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Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

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Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#111

Post by pintxo »

blablabla123 wrote: post #66
pembrook wrote: post #40

The reason you can’t buy a good webcam is the same reason you can’t buy a high quality monitor outside of LG’s unreliable apple collab. The lazy conglomerates who sell these peripherals often don’t actually produce the parts in them. They simply rebrand commodity cameras and IPS panels in a crap plastic housing and slap their logo on it. Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GR…

That seems a bit drastic but I agree with the sentiment and would also include laptops. Maybe I'm wrong since I didn't check all hardware but Apple still seem to be the only ones that have rigid quality controls, make sure parallel parts are parallel, mechanical parts stand a reasonable amount of movements. (At least as long they are not testing a new "innovation" like butterfly keyboards... ;)) That said, I buy stuf…

I have had success with focusing on the Lenovo/Thinkpad T range. The X range seems also to be ok.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#112

Post by fluffy87 »

mattowen_uk wrote: post #20

I've also investigated this quite deeply. As I'm sure most of us know, the main problems with 'webcams', either the built-in ones or USB ones that you perch on top of your monitor, are the lens size, and the CCD/CMOS image sensor size. Manufacturers spouting specs like '4k' are deliberately misleading the public if the sensor and/or the lens aren't also upgraded. The only cost-viable methods to get 'broadcast quality…

I hooked a gopro this way. Their new drivers support using them as Webcams on macos and windows.

Beer Webcam I’ve ever had.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#113

Post by roel_v »

The premise of this article is nonsense. Get a Logitech Brio and a Blue Yeti boom mic and you'll be so far ahead of the average Zoomer that people will make comments on how good your picture looks and sound sounds. If you want to take it up a notch still, mix it all through OBS and use a stream deck to control screen share transitions. You'll look like a wizard after some practise.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#114

Post by omegote »

knazarov wrote: post #70

There is actually a good webcam now. It's AverMedia PW513. It has a Sony Exmor 4K sensor, and generally favorable reviews.

Wow it's been many years since I last heard about AverMedia. I used to have an AverMedia AverTV capture card back in WinXP times, and it worked really well with composite video input from my Handycam lol.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#115

Post by Aldipower »

muro wrote: post #75
pembrook wrote: post #40

The reason you can’t buy a good webcam is the same reason you can’t buy a high quality monitor outside of LG’s unreliable apple collab. The lazy conglomerates who sell these peripherals often don’t actually produce the parts in them. They simply rebrand commodity cameras and IPS panels in a crap plastic housing and slap their logo on it. Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GR…

Dell sells good monitors.

I fell into this trap. Now I own a very bad Dell monitor. :(

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#116

Post by einpoklum »

grenoire wrote: post #96
avian wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GRT46782-WT” as an extra f-you to the user. That is also a strategy to prevent product comparisons and unbiased reviews. They quickly cycle through product names and sell a certain product no. only in a limited geographical area. Doesn't matter if a consumer org/magazine/someone on reddit/your friend/etc. does a review. The product will b…

The geo-locking of model numbers is one of the vilest practices I've seen. I don't see it going away for any reason, it'll only be possible to combat by intl. legislation... but how do you even legislate that?

Legislation can mandate the conspicuous publication of a clear indication of the difference between models.

Now, companies can of course lie about this, in theory, but that's a bit like car manufacturers lying w.r.t. emission tests - possible, but you tend to get caught (cf. the recent Volkswagen case) so it's probably not worth it.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#117

Post by mkl »

You can. I did: a Logitech BRIO 4k. I used it mainly as a document camera to deliver lectures from home. I should now probably avoid using fingerprint reader unlock systems, as you could probably pretty easily get my fingerprints from frames in the video (Mythbusters demonstrated even a printout can work). That will be a good enough webcam for years to come, though I expect my next DSLR upgrade to provide a whole other class of option at some point.

Relying on the mics built into a webcam seems pretty silly, though.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#118

Post by gaudat »

pembrook wrote: post #40

The reason you can’t buy a good webcam is the same reason you can’t buy a high quality monitor outside of LG’s unreliable apple collab. The lazy conglomerates who sell these peripherals often don’t actually produce the parts in them. They simply rebrand commodity cameras and IPS panels in a crap plastic housing and slap their logo on it. Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GR…

Tip: try to find out what panel the monitor you are buying has. Then look the panel up in a database like panelook.com. This way you can get the specifications without any marketing bullshit.

It also works the other way round. Find a panel that is good enough for your eyes, then see if there's a mass marketed display with that panel. If you are adventurous, you can grab "DIY" or "assembled" monitors with the panels on Chinese e-Commerce sites.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#119

Post by arvindamirtaa »

gaudat wrote: post #118
pembrook wrote: post #40

The reason you can’t buy a good webcam is the same reason you can’t buy a high quality monitor outside of LG’s unreliable apple collab. The lazy conglomerates who sell these peripherals often don’t actually produce the parts in them. They simply rebrand commodity cameras and IPS panels in a crap plastic housing and slap their logo on it. Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GR…

Tip: try to find out what panel the monitor you are buying has. Then look the panel up in a database like panelook.com. This way you can get the specifications without any marketing bullshit. It also works the other way round. Find a panel that is good enough for your eyes, then see if there's a mass marketed display with that panel. If you are adventurous, you can grab "DIY" or "assembled" monitors with the panels o…

Wow I'll never shop for monitors the same again.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#120

Post by TulliusCicero »

pembrook wrote: post #103
muro wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dell sells good monitors.

Dell used to have good offerings, but all they seem to push now is the same 27” not-quite-4K 3,840 x 2,160 panels everybody else does. Now even the 22" inch LG ultrafine that used to be 4069 x 2304 is bigger at 24" and a worse 3,840 x 2,160. The only good option for mac is the 27 ultrafine 5k. 27 4k a bad size & resolution for the current computer market. Windows scaling looks like crap, and MacOS has to do more reso…

> not-quite-4K 3,840 x 2,160

But...that is 4K. It's what 4K is defined as, exactly 2x 1080p resolution in each dimension.

> Windows scaling looks like crap

I don't understand. 2x each dimension (so 1 pixel in the old resolution is 4 in the new) is, like, the easiest possible scenario when it comes to scaling in software.

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