What’s New in Kapal
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who has given Kapal a shot. Building this has been a labor of love, and seeing others find it useful really keeps me going.
This update brings several new features to help you keep an eye on your home:
- High-Quality HLS Streaming: I’ve introduced support for high-quality video via go2rtc. Please note that for this to work, you’ll need to have go2rtc streams configured in your Frigate server. If you’re unsure how to set that up, the Frigate documentation is a great place to start.
- Performance vs. Quality: You’ll now find a new "Stream Mode" toggle in settings. Choose "Quality" for a crisp, high-definition HLS feed, or "Performance" for a lower-latency MJPEG stream that loads nearly instantly.
- Birdseye Support: Birdseye is finally here. You can now view your composite feed directly in the Live tab. I’ve also included sizing options so you can set it to "Large" if you want it to act as a full-width hero card at the top of your grid.
- System Stats: A brand new System tab is now available, allowing you to monitor your Frigate server’s health, storage usage, and detector performance in real-time.
- Automatic Stream Recovery: If a high-definition stream isn't supported by your hardware (which can happen with certain H.265 formats), Kapal is now smart enough to automatically cycle through your available feeds until it finds a usable stream so you aren't left with a black screen.
Note: To get the most out of the new Birdseye features, please ensure you have 'restream: True' enabled in your Frigate config.
I’m still working hard to make this the best experience possible, so if you have any questions, feedback, or just want to report a bug, please reach out at hey@judeworks.app. I’d love to hear from you!