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Why webcams aren’t good enough

reincubate.com

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Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#121

Post by kube-system »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #109

Just the other day a user in my problem validation platform posted 'Make entry level webcam better'[1], the main gripe being 10 year old Logitech C270 still being sold at a higher price while improvements in smartphone cameras are being made every 6 months. Posts like these seems to confirm that there's a real need gap for a good quality webcam. Any of you working on solving this? or have ideas? [1] https://needgap.c…

Why does that validate the idea that people need a better quality camera? If anything, I feel like logitech’s success despite their stagnation validates that most people are satisfied with acceptable quality.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#122

Post by novok »

AstralStorm wrote: post #56
TeMPOraL wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this pattern everywhere - the market bifurcating into a) race-to-the-bottom garbage products that are barely crossing the legal threshold of fit for purpose, and are essentially a huge waste of natural resources, and b) quality goods sold to specialists or companies, usually severely overpriced (to cover low volume of sales, and/or just because the market will bear it). Does it have a name in economics? Are the…

This is called market segmentation, and is for some reason considered a good thing. Actually it's the means to extract maximum cash out of customers who want anything more than the bare minimum.

No, what he is describing is the lack of a middle market segment, not the fact there are market segments.

My guess is the world's middle class is slowly dieing, so all you have are the poor and the rich.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#123

Post by netsharc »

my_username_is_ wrote: post #120
krrrh wrote: post #93

I spend a lot of time on video calls every day, and wanted to take advantage of my iPhone camera. I had tried Epoccam and it was buggy, and broke between releases of Zoom or didn’t work in Slack calls. Screwing around with OBS was time consuming and pinned my fans. Reincubate Camo has been a pleasure to use over the last 3 months, and has never let me down. Having good image quality on video calls is on par with wear…

Are there any similar options for Android phones?

DroidCam works for my requirements: http://www.dev47apps.com .. it installs a virtual webcam and microphone on Windows, and transmits the video and audio from the phone camera/microphone.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#124

Post by phreack »

my_username_is_ wrote: post #120
krrrh wrote: post #93

I spend a lot of time on video calls every day, and wanted to take advantage of my iPhone camera. I had tried Epoccam and it was buggy, and broke between releases of Zoom or didn’t work in Slack calls. Screwing around with OBS was time consuming and pinned my fans. Reincubate Camo has been a pleasure to use over the last 3 months, and has never let me down. Having good image quality on video calls is on par with wear…

Are there any similar options for Android phones?

Closest I can think of is Droidcam, which works great on Windows at least - on a wired connection.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#125

Post by ksec »

llampx wrote: post #79
solarkraft wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those devices are significantly thicker that a MacBook display. I could imagine a bump towards the front that would sink into the body when closed, but doing it in a way that looks and feels good also seems rather hard - but also harder to avoid should they want to implement things such as face id.

I guess we'll never know until we have the front camera assemblies from both sitting side by side.

The iPhone Front Facing Camera Module is already thicker than the whole MacBook Pro Screen + Glass + Casing.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#126

Post by jrickert »

mnw21cam wrote: post #113
sebmellen wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a mirrorless or DSLR camera lying around, try this first: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25870161 . It might end up saving you money!

I bought a HDMI->USB video capture card, and tried to use it with my DSLR camera. It works fine in Teams, but not in Zoom. And that's because Teams selects a reasonable capture resolution that matches the 16:9 aspect ratio image produced by my camera's HDMI output at 1080p. Zoom selects the lowest possible resolution, which is 640x480, which makes me look squished. There is no setting in the Zoom interface that lets…

If you haven't, try going into your video settings on Zoom and selecting "Enable HD". This solution has fixed the aspect ratio problem you're describing for my company's customers in almost every case.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#127

Post by mech422 »

guenthert wrote: post #111

Hmmh, I couldn't care less about webcams. I'm not that pretty and not all that eager to share the interior of my dwelling. I do however care about sound quality. With my accent and mumbling I need all the help I can get. Others reported that the camera in their phone beats most webcams, but what about the microphone(-array)? The sound quality of phablets hasn't quite won me over. Is there anything better available, s…

I'm in exactly the same boat...

I use a SteelSeries Arctis wireless (2.4Ghz!!) headset. Makes a huge difference for group calls. Also, 2.4G headsets have a HUGE range. I can go from my office, outside for a smoke or anywhere in the house. I really like them!

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#128

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

kube-system wrote: post #121
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #109

Just the other day a user in my problem validation platform posted 'Make entry level webcam better'[1], the main gripe being 10 year old Logitech C270 still being sold at a higher price while improvements in smartphone cameras are being made every 6 months. Posts like these seems to confirm that there's a real need gap for a good quality webcam. Any of you working on solving this? or have ideas? [1] https://needgap.c…

Why does that validate the idea that people need a better quality camera? If anything, I feel like logitech’s success despite their stagnation validates that most people are satisfied with acceptable quality.

>Why does that validate the idea that people need a better quality camera?

I feel it validates the problem/needgap because this is the 4th time in >I feel like logitech’s success despite their stagnation validates that most people are satisfied with acceptable quality.

Market share with stagnated technology has never stopped a new product with better technology disrupting the market before, otherwise we still probably would have been using Nokia brick phones.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#129

Post by clairity »

jascii wrote: post #98
clairity wrote: post #88

front-facing cameras (i.e., webcams) are unnecessary on a laptop, tablet, or phone. manufacturers should remove them in favor of better supporting dedicated equipment, since they'll never be 'good enough' when video quality actually matters. video calls have been part of the futurism canon for at least 100 years, but they still have little utility beyond a simple phone call (or even text messages in many cases). they…

"video calls have been part of the futurism canon for at least 100 years, but they still have little utility beyond a simple phone call" While you could argue practical utility, the mere fact that millions are clinging to video conferencing for a sense of connectedness seems to suggest that it has at least an emotional utility. Not everybody is an introvert.

you can get connectedness by talking on the phone or visiting in person (yes, it’s entirely reasonable to do so these days with a little distance). have been doing this my entire life along with billions of other people and can confirm it works (especially for ‘extraverts’, although i don’t buy into that dichotomy).

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#130

Post by snegu »

post_break wrote: post #115

The software in windows is terrible for logitech. On mac there are third party software that lets you adjust literally everything. And doing so I can make the C920 look just as good as my iPhone especially in good lightning.

Can you share the third-party software you are using? I hate my C920 right now. I'm already pale, and it makes me look on the edge of death in every call.
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