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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?

#251

Post by mauvehaus »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #67
lmilcin wrote: post #41

If you are looking here to improve your webcam because you started to do remote work, don't. First try to improve lighting and audio. Any camera will look bad in bad lighting. It is always better to first improve your lighting before you invest in a new camera. Use high CRI lightbulbs and ensure even source color temperature in your room (ie. all lightbulbs should be emitting same color temperature). Audio is also ve…

Those are great tips. I'll add a free one: just put your desk in front of a window and use that natural light

Hello from Vermont. How does that help for meetings after, say, 3:30 this time of the year?

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#252

Post by murkt »

dmitri1981 wrote: post #150
jcims wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want something with some depth of field.

Given my limited understanding of photography that is not really possible with small sensor sizes. Phones can achieve that using computational photography, but I don't think it's possible using optics on webcams.

Yes, optical depth-of-field is only possible with reasonably big sensor sizes and wide-open lens.

Reportedly, Huawei P40 Pro has an IMX700 sensor with the 1/1.33" diagonal. I didn't run the numbers for it, but it is big enough that with a bright lens it will produce bokeh.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#253

Post by pembrook »

nbzso wrote: post #246
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…

Early in my career I learned important lesson, there is no point buying displays from other brands than NEC or EIZO. Preferably upper tier products. The exception from this rule was Apple Cinema Display and Some Dell models. EIZO FlexScans are reliable and rarely have any issues. https://www.eizoglobal.com/products/flexscan/index.html

Unfortunately EIZO doesn't produce a single display with the ideal resolution for MacOS.

27" 5k or 22" 4k (4069 x 2304, like the first LG ultrafine was) are the unicorns I am seeking.

Unfortunately the LG ultrafine suffers from image retention/ghosting. So there's ultimately no great displays for Mac outside of the wildly expensive Pro Display XDR.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#254

Post by [deleted] »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #223
baxtr wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahh the LG monitor from the Apple collaboration. It’s so great. So different than other monitors. Stable, reliable, solid. A great product. You can literally see how Apple forced their product tenets on LG. Sadly, it’s not available anymore. I have one in my office but needed another one for home. Ended up buying an LG with the funny name of something 27UKi6716263 that looked similar on amazon. It’s so different... w…

I don't think Apple have dropped it, it's still listed in the UK and here: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMUB2LL/A/lg-ultrafine-5k... I've got one and really like it although it doesn't seem to support HDCP.

[deleted]

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#255

Post by coldtea »

rasz wrote: post #213
coldtea wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So as a budget thingie it'll work, but Elgato's adapter is much better, of course. I saw a video where Elgato Camlink opened up, is just a chinese card repackaged with the Elgato logo, 99% similar internally to the cheap knockoffs. Can't find it again to link it to...

https://wiki.apertus.org/index.php/Elgato_CAM_LINK_4K 8 layer pcb with custom fpga hardware, doesnt look all that cheap chinese knockoff to me

You're right, I watched this youtube video on an expensive brand name item vs several chinese knockoffs and they had the same internals -- but it probably wasn't the Camlink then.

Can't find the video atm, or remember what product it did show, but it was posted in the last 2-3 months and it concerned a similarly on-demand item -- and the "repackaging" brand was respected by creators...

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#256

Post by harha »

I've got the Brio and I'm not impressed by the quality, but then again, it works pretty well out of the box for video calls or general recordings, so I guess it's ok. Not sure if I could have gone much cheaper and still had something that's better than the built-in camera of my laptop.

My first choice would have been a real camera (my mirrorless is a bit too old for 4k and being usable as a web cam over USB) and a real microphone (this was a good investment) and adding an extra EUR 200+ to such a setup would be nicer than the Brio, but when I travel more I'll be happy to have it.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#257

Post by pembrook »

ahelwer wrote: post #227
baxtr wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahh the LG monitor from the Apple collaboration. It’s so great. So different than other monitors. Stable, reliable, solid. A great product. You can literally see how Apple forced their product tenets on LG. Sadly, it’s not available anymore. I have one in my office but needed another one for home. Ended up buying an LG with the funny name of something 27UKi6716263 that looked similar on amazon. It’s so different... w…

I thought it was the exact same as the LG 24UD58-B except with lightning connectors instead of display port and hdmi? That (the non-lightning model) is the monitor I have, it's the smallest (24") 4k monitor I could find - I wanted high DPI, and I got it.

Unfortunately at 3840 x 2160, it's not ideal since in pixel doubled mode (retina), you're only getting the equivalent of a 1080p display.

The 22" LG Ultrafine used to have a 4069 x 2304 resolution. So in pixel doubling mode you actually got more screen real estate than newer 24" 4k models (which are only 3840 × 2160)!

The problem is better described here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/2/20678597/lg-ultrafine-4k-2...

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#258

Post by vetinari »

denimnerd42 wrote: post #28
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 have a similar setup but don't you find the latency to be bad? At least it's not good enough for video calls IMO. It's fine for streaming to an audience or recording.

With random chinese knock-off and GoPro 3, I had a latency of 10-11 frames when doing 60 fps stream.

It was usable for video calls, but I had problems with reliability (old battery in Gopro, and even if it was permanently connected to power source, it charged only when I turned it on -- which usually was when I wanted to have a call).

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#259

Post by bipson »

A good webcam, in my opinion, is a device that provides a decent sound quality (from the article).

Ehm, sure about that metric? Should a webcam not primarily offer good video? And why not having good audio by means of an external microphone in addition to a decent camera?

If that's the primary metric, the rest of the article is flawed.

IMHO the best setup has a dedicated camera and at least one dedicated microphone (Most people streaming use microphones or headsets, don't they? Same for radio-show/podcast hosts.).

Doesn't mean that a webcam can't have a decent microphone, but if you are going the custom route...

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#260

Post by murkt »

ComodoHacker wrote: post #192

>Even if I think that 4k is not needed, I’m pretty sure it’s really a requirement to have in an upmarket webcam, as it will be really hard to sell a pricey webcam that can only do 1080p. 4K is absolutely not needed. You won't be streaming 4K from your home or average office space anyway. Our pipes are just not that fat yet in upstream direction.

Would you buy a webcam with 1080p only (I promise it's good though!) for $250-$300?
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