iCamSource 2.0 BETA

[Scoobydoo]

Just been checking out the 2.0 beta against the latest stable release.

I must say that beta 2.0 streams video alot smoother over wifi then stable.

But

Ive been watching the throughput from the beta over wi-fi and it tops out at about 250k upload but it keeps dropping now and then to around 30k then to 150k then back to
250k. This makes the video stutter and pause when im viewing full screen on my iphone 4. Thumbnail view on the iphone is very fluid.

I havent got any other programs running on my PC to slow down the upload speed, the stable release is far slower, that uploads at about 30-50k so beta 2.0 is a great improvement but thought i would let you know about my findings so if possible we could get a steady upload keeping the video fluid without stutter.

Ive tried different webcams and its not down to these that alter the upload speed or the speed of my pc as the processor is only at 20% load.
The preview in the icamsource PC program is constantly fluid.

Im running my iphone on the same wi-fi network as icamsource is running on.
Hopefully theres something that can be changed to get a constant upload of around 250k keeping the video fluid on fullscreen on the iphone.

[jr.florida]

I installed Beta 2 and have a small (tongue in cheek) problem.  One of my laptops is a 10" Asus.  When I bring up iSource I can't see the Start button and I can't re-size the app.


****************

After playing awhile I found that sometimes there is a slider on the right side, sometimes not..  Even with it is I can't get all the way to the bottom.  It was a wee bit shorter or my screen was a wee bit taller.

[Stefan]

jr.florida - What is the screen resolution of your laptop display?

Scoobydoo - If you switch back and forth between the two iCamSources (stable vs. beta) do you continue to see the same performance difference between the two?

[Scoobydoo]

Switching between the beta and the stable I find that the beta 2.0 gives a much better framerate/update.

Im really impressed with the beta, just that it doesnt seem to keep a constant upload speed of about 250k through my wireless network, it drops down to below 100k at times causing the slow framerate/update of the picture in full screen on the iphone.
When it drops below 100k upload i havent seen the processor load increase so its not to do with this, and there is nomore network traffic causing it either, it looks like it may be something in the program (icamsource beta 2.0) thats causing it.

The stable gives a really low upload speed, only about 80k or so when in full screen on the iphone, so that beta is much much better at 250k. The stable does keep a constant 80k upload though and doesnt drop.

[Stefan]

Scoobydoo - Thanks ... We're going to try and replicate it on our own system.

[williamsww]

I have installed the windows beta on 3 seperate computers and had them all running for the past week. However, one by one they each stopped working and now each will not open at all.

When clicked you get the "icamsource has stopped working".

This happened on each machione over the past 2 days. I have repaired and re-installed but no luck.

Any help would be appreciated

[jr.florida]

jr.florida - What is the screen resolution of your laptop display?

1024 x 600

[JohnAlex731]

Are you plugging the Lifecam directly into your computer and not into the keyboard USB port or a USB hub or externsion cable? Does the Lifecam work with other webcam applications such as Photo Booth, iChat, or Skype?

Directly into mac mini. yes they both work  with ichat and photobooth

[Jay]

williamsww - Does that error message appear immediately when you launch iCamSource, or when you click the Start button, or some other time?

Please check the Process list in your Task Manager to make sure there aren't any other instances of iCamSource running.

If you reboot the computer, does that have any effect on the behavior?

[williamsww]

It happens immediately.

No other instances running.

Rebooting has no effect

[Stefan]

jr.florida & JohnAlex731 - We're going to try and replicate the issues on our system.

[Stefan]

For the users who are seeing their HD webcam's 16:9 video "squished" into a 4:3 aspect ratio, does the video look correct in any other Mac webcam application like PhotoBooth, iChat, or Skype?

[knighty101]

Hi this is my fisrt post, and I would like to say thankyou for a great app I purchased it this week after seeing it in the newspaper in the UK.

down to business, I installed beta 2.0 (windows) and I must admit everything about it is more simple aka it just works well apart from the sound..  I have had no sound on any webcam (I get ringer volume on iphone 3g) I have tried a HP Premium KQ245AA, Microsoft Quickcam and another wireless security cam which I do not have the details for atm.

my system is win 7 amd 64 3000 with 4 gig ram the testing I have done is as follows.

• I have checked my sound on each device using skype and sound settings in control panel to ensure sound is on and ok - all worked as expected
• I have rebooted the PC with no change in icam
• I have tried diffrent USB ports and also tried a hub - no help
• I have no errors in the event logs
• i have no errors on launching the application
• and finally I run this test machine DMZ and without a proxy so doubt its would be a port problem

so after getting bored of trying to figure the sound issue out I decided to roll back to the current stable version 1.4.2.5 and the sound worked as intended of the bat, therefore I thought I would let you know that there might be an issue with the sound and the beta 2.0 for windows.
If you already know this is an issue then please delete this topic, or if its because I would require version 2.0 on the iphone so it matches the client then let me know and I will wait for the release of 2.0 on the app store finally if you would like me to do any further testing or to try anything out then please feel free to ask.

Many Thanks,
knighty101

[Stefan]

JohnAlex731 - I purchased the same webcam today, and it does work with the iCamSource on my Mac Pro. Does the webcam work with the 1.4.2.5 version of the iCamSource?

As for the 16:9 image being squished into a 4:3 aspect ratio, that is what the webcam displays on the other Mac webcam applications I tried it with, and it turns out that is what is returned directly by the webcam to the iCamSource: A squished image. The same webcam in Windows (with the appropriate drivers installed) returns a 4:3 image that is cropped on either side, so I suppose it is a driver issue.

I don't really want to stretch the image out and then crop it, since that will degrade the quality of the image.

[Jay]

williamsww - Do you have the Auto-Start option enabled in iCamSource? 

By default, iCamSource does very little when it is launched, so a crash on launch usually indicates that some prerequisites are missing.  Most of the work is done when the Start button is pushed, and a crash at that point usually indicates a problem connecting to the camera (hardware/driver issues).

If the Auto-Start option is on, then all of that is performed on launch. 

Windows affects both cases, so please make sure that Windows is fully updated through Windows Update.