as of now, i have a snapshot from the front Amcrest camera sent to my Telegram whenever someone rings the doorbell. took many help from everyone here to get it working.
now, im curious if i can get it working whenever i am at home with the Nvidia connected to the TV. so when the doorbell rings, Nvidia Shield will turn on the TV showing a snapshot…or even better a live streaming from the front door camera. is this even possible???
I use Kodi with Plex integration as my home theater app. Kodi supports RTSP streaming and with HA integration to Kodi, Samsung TV and my Ring doorbell - I can open a live RTSP stream from my front door Hikvision IP camera when the door bell rings. Here’s my automation:
- alias: Play front door cam stream on family room tv when doorbell rings
trigger:
platform: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door_ding
to: 'on'
condition:
condition: state
entity_id: media_player.samsung_un55ks8000
state: 'on'
action:
service: script.turn_on
entity_id: script.kodi_play_frontdoor_cam_stream_family_room
kodi_play_frontdoor_cam_stream_family_room:
alias: Kodi Play FrontDoor Cam Stream Family Room
sequence:
- service: kodi.call_method
data:
entity_id: media_player.family_room_kodi
method: Player.Open
item:
file: "smb://mediaserver3.my.domain/cams/FrontDoorOut.strm"
options:
resume: True
Here’s the result when the doorbell rings:
I’m not familiar with the Nvidia Shield to advise on that - but if there’s an app that supports RTSP or a streaming protocol that your Amcrest supports - it might be a good place to start.
btw - Kodi is supported on the Nvidia Shield…if you want to go that way 
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yes, i have Kodi installed on the Shield.
i just tried your method but it didnt work. i wonder if it’s my syntax somewhere.
entity_id: media_player.shield_2
method: Player.Open
item:
file: "rtsp://admin:[email protected]:554"
i know rtsp://admin:[email protected]:554 works fine because my VLC was able to open the streamI should have mentioned this in my post:
Create a text file with the .strm extension with your rtsp url as the file’s content. Then call the .strm file with full path using the Player Open File method as I did. My file is on a NAS and that’s why the SMB location url.
Do you have to be actively watching the kodi app on the TV or can you switch the tv source to kodi before you stream the file?
No you don’t have to be actively watching the kodi app. But, yes, you have to switch the TV source to Kodi before you invoke the stream to be able to see it. In my case, Kodi is always open and the TV source is always on the Kodi app - but I only invoke the stream if the TV is turned on.
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I’ve Kodi running on a Pi (LibreElec) and I use a HA switch to ssh into it and change source, maybe there’s a way of doing similar with a Shield.
You have to share ssh keys from your HA install to your Shield / Pi.
## Big TV HDMI switch to Pi
- platform: command_line
switches:
big_tv_hdmi_switch:
command_on: ssh -i /config/ssh/id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] 'echo "as" | cec-client -s'
command_off: ssh -i /config/ssh/id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] 'echo "is" | cec-client -s'
friendly_name: Big TV HDMI switch
“as” = active source, “is” = inactive source.
Then I call a script:
## Security Cams on TV
security_cams_on_sitting_tv:
alias: Display Security Cams on Big TV
sequence:
- service: kodi.call_method
data:
entity_id: media_player.sitting_pi
method: Player.Open
item:
file: "/storage/streams/cam1.strm"
- service: switch.turn_on
entity_id: switch.big_tv_hdmi_switch
im thoroughly confused unfortunately.
in Dev tools/Services, i am able to turn on the Shield and it turns on the TV with Kodi ready (waiting for me to pick files on the USB drive for instance).
now i am stuck at how to have Kodi auto play the RTSP stream.
i have the RTSP url in www folder in front_cam.strm but calling the service does nothing. is there something wrong with my syntax?
Your syntax looks correct.
If your file path and the rtsp stream url are correct - kodi should play it. My rtsp url looks like this for my Hikvision cam:
rtsp://username:password@ip_address_of_camera:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0?tcp
You can also check the kodi logs to see if there are any errors after you call the service.
i got this error:
Run API method media_player.kodi.Player.Open({‘item’: {‘file’: ‘www/front_cam.strm’}}) error: {‘code’: -32602, ‘message’: ‘Invalid params.’}
i wonder if i have to install some prerequisites for this to work.
What’s the exact path or location of the strm file?
inside the config/www folder:
The strm file needs to be in a location that Kodi can access locally or on a network storage. Remember that HA is not playing the stream…it is invoking Kodi to play the stream. If Kodi can play a video or audio file from a location it will be able to play the strm file as well.
yes!!! i understand now am happy to say i got it working now in Dev tools/Services.
now to write a script for it. this is the first time using a script since i have always used the GUI for automation.
thanks so much!
you’re welcome…glad you got it working …good luck 
Is there a thread where you posted how to do this.
If not can you post how it was done. It seems that I have a similar setup.
Thanks
What is it exactly you want to do? Be specific and give more details please - so we can help.
As tung256 stated in the first post…
I too would like to get a snapshot from the front Amcrest camera sent to my Telegram whenever someone rings the doorbell.
I have looked for the original post but do can’t seem to find it.
How do I send my Amcrest doorbell image to Telegram.
Thanks
I do something similar with my Hikvision driveway camera and a Pushover notification to my phone with a camera snapshot attached when mail arrives at my mailbox. The trigger is motion from a motion sensor placed inside the mailbox:
configuration.yaml code for Pushover integration:
# Pushover Notify
notify:
- name: pushover
platform: pushover
api_key: !secret pushover_api_key
user_key: !secret pushover_user_key
generic camera integration for still image:
- platform: generic
name: Driveway Camera
still_image_url: http://camera.ip.address/Streaming/channels/1/picture
username: !secret hikvision_username
password: !secret hikvision_password
authentication: basic
Automation to take snapshot and store file as well as to send Pushover notification with attachment:
- alias: Notify on Pushover when mailbox is opened
trigger:
platform: state
entity_id: binary_sensor.mailbox_motion_contact
to: 'on'
action:
- service: camera.snapshot
data:
entity_id: camera.driveway_camera
filename: '/config/www/pictures/latest_mailbox.jpg'
- delay: '00:00:05'
- service: notify.pushover
data:
message: "The mailbox was opened"
title: "You have mail"
data:
attachment: '/config/www/pictures/latest_mailbox.jpg'
priority: 1
Resulting notification on phone:
Hope this helps. You will have to find out your Amcrest URL for a still image. The Telegram integration is documented here:
2 Likes
in my config.yaml, i have:
amcrest:
- host: 192.168.1.147
username: admin
password: my password
in automation.yaml, i have:
- id: '1579721342697'
alias: alert doorbell send telegram front amcrest camear photo
description: ''
trigger:
- entity_id: sensor.doorbell
platform: state
to: Ding
condition: []
action:
- data:
authentication: digest
password: password of my amcrest camera
target: 54my telegram
url: http://192.168.1.147/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi
username: admin
service: telegram_bot.send_photo
1 Like