Hi! The capture card will not help you at all with the webcam. The capture card is typically a PCI card, while the webcam is a usb device. The capture card will need its own camera. Such a setup will have a much better picture than a QuickCam, and much faster grab rates. bttv (Brooktree 848 or 878) based capture boards seem to work well. The Hauppauge boards seem to be popular, such a card will also let you watch TV! The grabber board is typically not very expensive - around $100. The camera is another issue, and your choice will depend heavily on your application. For many tasks an old camcorder may be the best bet. Such camcorders typically feature automatic focus and exposure, ensureing you get a good picture in a variety of lighting conditions. Also, many people are selling very cheaply/giving away older camcorders whose tape mechanisms are broken - no problem for a grabbing application. For scientific work camcorders are a bad choice. Another choice to consider is FireWire. While linux support is still somewhat experimental, it seems to be coming along well, and I think there is little doubt that this will be a well supported standard. FireWire is much faster than most other solutions (certainly USB), and there are established standards for FireWire camera devices, including protocols for their control (playback, etc...). A firewire host adapter board and an inexpensive camera should not run much above $500. Richie On Fri, 4 Jan 2002, YH wrote: > Hi, > > I've tried a logitech quickcam webcam on XawTV, the picture quality is rather > poor. Now, I am going to buy a capture card and a camera to get relative good > quality of the picture. My system is PIII and RH 7.1. My questions are: > > 1. Can I use a capture card with a webcam together to improve the picture > quality? > > 2. Which video capture card is best supported by v4l (I am only aware of > Hauppage WinTV GO, is it right?)? > > 3. I have limited cash on my hand, what kind of camera should I buy? > > Any advice are most appreciated. > > Thank you in advance. > > yh > > > > _______________________________________________ > Video4linux-list mailing list > Video4linux-list@xxxxxxxxxx > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/video4linux-list >
