SKJM Forum
Support => iCam Support => : boa November 27, 2010, 04:26:33 AM
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Does anyone know why my cam runs almost real-time when viewing the 4 windows.
When I make the video full screen it slows to around 1 frame every 3-4 seconds....wierd.
I'm new to iPhone 4 last few days so still figuring stuff out. Played around with image quality that didnt do anything apart from make the image quality h0rrible, and still slow.
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Are you connecting via 3G or WiFi? If you choose No Audio in the Audio drop-down does that make any difference?
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Hi,
It's on Wifi, local and remote.
No audio doesn't seem to increase the frame rate at all.
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Do you have a strong local WiFi signal when you connect? What operating system are you running on your computer?
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Yep fast connection, 20 meg line.
Running on windows 7 32bit
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Also one other query.
If my webcam is being broadcast with icamsource, can it still be on used on msn, skype, etc..?
I had a black screen on skype and had to stop the icamsource whilst using the cam on skype, which was a pain.
+1 for adding remote start/stop for icamsource also, just incase the cam needs a reeboot. Or if the camera is un-plugged and plugged back in whilst icamsource is running.
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You can download ManyCam, a free software, to clone your camera so that you can use it in multiple programs at the same time.
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What is the % CPU usage of the iCamSource when zoomed out and zoomed in? Also, what does the approximate frame rate change from when the iCamSource's image quality slider is set to "Better Frame Rate" vs. "Better Image Quality" ?
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I will check CPU usage later.
It could be something to do with my wireless network? Going to get a Wireless-n router this week to test.
Frame rate doesn't change when I set image quality to lowest...
Thanks for the ManyCam recommendation!!
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I still have one issue...
If I launch the icamsource program and leave my place, and the cam dies throughout the day, or the computer restarts, or the cam is un-plugged/plugged back in, the icamsource needs to be stopped and started to re-send the video.
Is there a way around this???
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@boa - It may have something to do with your WiFi network, especially if your network is particularly busy or there is interference from other networks / wireless devices.
You can setup the iCamSource to automatically run and start if your computer is rebooted, but if the webcam dies or is unplugged and plugged back in currently you will have to stop and restart the iCamSource.
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I have the same problem. Running icamsource 2.1.6 on Windows 7 64 bit. I am actually only running two cameras. Both cameras are wired, icam is running on my iphone4 connected over local wifi.
Don't believe it is related to my wifi network as I am able to stream 1080p movies with a bit rate exceeding 30mbit/sec over my wifi network
Does anyone know why my cam runs almost real-time when viewing the 4 windows.
When I make the video full screen it slows to around 1 frame every 3-4 seconds....wierd.
I'm new to iPhone 4 last few days so still figuring stuff out. Played around with image quality that didnt do anything apart from make the image quality h0rrible, and still slow.
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What is the % CPU usage of the iCamSource in the Task Manager when you are zoomed-out and zoomed-in on a camera? If you run the iCamSource just with one webcam connected, does that improve the frame rate when zoomed in?
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What is the % CPU usage of the iCamSource in the Task Manager when you are zoomed-out and zoomed-in on a camera? If you run the iCamSource just with one webcam connected, does that improve the frame rate when zoomed in?
The CPU utilization doesn't change when zooming in or out. It typical hovers between 9 -12% on my Core i7 920 CPU. Whether I have one webcam or two connected doesn't change the performance.
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If you uninstall 2.1.6 and install the previous version (2.1.5) do you see the same frame rate issue? - http://skjm.com/icam/iCamSetup2.1.5.exe
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If you uninstall 2.1.6 and install the previous version (2.1.5) do you see the same frame rate issue? - http://skjm.com/icam/iCamSetup2.1.5.exe
Hi I uninstalled 2.1.6 and installed 2.1.5 from the link provided, but the issue persists. Interestingly the icamsource still reports it as version 2.1.6??
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If you uninstall 2.1.6 and install the previous version (2.1.5) do you see the same frame rate issue? - http://skjm.com/icam/iCamSetup2.1.5.exe
I unsinstalled 2.1.6 and installed 2.1.5 from the link provided, but it made no difference. Also I noticed that the iCamsource window still reports it as version 2.1.6?
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Sometimes the uninstaller doesn't remove the iCamSource directory properly. Please uninstall 2.1.6 again, and then verify that the iCamSource directory has been deleted (probably C:\Program Files\iCamSource\). If the directory is still there, delete it manually. Then try installing 2.1.5.
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Hi....Ok got 2.1.5 installed, but unfortunately it makes no difference.
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How often does the image refresh when you're viewing in fullscreen?
Does the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality" slider have any effect on the fullscreen framerate?
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How often does the image refresh when you're viewing in fullscreen?
Does the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality" slider have any effect on the fullscreen framerate?
I would say maybe 2fps when zoomed in. The slider does seem to make some difference. I wonder if this could be related to video codecs installed on my system?
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We have seen instances where video codecs slowed down the processing (or even caused crashes). In particular, we've heard reports that ffdshow can hijack the image processing, causing slowdowns. It's hard to say, 2 fps isn't too far where I'd expect the framerate to be. The theoretical max. is 10 fps, but most people won't see that. 2 fps is a little sow, but I'd still say it's within the normal range.
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Hmm....I have ffdshow installed. Maybe I will uninstall ffdshow and see how that goes. Actually I shouldn't say 2fps. It is more like I get smooth video for a brief moment and then the video stops for a brief pause ,maybe 2 seconds, and repeats like that.
I also have air video installed which uses
We have seen instances where video codecs slowed down the processing (or even caused crashes). In particular, we've heard reports that ffdshow can hijack the image processing, causing slowdowns. It's hard to say, 2 fps isn't too far where I'd expect the framerate to be. The theoretical max. is 10 fps, but most people won't see that. 2 fps is a little sow, but I'd still say it's within the normal range.
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I just purchased iCam today and it's great!
I do notice this exact same issue also.
I'm running iCamSource 2.1.5 and 4 Cisco-Linksys WVC80N.
I'm running a Q9550 CPU and AT&T DSL. CPU usage avgerages 5% on 4 cores.
When I'm using 3G, the framerates between the 4 screen and 1 screen is close (low fps).
When I'm using Wifi, the framerates on the 4 screen is good and the 1 screen is slower.
The 1 screen is either choppy or smooth and pauses every 2 seconds.
I have the Standard K-Lite Codec pack installed.
I uninstalled it to remove the ffdshow but it makes no difference.
Any other ideas or suggestions?
Can you guys reproduce it?
Thanks!
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We have seen jerky or choppy video in certain situations, but I'm not sure if we've seen the specific behavior you described.
How long does the video play smoothly and how long does it pause for (just trying to figure out if there's a pattern or if it's random)?
Does the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality" slider have any effect on the fullscreen framerate?
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We have seen jerky or choppy video in certain situations, but I'm not sure if we've seen the specific behavior you described.
How long does the video play smoothly and how long does it pause for (just trying to figure out if there's a pattern or if it's random)?
Does the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality" slider have any effect on the fullscreen framerate?
The Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality does have an effect on fullscreen.
If I turn it all the way to Better Frame Rate, it is smooth but the quality is low.
If I leave it at default which is around 40% and i get .5 sec freezes random around 1-2 secs.
If I turn it all the way to Better Image Quality it jumps around like 1 fps.
The weird thing is when I jump back to the 4 screen with my Image Quality at max, the screen is smooth.
I do notice the Quality slider does increase/decrease the quality of image on the 4 screens mode.
I'm wondering why there would be a difference in smoothness between the 4 screen vs full screen.
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There is a tradeoff between image quality and framerate. The better the image quality is, the slower and choppier the framerate will be (and vice-versa).
The thumbnails are smaller images and require less processing and bandwidth. In addition, each camera has it's own thread for image processing and communication. That means that four thumbnails will be handled by four different threads, while the fullscreen mode will only have a single thread processing a larger image. It's possible that's why you're seeing a difference between the thumbnail view and the fullscreen view.
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That makes sense regarding the smaller images vs larger image.
Thank you.
There is a tradeoff between image quality and framerate. The better the image quality is, the slower and choppier the framerate will be (and vice-versa).
The thumbnails are smaller images and require less processing and bandwidth. In addition, each camera has it's own thread for image processing and communication. That means that four thumbnails will be handled by four different threads, while the fullscreen mode will only have a single thread processing a larger image. It's possible that's why you're seeing a difference between the thumbnail view and the fullscreen view.
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Where do you see the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality"? I don't see that in the iCam Windows app nor the iPhone app.
I checked each tab in the Windows app and nothing.
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Just thought id add to this incase it helped anyone else.
I was suffering from the 1sec pauses when viewing my webcam full screen on my iphone. Small thumbnail it was perfect. As soon as i went to full screen i would get a pause every few seconds which made the picture very jumpy, lowering the quality to nearly the bottom helped but it wasnt pefect.
Anyway... I was running a linksys wrt54g router with the linksys firmware. Ive upgraded the firmware to 'Tomato' for other reasons, I tried icam after the firmware upgrade and guess what... no stutter, no pauses, i can run full screen via wifi and have it on virtually max quality without any loss in frame rate and its stutter free.
It seems my problem with the stutter and pauses was down to my linksys firmware on my router.
Dont know if this will help other people with this issue but its worth looking into.
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Where do you see the "Better Frame Rate -> Better Image Quality"? I don't see that in the iCam Windows app nor the iPhone app.
I checked each tab in the Windows app and nothing.
The latest version (2.2.1) restores the slider. (It was accidentally hidden in 2.2)