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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?

#281

Post by soylentcola »

bserge wrote: post #170
Hamuko wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't there a chance that the assembled Chinese monitors actually use second grade panels that the big makers wouldn't accept? I remember getting a 27-inch 1440p display from a Chinese manufacturer for really cheap back in high school. It should've been the exact same panel as was in Apple's iMacs. However, the were some quality issues with it long term and it's definitely suffering from burn-in that I don't think th…

That was the case with noname Korean/Chinese monitors a decade ago that used high quality IPS panels found in Apple and other professional displays - they used rejected panels, which had various issues (mostly dead pixels afaik). https://techreport.com/review/23291/those-27-inch-ips-displa... But overall, they were a great purchase quality/performance/cost wise.

Yep! Still using the "Auria" monitor that I purchased at Microcenter back around 2012. Cost maybe $300-350 for a 2560x1440 IPS monitor at a time when you were easily looking at $500-800+ for a similar panel from a name brand.

Now, if you were a professional, that quality control and warranty (not to mention better ergonomics, etc.) were easily worth the added cost, but for just "some dude who liked playing video games and doing some photo/video editing", it was a great bang for the buck.

I still use this as my main monitor and haven't noticed any dead pixels (if there are any, they're so hard to see that they may as well not be there). It's not the best monitor out there and you can probably get a better 2560x1440 display for less now, but at the time it was a big improvement over the cheap 1920x1080 display that quickly got demoted to secondary (and has now been loaned indefinitely to a teacher friend who needed a second monitor to plug into her laptop for online classes).

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#282

Post by unnouinceput »

Wasn't here on HN like a month ago an article how to setup a Raspberry Pi as an USB camera? With everything in it (software on github, BoM, wiring/PCB. Can't find it now.

The price would be around $200 sans good audio, not that it matter anyway since in a conference I always ask for headsets. Also the setup was so good that the RPi would've been recognized as an USB camera by another RPi directly - plug'n'play.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#283

Post by xwdv »

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…

It doesn’t matter, you can have the best lighting and audio ever and still look like a garbled piece of stuttering pixel shit on an end user’s machine because their connection can’t handle the streaming. Unless you’re a cam girl don’t even bother with a sophisticated webcam setup.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#284

Post by aembleton »

yarcob wrote: post #245
lmilcin wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am using two Ikea Skurup lamps ( https://www.ikea.com/pl/pl/p/skurup-lampa-stolowa-kinkiet-go... ) directly above and in front of my monitors, just outside of reach of webcam. Soft lighting is a result of geometry. You can use very huge source far away from you or smaller but very close. You also need to pay attention to how the light is scattered and that the direct light is not shining on your face. I have asked…

4x 5W LED isn't really a lot of light, especially if you are diffusing it. If your webcam can work with that, it's not that bad :) Edit: I just read your comment again and realized that you are putting the light really close to your face. I guess that's a way to get away with low power lights.

My whole office only has a single 5W LED lamp! I thought that was enough.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#285

Post by soylentcola »

augustk wrote: post #124
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…

Another thing I find really annoying is when I browse a website and first have to choose a product line when I don't even know what the difference between the product lines are.

Right? Like "is this for home use, office use, or gaming?"

I guess I understand where they're coming from, when most potential customers would likely glaze over and click away if presented with a long list of specs and product numbers.

Still, it's always nice when they at least have a "show all products" link that takes me to exactly that. I want a full list that can be narrowed down with filters.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#287

Post by bambax »

marcosscriven wrote: post #233
bambax wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying "pro" entry-level photographic lightning equipment is about the same cost and much simpler to set up.

Can you recommend a good brand? I tried buying something from Amazon UK but contrary to reviews it turned out to be awful.

Good brands are expensive but I have had some luck with Neewer, a cheap Chinese brand. Stands are usually flimsy but if you can you should buy wall mounting arms for either your walls or your ceiling; it also preserves floor space.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#288

Post by pembrook »

manderley wrote: post #272
pembrook wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why are those "the ideal resolution for mac os", exactly?

For reference, the 16” MacBook Pro has a 3072‑by‑1920 display.

This means the 27” 4K monitors that are the industry standard now for some reason at 3,840 x 2,160 are almost twice the size, yet have barely more resolution than the MacBook true retina screen.

MacOS can do scaling to adjust for this, but it uses the least amount of resources in native or pixel doubled mode. Any display that is between the resolutions I mentioned (like 27 4K) requires fractional scaling.

This is more resource intensive, and doesn’t look as good as pure retina.

Here’s a better explanation: https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#289

Post by [deleted] »

gambiting wrote: post #187
muro wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dell sells good monitors.

Yeah, no. I have a 25" UltraSharp from them and it has a "fun" bug where it advertises to the system that it refreshes at 59.95hz but in fact refreshes at exactly 60hz, which leads to the monitor(!!!) Freezing for a frame every 20 seconds or so, it's absolutely infuriating in games and movies, and I only found out how to fix it by modifying windows drivers and forcing it to refresh at solid 60hz despite what the moni…

[deleted]

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#290

Post by rzwitserloot »

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…

> The lazy conglomerates who sell these peripherals often don’t actually produce the parts in them

> Combine this with the fact that most home users don’t care about good quality or even know what it is, and you have the current situation.

It sounds apt. But... There is an absolutely thriving market for keyboards and mice.

For both, conglomerates like logitech and microsoft are selling both what you describe as 'crap', as well as higher end stuff that tries to care about quality. Possibly not in the way you think is most important, but certainly a Logitech MX Master3 keyboard retailing at >$100 is not a cheap piece of crap. The letters aren't inked on, for example, thus ensuring they don't rub off particularly easily. Not a feature that is advertised or is likely to show up in a review. The kind of quality move that doesn't make sense if the market is just 'assholes selling crap to idiots'.

Keyboards are even more interesting; a lively indie market for custom-built usually mechanical keyboards, supported by parts manufacturers where price isn't particularly important.

I agree, though - the webcam market is quite a mess. So, what's the explanation for that? Why do keyboards and mice not fall under your 'assholes selling crap to idiots' rule?

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