Stream images from files with controllable timing

Use This When

• Testing vision pipelines with static images for reproducible debugging
• Creating batch processing workflows for offline image analysis
• Building slide shows or image galleries with timed playback
• Developing vision models where file-based input simplifies dataset iteration

What It Does

• Loads images from configured directory in lexicographic order and streams as Image messages
• Supports optional resizing to target width/height using OpenCV interpolation
• Controls playback timing with configurable FPS parameter for rate-limited streaming
• Enables looping playback with repeat flag for continuous testing or demos

Works Best With

• This component → detect-objects → classification pipelines for offline evaluation
• Image datasets → this component → visualize for quality inspection workflows
• Integration with tracking or pose estimation for batch analysis
• Testing scenarios where timing control prevents overwhelming downstream components

Caveats

• Reads all files in image_path directory sorted lexicographically; ensure only desired images present
• FPS timing uses sleep which may drift over long sequences; not frame-accurate
• Mutable config allows live path changes but may cause frame order discontinuities
• Repeat mode loops indefinitely; disable for one-pass batch processing