Cross thread operation not valid while using EmguCV

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Hello,

I am developing an application using EmguCV. I wanto to take frames from 2 seperate webcams and display them in 2 seperate pictureboxes. I use a backgroundworker to make the operation, but when i try to update pictureboxes i get "Cross thread operation..." error. How can i handle this problem? Here a part of my code:

C#

private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {
            Capture cam = new Capture(1);
            Capture cap1 = new Capture(0);
          
            Bitmap b;
            Bitmap b1;

            while (cam.Grab())
            {
                using (b = cam.QuerySmallFrame().ToBitmap())
                using (b1 = cam1.QuerySmallFrame().ToBitmap())
                {
                    pictureBox1.Image = b;
                    pictureBox2.Image = b1;
                    this.Refresh();
                }

            }
        }

 private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
        }

Posted 20-Nov-14 2:12am

Çağrı Daşkın

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Herman<T>.Instance 20-Nov-14 9:54am

read more about the use of BackGroundWorker. It works in another thread then the thread that shows the pictureboxes. You need ProcessChanged event to update the controls: See here

Çağrı Daşkın 20-Nov-14 10:12am

Thank you for your quick response.

BillWoodruff 20-Nov-14 10:00am

I wonder why you are not asking this on an EMGU forum: this question involves detailed knowledge of the software interface to multiple hardware devices.

Çağrı Daşkın 20-Nov-14 10:14am

No, this is not a specific Emgu problem. This is about general cross threading subject.

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mikanu · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-20T05:25:00

Essentially, your problem is right here:

C#

pictureBox1.Image = b;
pictureBox2.Image = b1;
this.Refresh();

These are UI interactions and the WinFroms model dictates that all UI operations must execute on the UI thread.

Fortunately, fixing the code is relatively easy. You need to queue a delegate to update the UI on the main thread using the BeginInvoke(..) method.

C#

this.BeginInvoke((Action)delegate {
   pictureBox1.Image = b;
   pictureBox2.Image = b1;
});

When you want to execute code on the UI thread, you have two options:

- synchronous: queue a delegate and wait for it to be fully executed (using the Invoke(..) method,
- asynchronous: queue the delegate and resume processing immediately, without waiting for the delegate to finish executing (or event to start) (using the BeginInvoke(..))

Which method you choose depends on your needs but in your case the asynchronous option is most likely the right one since you don't care about the result of updating the picture boxes, and you want to resume capturing as soon as possible.

Also, the this.Refresh() call is not necessary because once you update the picture boxes they will automatically refresh the UI.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-20T07:42:00

In addition to Solution 1:

Most likely, you need to use Invoke, not BeginInvoke. Some background:

You cannot call anything related to UI from non-UI thread. Instead, you need to use the method Invoke or BeginInvoke of System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher (for both Forms or WPF) or System.Windows.Forms.Control (Forms only).

You will find detailed explanation of how it works and code samples in my past answers:
Control.Invoke() vs. Control.BeginInvoke()[^],
Problem with Treeview Scanner And MD5[^].

See also more references on threading:
.NET event on main thread[^],
How to get a keydown event to operate on a different thread in vb.net[^],
Control events not firing after enable disable + multithreading[^].

—SA

mikanu · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-28T09:11:00

Aside from the Invoke and BeginInvoke topics covered in the previous answer, I'd like to add another possible method of implementing the updating of the captured images on the UI.

The idea is to let the capture thread capture as fast as possible and let the UI thread updated the UI only when it needs to, based on a timer that runs at a controlled refresh rate of approx. 25 frames per second. The UI update frame rate can then be adjusted independent of the camera capture rate.

C#

// object that will be used to synchronize UI & capture thread
private Object syncRoot = new Object();
// two Bitmap resources that will hold the most recent captured image
private Bitmap lastBitmap1;
private Bitmap lastBitmap2;
// a timer that will run on the UI thread, to update the UI periodically
private System.Windows.Forms.Timer uiUpdateTimer;

// this method needs to be called on form load
private void InitUITimer()
{
    uiUpdateTimer = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
    // run every 40 ms (25 frames / second)
    uiUpdateTimer.Interval = 40;  
    uiUpdateTimer.Tick += uiUpdateTimer_TickHandler;
    uiUpdateTimer.Start();
}

private void uiUpdateTimer_TickHandler(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   lock(syncRoot)
   {
       if(lastBitmap1 != null) pictureBox1.Image = lastBitamp1;
       if(lastBitmap2 != null) pictureBox2.Image = lastBitamp2;
   }
}
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
    Capture cam = new Capture(1);
    Capture cap1 = new Capture(0);
          
    while (cam.Grab())
    {         
       Bitmap b1 = cam.QuerySmallFrame().ToBitmap();
       Bitmap b2 = cam1.QuerySmallFrame().ToBitmap();
       lock(syncRoot)
       {
          if(lastBitmap1 != null) lastBitamp1.Dispose();
          lastBitmap1 = b1;
          if(lastBitmap2 != null) lastBitamp2.Dispose();
          lastBitmap2 = b2;
       }
    }
}

Cross thread operation not valid while using EmguCV

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