What does it take to get a webcam to go faster?

[ingeborgdot]

I have a semi fast speed of 3.0 and a pretty fast computer. Is ther any way to make your webcam go a little faster instead of frame by frame. I have a pretty nice webcam.

 

[Rick]

I have a semi fast speed of 3.0 and a pretty fast computer. Is ther any way to make your webcam go a little faster instead of frame by frame. I have a pretty nice webcam.

I really don't think it is the speed of you computer. Even the cheesiest of USB 1.1 webcams will deliver streaming video at about 15 frames/sec. So it must not be your camera either if you have a "pretty nice webcam".

I'm assuming your frame rate is very low (maybe 1 frame per sec) and I'm assuming you are talking about the live video.. not recorded video. Recorded video output with low fps may be due to something else.

So that leaves the possibilities of frame-by-frame slowness due to a bug, settings or by design.

Some camera softwares require the camera window be in focus.. meaning you have the window selected and up front.. to get the full fps. Make sure you have the video window in focus.

Next, I would take a look at the settings in your software. There should be an option for FPS. 30fps is the "norm", but as I mentioned, even the cheapest cameras can do 15fps or so.

And lastly, try udating your drivers and try another webcam software.