Use digital camera as a webcam?

Discussions about TWAIN & WIA scanning in GdPicture.NET using GdPictureImaging.
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Paul
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Use digital camera as a webcam?

Post by Paul » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:28 am

Is it possible to use a standard digital camera as a webcam? Possible with some cameras, but not others? How can I tell?

I would like to be able to capture still images directly with GdTwain, similar to what can be done with just about any web cam, but with higher quality.

What do I need to be able to do that?

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Loïc
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Post by Loïc » Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:57 pm

Hi,

To do that you need to have a Twain driver for your digital camera.

Best regards,

Loïc Carrère

Paul
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Post by Paul » Sat Oct 13, 2007 5:24 pm

Thank you for your reply.

Where do I get a twain driver for a particular camera?

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Loïc
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Post by Loïc » Sun Oct 14, 2007 2:29 pm

Hi,

The twain driver must be provided by the camera manufacturer.

What is your camera model ?

Regards,

Loïc

Paul
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Post by Paul » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:28 pm

I have three digital cameras. None of them has a twain driver available.

Can you recommend a relatively low-cost camera with a twain driver that I can use with your software?

Alternatively, I could use a webcam that is capable of taking halfway decent still photos.

Paul
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Post by Paul » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:36 pm

Can I use WIA?

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Loïc
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Post by Loïc » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:38 am

Hi,

If you can see the WIA scanner driver into the dialog box raised by the TwainSelectSource() you can use your digital camera.


Else, if you are looking for a webcam I suggest you to check if it is sold with a twain driver.

Regards,

Loïc

Paul
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Post by Paul » Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:17 pm

A webcam would be fine, but they take lousy pictures.

As far as I can tell, no digital camera these days comes with a twain driver.


Unless you have a better suggestion, I'll just try to get whichever webcam can take the least crappy photos.

qinyi
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Re:

Post by qinyi » Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:38 am

Paul wrote:A webcam would be fine, but they take lousy pictures.

As far as I can tell, no digital camera these days comes with a twain driver.


Unless you have a better suggestion, I'll just try to get whichever webcam can take the least crappy photos.

Hi,

I do have a TWAIN capable digital camera, and that is the reason I come to this forum. Mightex system offers several industry grade digital cameras at very reasonable price, with TWAIN driver (at least for the model I have).

I tried the TWAIN ActiveX control today with the VB example code, and found it took quite long time to capture a single image, no matter it is high or very low (32X32) resolution. My application requires me to get image at high frame rate (30 per second at low resolution). I wonder if it is possible at all to achieve the frame rate with the TWAIN ActiveX?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Yi

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Loïc
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Re: Use digital camera as a webcam?

Post by Loïc » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:49 pm

Hi,

The most efficient way to obtain real time video with low CPU usage without using the build-in camera preview interface is to use the Direct Show API which are for me the best way to manage real time video from windows applications.

If you are programming in .NET you can check this project: http://directshownet.sourceforge.net/index.html


Best regards,

Loïc Carrère

sureforums
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Re: Use digital camera as a webcam?

Post by sureforums » Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:36 pm

Hi,

Is this required Twain driver for Webcam? Webcam is available but the webcam source is not loading in GdPictureImaging.TwainSelectSource(Handle). Please kindly do the needful. Thanks.

JasJ21
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Re: Use digital camera as a webcam?

Post by JasJ21 » Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:09 pm

Well, the thread being from 2008, I guess some things have changed. To begin with, most people have laptops with integrated webcams... But for the record, it'd be interesting to know whether it's feasible with 2020 hardware, it can be useful for people with desktops computers, for example.

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