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Why webcams aren’t good enough

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Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#211

Post by chapium »

u678u wrote: post #196
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…

I'm coming around to the "b) quality goods sold to specialists or companies, usually severely overpriced", is actually fairly priced. It just seems expensive compared to the junk that is incredibly cheap. I used to be worried about getting ripped off I never bought good quality but now I appreciate it.

Its expensive because there is a market for the mid-range model, but to achieve midrange, one must top out at the high end.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#212

Post by kurizu4444 »

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…

before going into lockdown I got the Rode NT usb mini: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/rde-microphone-nt-usb-mini/6406...

I HIGHLY recommend getting a 10$ boom-arm from amazon and using that to get the microphone closer to your face. I have this setup and my coworkers say I sound like a radio host because the quality is so good.

All for 115$... single best investment I made in lockdown.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#213

Post by antomeie »

Hopefully I’m not stepping on anyones toes here, but as a hobby project I have been building an app that lets you use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac. It will be completely free for anyone to use!

I am currently running a beta and if you would like to help me test it then you can apply here:

https://webcamplus.app/beta

For reference, I have had a thread up on MacRumors Forum for a few weeks:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-as-a-webcam-for-...

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#214

Post by aidenn0 »

azatris wrote: post #201
aidenn0 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VLC? OBS?

Where's the "call a friend" button in VLC?

You just moved the goalposts. The UX for setting this up is terrible, but as approximately zero people have a Red camera hooked up to their computer and a dedicated fiber connection to multiple people, so presumably the setup is a one-time cost.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#215

Post by totalZero »

acdha wrote: post #158
mfkp wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people don't mind a bulge in their phone, I doubt they'd mind a camera bulge sticking out the back of their laptop.

Johnny Ives was obsessed with thinness - it’s the same problem which lead to the bad keyboards. Now they’ve been putting people who haven’t forgotten about usability in charge I would not be surprised if the next case design included a non-terrible webcam since it’s unlikely that anyone is going to stop video conferencing even if we do go back to the office.

Jony Ive*

Fair point, but Apple isn't the only company selling laptops with ho-hum webcams.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#216

Post by vosper »

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…

I had the same experience with Epoccam, it was far too unreliable to actually use for meetings. Thanks for the pointer to Camo.

In the end I ponied up for Logitech C920, I think it's worth the money rather than fussing with a phone, apps, etc..

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#217

Post by a2tech »

josephg wrote: post #33
llampx wrote: post #23

I also noticed fairly early on, that phone cameras were improving by leaps and bounds, while laptop webcams and USB webcams seemed to be at a standstill, image-quality wise. I don't know why that is, but even Apple would seemingly rather shave 50 cents off the BOM by speccing a 720p Facetime camera in their $3000 Macbook Pros, and trying to make up the difference with software, like with the new M1 Macs that have bet…

> even Apple would seemingly rather shave 50 cents off the BOM by speccing a 720p Facetime camera in their $3000 Macbook Pros The reason I've heard is that the macbook display assembly simply doesn't have the depth to house a decent camera. The camera bump in phones exists for a reason - and phones are already way fatter than macbook displays. I have no idea if thats true though.

Thats the same story someone I know that works at Apple told me. They would like to put a better camera in there as much as we would like one, but its not economical at the moment.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#218

Post by saurik »

barkingcat wrote: post #187
mfkp wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people don't mind a bulge in their phone, I doubt they'd mind a camera bulge sticking out the back of their laptop.

Yah this precisely. Why are phones allowed to have bulges and chins and notches, but laptops somehow are too "thin" to do the same? For that matter, why hasn't anyone made a laptop screen with a centre notch? people accepted that for phones and now every large manufacturer of phones use notches in their phones. Laptops are much larger and heavier so it's really doable to include a better camera. The only thing blocki…

I mean, it's one thing to have a part of my phone that is 15% thicker than the rest, but it is another thing entirely to have a part of my laptop screen that is 400% thicker than the rest ;P.

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#219

Post by wazoox »

I have a C920. My main problem is that the camera runs at 60 fps, but here in Europe, lights are 50Hz. therefore, flickering is unbearably as soon as you're not using natural light. I can't find any solution to this...

Re: Why webcams aren’t good enough

#220

Post by rozab »

barkingcat wrote: post #187
mfkp wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people don't mind a bulge in their phone, I doubt they'd mind a camera bulge sticking out the back of their laptop.

Yah this precisely. Why are phones allowed to have bulges and chins and notches, but laptops somehow are too "thin" to do the same? For that matter, why hasn't anyone made a laptop screen with a centre notch? people accepted that for phones and now every large manufacturer of phones use notches in their phones. Laptops are much larger and heavier so it's really doable to include a better camera. The only thing blocki…

Nobody buys a laptop for the webcam. That's why.
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