I am biased. I prefer Linux. So i am going to talk about webcams which work in Linux.
- The primary driver for webcam in Linux is the UVC driver. Goto the UVC site and look for the supported hardware - http://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/#devices
- Other drivers available are SPCA drivers. The official website
http://www.quickcamteam.net/software/linux/drivers/spca5xx-webcam-driver .
describes the installation details.
For supported hardware look at -
http://mxhaard.free.fr/spca5xx.html.
For step by step procedure, look at the video at http://www.linuxjournal.com/video/get-your-webcam-working-gspca.
- For Skype tested webcams - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SkypeWebCams
- For more information go to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Webcam
To test my webcam and adjust its brightness I use vlc and v4l2ucp. Cheese and v4l2upc combo can also be used. Here's what I do. (vlc needs to be installed)
vlc v4l2:///dev/video0
In another terminal open v4l2ucp, the Video 4 Linux v2 control panel.
v4l2ucp
Now in the v4l control panel all the sliders like brightness etc. are self explanatory. So, keep adjusting and put an eye on the image in the vlc/Cheese screen.
The webcam is generally installed at /dev/video0 location. If it is not, then go to the /dev directory and hunt for it. If it not detected at all then do
lsusb -v > output.txt
gedit output.txt
Look for "camera"(ctrl+f). Some lines before there should be a "idVendor". That is your vendor id. Now, see if a driver is being loaded for it.
lsmod
If you see uvd or gspca loaded then it should work otherwise either install spca or UVD. Goto their website and find it out if your webcam is supported. Or search in Google and figure it out how to make it work.
To know what resolution your webcam is capable of capturing use vlc again.
Have fun (especially with vlc)
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