Theodore Kilgore wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009, Thomas Kaiser wrote:
I was thinking about updating my page [1] with the results I get with
gspca V2. But I think it would be better to have this info on the
LinuxTV wiki. Unfortunately, I did not find a page for gspca. So I
thought I should start one, but I don't think this is the right thing
because there are other drivers available for webcams.
Why not start a "Webcam compatibly page" similar to my page [1]?
- a photo of the webcam
- USB ID
- capabilities of the cam
- the chipsets when known
- driver + version (+ kernel version), at the time tested
- application used for testing (version)
- links with some information to other interesting pages
- and some more you can think of
What you guys think about it?
[1] http://www.kaiser-linux.li/index.php/Linux_and_Webcams
Thomas
Your web page looks nice, as a start. But it is, like most web pages
which deal with Linux support for category X, Y, or Z of hardware, not
up to date. Goes with the territory, I guess.
That's the reason why I asked to do this on the LinuxTv wiki!
However, I do have one question. How are you going to list the various
cameras?
I really don't know. But when we start a page on the LinuxTv wiki, this
could be a start, or not?
Probably, one needs to list them by brand name and model and by USB ID,
too, as Michel Xaard did with his list in the first place. But then it
will become a mighty long list. For, the same camera gets recycled in
lots of different "brands" and "models." This is the kind of information
which someone needs who is buying a camera, because the camera does not
come with the USB ID printed on the outside of the package.
Looks like you don't get it. When we provide pictures of the cam with
the corresponding ID's and a reverence which driver will work, the folks
know what can work......
But OTOH this causes a problem, too, because the manufacturers of
cameras (probably some of them are not exactly manufacturers but rather
packagers) are switching the electronics inside the device any time they
feel like it, or if they get a large quantity of chips at a good price,
or whatever. I have seen it happen several times that a certain camera
keeps the make and model, but it gets a new USB Vendor:Product number.
And, worst of all, it may have previously been well supported but now it
is not. Someone who goes and buys the camera based upon the make and
model which are stencilled on the outside of the camera and printed on
the packaging material can end up being stung.
So, contribute to the wiki and correct this!
When you see a model which look the same at you saw on that page and
your cam does not work in the real live it could be possible that the
manufacture of the cam changed the chipset.
Why not write this in the wiki? I ave the same came but it looks not to
be the same you have?
Therefore, I would recommend that all possible ways to identify a
camera, however insignificant those ways might appear to be, should be
preserved.
When the driver of your webcam is included in the main branch od the
kernel, then it just should work|
As one example of this kind of information, there is a cheap camera
distributor in the US called sakar.com. Their cameras always come with a
little, insignificant number on the outside of the package somewhere. It
is usually five digits long, and is sometimes found associated with the
UPC barcode on the package and is found nowhere else. If you want to
know which camera it is, that number is essential. But it is too typical
of all of us that we throw away things which appear insignificant. Who
would think that the bubble-pack card which the camera is packaged in
will contain information that can be obtained nowhere else, or otherwise
only by good luck or by trial and error? But, alas, it is true.
Very specific example: The Sakar KidzCam (old version) was an SQ905
camera and thus well supported. The Sakar KidzCam (new version) is a
Jeilin JL2005B and uses a particularly nasty compression algorithm which
has eluded all attempts to figure out. The packaging in the store looks
identical for both of them. The cameras physically look identical. The
only way you could tell them apart in the store is by those little
bitty, insignificant-looking code numbers on the packaging material.
I could give several other examples, too.
Thedore
As far I did webcam development it was always re-engineering.
I offered always my help, did I not?
Thomas
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