Webcams

[kopfjaeger]

Kach,

First it was plugged into a powered 4-port hub.  Then the system was powered down and plugged into a 4-USB port PCI card.

Why power down when I could simply have clicked on the stop USB device icon?

It wasn't listed as one of the connected devices.  

Odd.

Also, sometimes when you first turn on the Logitech webcam software, you have a half-second image of what is in front of the webcam, and then the image turns into the stationary vertical colored lines.

Any idea of the cause, or a cure?

[kopfjaeger]

Progress report:

Switched machines to one running Win XP, obtained the following images, in order:

1) [IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/npqemr.jpg[/IMG] http://i44.tinypic.com/npqemr.jpg

2) [IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/20jrf50.gif[/IMG] http://i40.tinypic.com/20jrf50.gif

3) [IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/2ezny80.gif[/IMG] http://i42.tinypic.com/2ezny80.gif

4) [IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/nd6d1v.gif[/IMG] http://i40.tinypic.com/nd6d1v.gif

Under XP finding a device driver wasn't an issue. As soon as it was plugged into the USB connector, a message spawned, saying Logitech web camera detected, then loaded the driver, then announced that it was ready for use.

At first, there were only vertical lines, then it seemed as if it was trying to resolve an image. Even though an image did resolve, the vertical lines remained as artifacts.

The images and artifacts remained consistent whether IRFANVIEW, Media Player Classic or IntelCam applications were used.

I wonder if there might be an issue with power getting to the camera, considering the 15 foot limitation on USB cable length and the very long length of this cable?

[KachiWachi Distinguished Logi Legend]

Unfortunately, the use of a USB extension cable is not supported by Logitech.


Please reference FAQ #535 and FAQ #305 for more information.



Thanks.

[kopfjaeger]

Kach,

Just to be clear, there is no extension to this Lego Webcam.  The attached cable is just very long and it was that length I was referring to.

As an aside, the microphone works great. 

But as you can see from the pictures I have suppled earlier, the picture quality is really substandard. Lots of granularity with vertical line artifacts.

Early Logitech webcams (such as the parallel port ones) suffered from the look like the entire scene was underwater with an eerie, dreamlike fuzz and a great deal of granularity.  The later Logitech Quickcams were better to even excellent, approaching the clarity you often find in the Intel series of CS330 or CS430 webcams.

After all this work, I am very disappointed in two things:

1) the difficulty in finding the drivers for this webcam, and

2) the very poor performance of the webcam once it was nominally operational.

I will wait just a tab longer for any replies from Logitech corporate to see if a different set of drivers would improve performance, otherwise just might cannibalize the USB cable for other uses and discard the rest as substandard. 

Overall, after all this work, I am pretty disappointed with the Lego Webcam.

Thanks for your assistance. 

[KachiWachi Distinguished Logi Legend]

How long is the "attached" USB cable?



Thanks.

[kopfjaeger]

17'7"

According to this link 5 meters is the maximum length for USB cables: http://www.usb.org/developers/usbfaq/#cab1

According to this link 17 feet 7 inches translates into 5.4 meters.  http://www.csgnetwork.com/directcvtftin2meters.html

A source of the problem?

Surely Logitech / Lego must have been aware of this when designing and testing this webcam prior to selling it.

[KachiWachi Distinguished Logi Legend]

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kopfjaeger sez -

17'7"

A source of the problem?

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Yes.




Thanks.