Re: [SLUG] Re: Low-light webcam for 256K upstream
On 1/10/07, Peter Hardy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Peter Hardy wrote: You can get the new driver from http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/ , and it's also packaged for ubuntu (and probably debian) as pwc-source. Install that, and you should find some documentation in /usr/share/doc/pwc-source/ that will let you build a package and install it in a couple of steps. Ooo. Checking the pwc wiki at http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/PWC/WorkingWebcamsWithPWC , it looks like the ToUCam II uses a different driver altogether. Sorry, it is a ToUCam Pro II, I thought it was the non-pro version (in fact, I was hoping it was, because the driver for the ToUCam II seemed to be easier to get hold of. However, the Pro is a much better camera and it seems it will work, so thanks for your info. I did have a read over some of the history of the driver. I noticed there are no patches or modules released after early January 2006, but there are reports of things working on the mailing lists at saillard.org --- So all that's left is to craft a clever mod that can give an IR boost at low light, without munging the colours in good light... should be an interesting challenge, but maybe some of that astronomy stuff will come in handy. They were just shipped so they'll arrive in Canberra when I'm away at LCA :-( (just moved). Thanks, Ben -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: Low-light webcam for 256K upstream
On Wed, 2007-01-10 at 19:37 +1100, Ben wrote: I noticed there are no patches or modules released after early January 2006, but there are reports of things working on the mailing lists at saillard.org Hrmn. I hadn't checked how recent the saillard driver was. But, at least on my model, it's been mature and very, very stable for a long time. -- Pete -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Re: Low-light webcam for 256K upstream
I'm after a couple of webcams with excellent low-light performance (maybe even an infra-red option) I've selected a Philips ToUCam II, which I got on eBay for $93ea. including insured shipping, since they aren't available in Australia. Apparently it should work ok in Linux, so but I'll reply again when it arrives. They're used by astronmers, with loads of lenses, filters, etc. available for telescopes and low-light shooting and apparently they can even handle 1lux stock. There's also details on an IR conversion here: http://www.grynx.com/projects/use-your-webcam-in-the-dark/1/ Ben -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: Low-light webcam for 256K upstream
Ben wrote: I'm after a couple of webcams with excellent low-light performance (maybe even an infra-red option) I've selected a Philips ToUCam II, which I got on eBay for $93ea. including insured shipping, since they aren't available in Australia. I have an older relative of the ToUCam, a PCVC-680 or something. They work well in Linux, and are indeed very very good in low light. Apparently it should work ok in Linux, so but I'll reply again when it arrives. The pwc driver has had a somewhat rocky history. It was originally written by a guy who signed an NDA with Philips to get access to the specs and wrote a binary-only driver. Then, after further consultation with Philips, he was able to split it in to two parts - a basic open source driver, and a secondary binary-only compression module needed for higher framerates / resolutions. The base driver was added and removed from the linux source tree a couple of times amid intense discussion about proprietary, binary-only modules. The fuss it caused was one of the driving factors causing the original author to abandon the project. It's since been picked up by another group, who've also reverse-engineered the binary-only parts, and now ship a single open source driver that does everything the older two-module setup did. I'm not sure if there's a module in the linux.org kernel or not at the moment, but if there is, it's most likely the original discontinued driver, and not the newer fork. You can get the new driver from http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/ , and it's also packaged for ubuntu (and probably debian) as pwc-source. Install that, and you should find some documentation in /usr/share/doc/pwc-source/ that will let you build a package and install it in a couple of steps. Good luck! -- Pete -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: Low-light webcam for 256K upstream
Peter Hardy wrote: You can get the new driver from http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/ , and it's also packaged for ubuntu (and probably debian) as pwc-source. Install that, and you should find some documentation in /usr/share/doc/pwc-source/ that will let you build a package and install it in a couple of steps. Ooo. Checking the pwc wiki at http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/PWC/WorkingWebcamsWithPWC , it looks like the ToUCam II uses a different driver altogether. Um... disregard everything I wrote. :-) -- Pete -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
