Opencv imshow() freezes when updating

Question

For my image processing algorithm I\'m using python / OpenCV. The output of my algorithm shall be updated im the same window over and over again.

However sometimes

Answer 1

You can use while loop to take burst images without freezing. Here is an example for taking 10 images. You can also try to increase waitkey number and sleep time in while loop. This work for me.

key = cv2.waitKey(1)
webcam = cv2.VideoCapture(0)
sleep(1)

while True:

    try:
        check, frame = webcam.read()
        cv2.imshow("Capturing", frame)
        key = cv2.waitKey(1)

        img_counter = 0

        if key & 0xFF == ord('s'): #press s to take images
            while img_counter < 10:
                check, frame = webcam.read()
                cv2.imshow("Capturing", frame)
                key = cv2.waitKey(1)
                path = 'F:/Projects/' #folder path to save burst images
                img_name = "burst_{}.png".format(img_counter)
                cv2.imwrite(os.path.join(path, img_name), img=frame)
                print("Processing image...")
                img_ = cv2.imread(img_name, cv2.IMREAD_ANYCOLOR) #save as RGB color format
                print("{} written!".format(img_name))
                img_counter += 1
                sleep(0.2)
            webcam.release()
            cv2.destroyAllWindows()
            break

        elif key == ord('q'): #press q to quit without taking images
            webcam.release()
            cv2.destroyAllWindows()
            break

    except(KeyboardInterrupt):
        print("Turning off camera.")
        webcam.release()
        print("Camera off.")
        print("Program ended.")
        cv2.destroyAllWindows()
        break