diff --git a/man/ustreamer.1 b/man/ustreamer.1
index e08bd91..e270e04 100644
--- a/man/ustreamer.1
+++ b/man/ustreamer.1
@@ -112,6 +112,9 @@ It doesn't do anything. Still here for compatibility.
 .BR \-l ", " \-\-slowdown
 Slowdown capturing to 1 FPS or less when no stream or sink clients are connected. Useful to reduce CPU consumption. Default: disabled.
 .TP
+.BR \-\-open\-on\-demand
+Don't open the capture device until at least one stream or sink client is connected, and close it again 3 seconds after the last one disconnects. Clients see a blank screen while the device is closed. Default: disabled.
+.TP
 .BR \-\-device\-timeout\ \fIsec
 Timeout for device querying. Default: 1.
 .TP
diff --git a/src/ustreamer/options.c b/src/ustreamer/options.c
index 8a177ed..88c7c2c 100644
--- a/src/ustreamer/options.c
+++ b/src/ustreamer/options.c
@@ -89,7 +89,8 @@ enum _US_OPT_VALUES {
 
 	// Longs only
 
-	_O_DEVICE_TIMEOUT = 10000,
+	_O_OPEN_ON_DEMAND = 10000,
+	_O_DEVICE_TIMEOUT,
 	_O_DEVICE_ERROR_DELAY,
 	_O_FORMAT_SWAP_RGB,
 	_O_M2M_DEVICE,
@@ -190,6 +191,7 @@ static const struct option _LONG_OPTS[] = {
 	{"blank",					required_argument,	NULL,	_O_BLANK},
 	{"last-as-blank",			required_argument,	NULL,	_O_LAST_AS_BLANK},
 	{"slowdown",				no_argument,		NULL,	_O_SLOWDOWN},
+	{"open-on-demand",			no_argument,		NULL,	_O_OPEN_ON_DEMAND},
 	{"device-timeout",			required_argument,	NULL,	_O_DEVICE_TIMEOUT},
 	{"device-error-delay",		required_argument,	NULL,	_O_DEVICE_ERROR_DELAY},
 	{"m2m-device",				required_argument,	NULL,	_O_M2M_DEVICE},
@@ -453,6 +455,7 @@ int us_options_parse(
 			case _O_BLANK:				break; // Deprecated
 			case _O_LAST_AS_BLANK:		break; // Deprecated
 			case _O_SLOWDOWN:			OPT_SET(stream->slowdown, true);
+			case _O_OPEN_ON_DEMAND:		OPT_SET(stream->open_on_demand, true);
 			case _O_DEVICE_TIMEOUT:		OPT_NUMBER("--device-timeout", cap->timeout, 1, 60, 0);
 			case _O_DEVICE_ERROR_DELAY:	OPT_NUMBER("--device-error-delay", stream->error_delay, 1, 60, 0);
 			case _O_M2M_DEVICE:			OPT_SET(enc->m2m_path, optarg);
@@ -749,6 +752,10 @@ static void _help(
 	SAY("    -K|--last-as-blank <sec>  ──────────── It doesn't do anything. Still here for compatibility.\n");
 	SAY("    -l|--slowdown  ─────────────────────── Slowdown capturing to 1 FPS or less when no stream or sink clients");
 	SAY("                                           are connected. Useful to reduce CPU consumption. Default: disabled.\n");
+	SAY("    --open-on-demand  ──────────────────── Don't open the capture device until at least one stream");
+	SAY("                                           or sink client is connected, and close it again %u seconds", US_ON_DEMAND_CLOSE_DELAY);
+	SAY("                                           after the last one disconnects. Clients see a blank");
+	SAY("                                           screen while the device is closed. Default: disabled.\n");
 	SAY("    --device-timeout <sec>  ────────────── Timeout for device querying. Default: %u.\n", cap->timeout);
 	SAY("    --device-error-delay <sec>  ────────── Delay before trying to connect to the device again");
 	SAY("                                           after an error (timeout for example). Default: %u.\n", stream->error_delay);
diff --git a/src/ustreamer/stream.c b/src/ustreamer/stream.c
index 43a6131..3c7fdbf 100644
--- a/src/ustreamer/stream.c
+++ b/src/ustreamer/stream.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ static void _stream_update_captured_fpsi(us_stream_s *stream, const us_frame_s *
 #ifdef WITH_V4P
 static void _stream_drm_ensure_no_signal(us_stream_s *stream);
 #endif
+static void _stream_publish_blank(us_stream_s *stream, const char *reason);
 static void _stream_expose_jpeg(us_stream_s *stream, const us_frame_s *frame);
 static void _stream_expose_raw(us_stream_s *stream, const us_frame_s *frame);
 static void _stream_encode_expose_h264(us_stream_s *stream, const us_frame_s *frame, bool force_key);
@@ -206,7 +207,23 @@ void us_stream_loop(us_stream_s *stream) {
 		US_LOG_INFO("Capturing ...");
 
 		int has_any_clients_prev = -1;
+		ldf no_clients_since_ts = 0;
 		while (!atomic_load(&run->stop) && !atomic_load(&threads_stop)) {
+			if (stream->open_on_demand) {
+				if (_stream_has_any_clients_cached(stream)) {
+					no_clients_since_ts = 0;
+				} else {
+					const ldf now_ts = us_get_now_monotonic();
+					if (no_clients_since_ts == 0) {
+						no_clients_since_ts = now_ts;
+					} else if (no_clients_since_ts + US_ON_DEMAND_CLOSE_DELAY < now_ts) {
+						US_LOG_INFO("No stream or sink clients found in last %u seconds, closing the device ...",
+							US_ON_DEMAND_CLOSE_DELAY);
+						goto close;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+
 			us_capture_hwbuf_s *hw;
 			switch (us_capture_hwbuf_grab(cap, &hw)) {
 				case 0 ... INT_MAX: break; // Grabbed buffer number
@@ -580,6 +597,23 @@ static int _stream_init_loop(us_stream_s *stream) {
 
 		_stream_check_suicide(stream, _stream_has_any_clients_cached(stream));
 
+		if (stream->open_on_demand && !_stream_has_any_clients_cached(stream)) {
+			US_ONCE({ US_LOG_INFO("Waiting for the stream or sink clients to open the device ..."); });
+			_stream_publish_blank(stream, (
+				"< CAMERA IS IDLE >\n \n"
+				"  The device will  \n \n"
+				"  be opened on the \n \n"
+				"  first client     "
+			));
+			for (uint i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
+				if (atomic_load(&run->stop) || _stream_has_any_clients_cached(stream)) {
+					break;
+				}
+				usleep(100 * 1000);
+			}
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		stream->cap->dma_export = (
 			stream->enc->type == US_ENCODER_TYPE_M2M_VIDEO
 			|| stream->enc->type == US_ENCODER_TYPE_M2M_IMAGE
@@ -659,22 +693,7 @@ static int _stream_init_loop(us_stream_s *stream) {
 			}
 			if (i % 10 == 0) {
 				// Каждую секунду повторяем blank
-				uint width = stream->cap->run->width;
-				uint height = stream->cap->run->height;
-				if (width == 0 || height == 0) {
-					width = stream->cap->width;
-					height = stream->cap->height;
-				}
-				us_blank_draw(run->blank, blank_reason, width, height);
-
-				_stream_update_captured_fpsi(stream, run->blank->raw, false);
-				_stream_expose_jpeg(stream, run->blank->jpeg);
-				_stream_expose_raw(stream, run->blank->raw);
-				_stream_encode_expose_h264(stream, run->blank->raw, true);
-
-#				ifdef WITH_V4P
-				_stream_drm_ensure_no_signal(stream);
-#				endif
+				_stream_publish_blank(stream, blank_reason);
 			}
 			usleep(100 * 1000);
 		}
@@ -720,6 +739,27 @@ close:
 }
 #endif
 
+static void _stream_publish_blank(us_stream_s *stream, const char *reason) {
+	us_stream_runtime_s *const run = stream->run;
+
+	uint width = stream->cap->run->width;
+	uint height = stream->cap->run->height;
+	if (width == 0 || height == 0) {
+		width = stream->cap->width;
+		height = stream->cap->height;
+	}
+	us_blank_draw(run->blank, reason, width, height);
+
+	_stream_update_captured_fpsi(stream, run->blank->raw, false);
+	_stream_expose_jpeg(stream, run->blank->jpeg);
+	_stream_expose_raw(stream, run->blank->raw);
+	_stream_encode_expose_h264(stream, run->blank->raw, true);
+
+#	ifdef WITH_V4P
+	_stream_drm_ensure_no_signal(stream);
+#	endif
+}
+
 static void _stream_expose_jpeg(us_stream_s *stream, const us_frame_s *frame) {
 	us_stream_runtime_s *const run = stream->run;
 
diff --git a/src/ustreamer/stream.h b/src/ustreamer/stream.h
index 9020cf9..7112a23 100644
--- a/src/ustreamer/stream.h
+++ b/src/ustreamer/stream.h
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@
 #include "m2m.h"
 
 
+#define US_ON_DEMAND_CLOSE_DELAY 3u
+
+
 typedef struct {
 #	ifdef WITH_V4P
 	atomic_bool		drm_live;
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@ typedef struct {
 	uint			desired_fps;
 	bool			notify_parent;
 	bool			slowdown;
+	bool			open_on_demand;
 	uint			error_delay;
 	bool			exit_on_device_error;
 	uint			exit_on_no_clients;