[clug] Linux Webcam

[Steven Hanley]

On Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 11:34:19PM +1000, Hal Ashburner wrote:
> Hey there Clug,
> So I'd like a really, really nice webcam that works well on linux. I've 
> heard that the Apple iSight is the bees knees but they don't seem to 
> make it anymore. So I thought I'd ask, how does one go about selecting a 
> webcam (or more generally, any new funky hardware) so that it will work 
> with linux?
> Mapping drivers from the kernel to actual models you can buy seems 
> somewhat difficult. I have some sort of rubbishy logitec quickam 
> $something that doesn't work that I bought a few years ago that doesn't 
> work to prove it (or at least prove my general inadequacy and 
> ignornace). Any thoughts?
> Cheers,
> Hal

At dcs we bought a quickcam 9000 to play around with as it is a 2 MP web cam
(1600x1200 native resolution w9ith a rather nice lens), it is supported in
current kernels by the uvcvideo driver and any v4l2 compatible grabbing or
streaming applications can read from it (either grab images or grab video).

Apps supported include ekiga and skype if you need those.

The camera built into my laptop (Dell XPS M1330 with WLED screen and 640x480
camera) uses the same drivers and works in the same way. Current kernels
have the support in tree for this and it all works remarkably well.

	See You
	    Steve

-- 
Steven Hanley sjh at svana.org http://svana.org/sjh/diary
real is real regardless of what you try to say or say away
real is real relentless while words distract and dismay
words that change their tune though the story remains the same
words that fill me quickly and then are slow to drain
   The True Story Of What Was - Educated Guess - Ani