Subject: looking for hardware for vic on Linux i386 / Connectix QuickCam

From: Patrick De Muynck <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 10:18:19 +0200

Hi,

I'm looking to buy camera + video grabbing hardware for running MBone
tools on Linux PCs.  The Linux *must be* Red Hat distribution for 386i
(currently Red Hat 5.1 with kernel version 2.0.34).

I'm interested in any setup which is known to work; the price must be
less than $1000, preferrably less than $500.

In particular I wondered if the Connectix QuickCam VC would be any
good, does anybody have a clue?  The URL
http://www-nrg.ee.lbl.gov/vic/ says that Connectix QuickCam is
supported on Linux 386i, but most probably this Web page refers to the
older QuickCam models and not to the recent VC model.

Moreover there are two VC models: the first connects via the parallel
port and the second connects via USB.  Should I stick with the
parallel port model (requires 'high performance ECP 1284 parallel
port'), or is there already support for USB on Linux/vic?

Also any pointers to descriptions of the vic implementation on Linux
are welcome.

Regards,

Patrick De Muynck

BELNET, the Belgian National Research Network

[email-masked]  |	DWTC - BELNET
Tel : +32/2/238.36.76	    |	Wetenschapsstraat, 4
Fax : +32/2/513.57.30	    |	B-1000 Brussel

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From: Christoph Fleck <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 11:17:50 +0200 (MET DST)

> port'), or is there already support for USB on Linux/vic?

We have Connectix QuickCam Color and Gray (both parallel port).
This is slow and will waste a lot of your CPU.
If you take a BT848 Videokard and a analog Camera you will get good perfomance.
If you take the cheapest camcorder you will get the best video 
(autofocus, zoom, good whitebalance, low light capable), all that you will miss
on the quickcam and most desktopcameras.
The price for the videocard could be $100 and for the camcorder from $500.
(videocard Haupauge WinTV primeo 180DM, camcorder 699DM)
I have seen a BT848 Card + DesktopColorCamera for 420DM.

You also need a fullduplex audio.

Have a look at our site (sorry only in german):
http://www-mm.urz.tu-dresden.de/pc-hardware/

Rgds,
Christoph Fleck

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From: "Christophe Tronche" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 13:02:47 +0200 (MET DST)

> less than $1000, preferrably less than $500.

Hello.

I'm running on Linux RedHat with a $500 Sequence P1S from OMT
(http://www.omt.com/, they ship overseas, since I guess you're from
Belgium), and a $300 camera, so it fits the higher mark of your
budget. I had no problem using the Meteor device driver (you have to
recompile the kernel, however). You can get 768 x 576 x 25 fps, but it
takes most of the bus (on a K6 200 MHz). I don't know for vic, but the
adaptation can't be very difficult, anyway. You can get real-time
performances with lower scales (such as 384x288), with good computing
power left, and the board can scale at any factor (you can see a live
video on the Web from it at http://tronche.com).

I've never programmed the QuickCam myself, but every time I've seen
it, I found the picture quality and frame rate quite poor. Of course,
it's cheaper.

-- 
Christophe Tronche		[email-masked]
Tel: (33) 01 47 40 28 48	Fax: (33) 01 47 40 28 65