Webcams aren't good enough • Hacker News Board

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#451

Post by dmix » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:47 AM UTC

system2 wrote: post #281

navanchauhan wrote: post #12

You can use you phone's camera as a webcam with Reincubate's Camo App. This required a wired connection iirc. You can also use OBS Studio along with a virtual camera plugin to use any device which can output directly to your computer. But most of these solutions do not work on Safari or FaceTime unless you manually modify the app. Now, Apple is going to soon introduce their "It Just Works" solution with the next rele…

Sound is easy. Slap a nice Yeti microphone and 2 sound blocking foams on the walls, you are good to go.

What do you gain with the sound blocking foam? Better acoustics?

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#452

Post by nine_k » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:49 AM UTC

Macha wrote: post #354

logifail wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Furthermore, if you live in northern latitudes you get very little sunlight during the winter so a "window" is not a sufficient solution Perhaps I wasn't clear: a North-facing window never gets direct sunlight, but doesn't matter because we're after neutral, even light . Certainly not "direct light", not even "lots of light". Just neutral, even light. It's worked for artists for centuries.

My window faces onto a neighbour's house. They have painted this area white. On my webcam, the window is behind me and it picks up this area outside the window and assumes the picture is overexposed because it doesn't expect to pick up large areas of basically #ffffff, and tries to dim the rest of the picture and darkens everything inside. Too much in fact, so it looks like I'm in a really dark room. The Logitech sof…

I wonder how you can work on your screen: the shining white window behind you should give large reflections that strain and fatigue (my) eyes very quickly.

My rule of thumb at workplace is no uncovered windows behind me.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#453

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:50 AM UTC

hackernewds wrote: post #445

bborud wrote: post #372

I wish webcam manufacturers would focus on sensors and optics instead of rubbing lipstick all over low quality hardware with an undeniable porcine quality. Fixing it with AI is nonsense. Fashionable nonsense but still nonsense. I have spent lots of money on various webcams. Including cameras that promise “AI”. The truth is not even my $1000 “AI” webcam gets close to my aging iPhone 7. As a video conferencing camera i…

Is there any way to use an old iphone as a webcam setup? imagine additionally could do Home control etc

[deleted]

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#454

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:52 AM UTC

ramraj07 wrote: post #45

kcb wrote: post #2

Webcams are good enough for their purpose which is video conferencing and calls. In the end your video is likely going to be encoded in like 360p low bitrate. I personally prefer not being in razor sharp detail on calls anyway. Anyway this is the one I've been using. https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Webcam-Built-Stereo-Micropho... I like the integrated shutter better than the cover thing for the c920.

I don’t know how much time you spend on zoom calls but if both sides have genuinely good connections and you have a good camera and lighting, you can get fairly high def video across. And it makes a big difference, especially if you’re 1-1 and want to make a proper connection and read their expression.

[deleted]

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#455

Post by nine_k » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:56 AM UTC

altcognito wrote: post #164

logifail wrote: post #48

There is a reason that for hundreds of years painters and (later) photographers have preferred working in spaces with North-facing windows[0], and that is because it's a simple way of ensuring neutral, even light. My home office is (by design) in a room with one North-facing window. I use a Logitech C920. Many people have told me how good my webcam feed is. I don't think it's that the C920 is particularly brilliant,…

Also, my experience with the 920 Is that it performs well (better than others I have) in low light. None of the samples from the article were low light. Most folks are in dimly lit conditions, and that’s where these tend to do better. Fundamentally, webcams suffer from the same problem as n95 masks: prior to the pandemic, everything was geared towards cheap, it just wasn’t a huge market. To invest in retooling would…

Taking an inexpensive used photo camera (of the regular mirrorless handheld type) and attaching it to your computer for video conferencing could be the most affordable solution.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#456

Post by feet » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 1:58 AM UTC

dang wrote: post #358

feet wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Could you please review the site guidelines and stick to them when posting here? You've unfortunately been breaking them quite a bit, such as with snark, flamebait, and ideological battle. What we're hoping for on this site is curious conversation that remains thoughtful across differences. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit more to heart, we…

Can we add a site guideline against absurd claims that have no basis in reality?

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#457

Post by nine_k » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 2:01 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #451

system2 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sound is easy. Slap a nice Yeti microphone and 2 sound blocking foams on the walls, you are good to go.

What do you gain with the sound blocking foam? Better acoustics?

No echos that give the tinny tone to the sound.

An open bookshelf with varied unaligned books looks better behind you than acoustic foam, an still suppresses echo well enough.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#458

Post by Pxtl » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

conradfr wrote: post #113

navanchauhan wrote: post #12

You can use you phone's camera as a webcam with Reincubate's Camo App. This required a wired connection iirc. You can also use OBS Studio along with a virtual camera plugin to use any device which can output directly to your computer. But most of these solutions do not work on Safari or FaceTime unless you manually modify the app. Now, Apple is going to soon introduce their "It Just Works" solution with the next rele…

DroidCamX (for Android, obviously) uses Wifi or USB.

I've been using IP Webcam. Wrote a blogpost for my co-workers on how to set it up when we all suddenly went wfh and webcams were sold out everywhere.

http://www.pxtl.ca/2020/04/08/ip-webcam/

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#459

Post by twobitshifter » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 2:14 AM UTC

I have an odd webcam given by our company. When I plugged it in, I thought something was badly broken - it was just a giant blur. Messing around with the thing, I noticed my hand came in focus. Turns out that I had to manually adjust a ring around the camera to focus. Once I did that, the quality is crisp and clear, and I’m not moving closer and farther away from my desk, so I can see how autofocus isn’t needed. I think the simplicity of the design may actually be helping the quality in this case.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#460

Post by eropple » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 2:29 AM UTC

23seaborn wrote: post #402

ncmncm wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sucks most is that Logitech, which used to be a proud name (back when "Feels good / Feels better") has gone totally to shit. Even their mice are designed to fail in a year. (Spill on the desk, the mouse that only got damp on the bottom is dead, dead, dead. That can't be accidental.) A full article on what went wrong at Logitech corporate could be enlightening, if not helpful.

I'm still using my Logitech G9x that I bought 11 years ago. Apparently they stopped making them. I dread the day it dies.

The G502 is a reasonable replacement, though the shape's a little different. If you're good with wireless, I like the G602 as my normal go-to games mice.