mbps
  • Image Processing: In-camera stitching algorithm is dynamic stitching, Top-Bottom correction is enabled.
  • Driver/Libraly:
    • 🪟 Windows: RICOH UVC Driver
    • 🍎 Mac can detect RICOH THETA as external camera device without specified driver/library.
    • 🐧 Linux: Libuvc for RICOH THETA

• Audio

  • Protocol: USB Audio Class (UAC) version 2.0
  • Codec: LPCM, 1ch 24bit 48kHz

THETA Z1 and V Spec

• Video

  • Protocol: USB Video Class version (UVC) 1.5
  • Resolution: 3840*1920px 29.97fps, 1920*960px 29.97fps
  • Codec: H.264/AVC, GOP=1 (Intra-only), Bitrate setting is
    • 3840*1920px 29.97fps: 120Mbps
    • 1920*960px 29.97fps: 42Mbps
  • Image Processing: In-camera stitching algorithm is static stitching, Top-Bottom correction is disabled.
  • Driver/Libraly:
    • 🪟 Windows: RICOH UVC Driver
    • 🍎 Mac can detect RICOH THETA as external camera device without specified driver/library.
    • 🐧 Linux: Libuvc for RICOH THETA

• Audio

  • Protocol: USB Audio Class (UAC) version 2.0
  • Codec: LPCM, 4ch 24bit 48kHz

THETA S Spec

• Video
  • Protocol: USB Video Class version (UVC) 1.1
  • Resolution: 1280*720px 15fps
  • Codec: Motion JPEG
  • Image Processing: In-camera stitching is NOT executed. Stitching will be executed by following
  • Driver/Libraly:
    • 🪟 Windows: RICOH UVC Blender
    • 🍎 Mac: RICOH UVC Blender
    • 🐧 Linux: --
  • Remark: THETA S can do livestreaming via HDMI 1.4 too. In this case, available resolution is 1920*1080px 30fps, 1280*720px 30fps.

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📱 Motion JPEG over HTTP

Using the camera.getLivePreview WebAPI command, you can obtain a Motion JPEG (MJPEG) live preview over either a wireless or wired LAN connection. For the supported resolutions and frame rates, refer to the previewFormat option.

{
    "previewFormat": 
    {
        "width": 1920,
        "height": 960,
        "framerate": 8
    } 
}

This feature was originally designed to provide a low‑resolution preview for smartphone applications by issuing a POST request; however, it can also be accessed from a PC or smartphone connected to the same LAN by issuing a GET request from a web browser, with following THETA models.

• THETA A1
• THETA X
• THETA Z1 firmware version 3.50.2 and later

In this case, the HTTP endpoint is getLivePreview . For example, when the THETA is operating in wireless LAN access point (AP) mode, it can be accessed at http://192.168.1.1/getLivePreview .

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🎥 Wireless LIVE Streaming Plugin

Wireless LIVE Streaming Plugin uses the RTMP protocol for streaming to RTMP server such as YouTube LIVE via internet. Also, by setting up an RTMP server within your local LAN and accessing rtmp://192.168..../live from another device on the same LAN, you can receive the stream.

THETA X's display is showing RTMP streaming settings like following;

THETA X Spec

• Video

  • Protocol: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)
  • Resolution: 3840*2160px 30/15fps, 1920*1080px 30/15fps, 1024*576px 30/15fps
  • Codec: H.264/AVC, Bitrate setting is
    • 3840*2160px 30fps: 40/20/10/Mbps
    • 3840*2160px 15fps: 20/10/6/Mbps
    • 1920*1080px 30fps: 16/6/3/Mbps
    • 1920*1080px 15fps: 8/3/1.5/Mbps
    • 1024*576px 30fps: 2/0.85/0.5/Mbps
    • 1024*576px 15fps: 1/0.42/0.25/Mbps
  • Image Processing: In-camera stitching algorithm is dynamic stitching, Top-Bottom correction is enabled.

• Audio

  • Protocol: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)
  • Codec: AAC, 1ch 16bit 48/44.4kHz

THETA Z1 and V Spec

• Video

  • Protocol: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)
  • Resolution: 3840*2160px 30fps, 1920*1080px 30fps, 1024*576px 30fps, 640*360px 30fps
  • Codec: H.264/AVC, Bitrate setting is
    • 3840*2160px 30fps: 40/20/10/Mbps
    • 1920*1080px 30fps: 16/6/3/Mbps
    • 1024*576px 30fps: 2/0.85/0.5/Mbps
    • 640*360px 30fps: 1/0.36/0.25/Mbps
  • Image Processing: In-camera stitching algorithm is static stitching, Top-Bottom correction is disabled.

• Audio

  • Protocol: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)
  • Codec: AAC, 1ch 16bit 48/44.4kHz

Additionally, the source code for this plugin is available on GitHub here, so you can modify any parts you’re interested in and experiment. Please note that installing a custom-developed plugin on the THETA device requires developer registration, so refer to the relevant documentation.

Related RICOH360 Blog Posts

• English: Wireless Live Streaming
• Japanese: Wireless Live Streaming

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🔌 Other Plugins

If you plan to develop your own plugin, there are no restrictions on the streaming protocol—you can implement streaming via WebRTC or RTSP, as some 3rd party developers have done like followings.

• THETA RTSP Streaming
• Infomorph Live
• Infomorph Live X
• HDR Wireless Live Streaming