JadeKnight
01-28-2009, 10:38 AM
Does anyone have any recommendations for a really small webcam that performs well with indoor lighting, and still gets ~30fps (preferably at 640x480, or higher)?
Reson being, I just picked up a small $15 webcam to prototype the vision on my project, and the performance is barely useable (probably why it was so cheap :p).
It has three 'no flicker' settings - Outdoors, 50Hz, and 60Hz. I tested it indoors, with normal indoor lighting (no spotlights or anything).
'Outdoors' - The image is almost completely black, even with all the lighting/brightness controls cranked up. I do get a clean 30fps, though. If I closely aim it at the PC monitor it shows that image fine, just not any other objects in the room. Apparently too little light for the camera/mode...
If I set it to '50Hz', objects are clearly visible, but the fps is around 6-7 (not really good for any motion, massive blurring).
If I set it to '60Hz', objects again are clearly visible, but the fps is around 4-5 (even worse for motion).
That is the only setting that seem to majorly affect the lighting/performance. The rest of them I tweaked had minimal impact (most options slowed the fps down even further). Resolution between 160x120 and 640x480 did not have any significant changes to the fps.
To confirm the FPS, I tested it both in my own program, and using captured video with the included app.
Reson being, I just picked up a small $15 webcam to prototype the vision on my project, and the performance is barely useable (probably why it was so cheap :p).
It has three 'no flicker' settings - Outdoors, 50Hz, and 60Hz. I tested it indoors, with normal indoor lighting (no spotlights or anything).
'Outdoors' - The image is almost completely black, even with all the lighting/brightness controls cranked up. I do get a clean 30fps, though. If I closely aim it at the PC monitor it shows that image fine, just not any other objects in the room. Apparently too little light for the camera/mode...
If I set it to '50Hz', objects are clearly visible, but the fps is around 6-7 (not really good for any motion, massive blurring).
If I set it to '60Hz', objects again are clearly visible, but the fps is around 4-5 (even worse for motion).
That is the only setting that seem to majorly affect the lighting/performance. The rest of them I tweaked had minimal impact (most options slowed the fps down even further). Resolution between 160x120 and 640x480 did not have any significant changes to the fps.
To confirm the FPS, I tested it both in my own program, and using captured video with the included app.