I can't believe it took me a whole fucking year of pandemic-time to discover this app. My laptop's webcam is... basically fine. It's a cheap 720p sensor with a tiny lens. It doesn't really cope with low light, and the picture is a bit fuzzy and grey. If you're on a conference call with me, I look like this:

I've got an old Samsung Android phone which I don't use any more. It's one of those with billions of megapizels and quantum nano AI bobbins. Here's how it makes me look:

Static photos don't really do it justice. I don't have the photography vocabulary to describe depth of field or wideness of gamut. But I think it makes for a better image. Colleagues have remarked that I look more HD. Which I think is a compliment...

You can use the front-facing camera, if you prefer. That also means you can see what you look like when presenting.

The front-facing camera also gives a much wider field of view:

You can connect over USB or WiFi. USB mode works fine in Linux, as long as you can install ADB. The WiFi connection also gives you a web-based control panel:

Installation

• Install an app on your phone.
• Turn on developer mode on your device.
• Install some random Linux scripts and fart about on the command line.

There's a basic Linux app for controlling the settings.

Open Source

The Linux client is Open Source. The dev seems very responsive to suggestions and pull requests - even fixing a small bug I found within a couple of days.

Downsides

It isn't all sunshine and roses though. Firstly, you need somewhere to mount the camera. I have a Ring Light and tripod which is a bit wobbly, but does the job. I have to position it carefully to make sure my laptop isn't in view.

The app is a little temperamental. I don't know if it is my phone going to sleep, or a USB issue - but it does occasionally just stop. Hardware, eh!?

There's no way to swap cameras via the Linux client - although you can tap the screen and set them on the app. While you can toggle the autofocus, zoom, white balance, and exposure from the Linux client - you must use the command line to set resolution and aspect ratio. So it is a bit inconsistent.

The resolution is limited to 640x480 on the free version. But that's about the maximum of most video calling software. The £5 pro version does both 720p and 1080p if you need it. Obviously, streaming 4K video is impossible over a cheap USB cable.

I paid for the pro version - and the 720p and 1080p video are good. If you use the app, you can increase the video quality - but you may find that you drop a few frames that way.

Verdict

Magic. Although it seems so weird to me that this isn't a standard feature of Android phones. We have MTP mode for file transfer, why not an optional WebCam mode?

Most laptops have pathetic 720p webcams built in. Which is weird, because even the most basic smartphone has a front-facing camera capable of 4K photos. Some can even do 4K video.

The good folks at INDMEM have sent me a 1440p (2K) webcam to review. For under £30, they claim that it's even better than the 1080p USB cameras available at that price point. Let's take it for a spin!

Product Shots

Spec

• 2560 x 1440 output (5 Megapixel)
• Focus - auto and manual
• USB 2 connector with 2 metre lead
• 110° wide angle lens
• Microphone with noise cancelling
• Lens cover - stick on
• h264 encoding

Quality and Comparison

I placed the USB camera just above my laptop's webcam. I took these shots one after the other. My wall has a bunch of albums on it - so is reasonably good for seeing how much detail the camera picks up and how much noise it introduces.

Click for full size.

2K webcam

720p laptop

Thoughts

There's definitely more detail in the 2K webcam. But my laptop has a much wider field of view. That's not hugely important for video conferencing.

By default, I found the webcam to be slightly overexposed - but I was able to adjust that in software.

It's worth noting that the 1080p and 720p formats are just centre cut-outs of the main full frame. That is, the resolution isn't scaled and then trimmed, it literally just takes a 1920x1080 cut from the centre of the frame! The 640x480 is a scaled down version of the full frame.

But, here's the kicker. The full frame image is 2592x1944. That's larger than the advertised resolution!

Audio

There are two microphones grilles on either side of the device - but there's only one microphone. More on that later. Only a mono audio feed is outputted. Sound was a touch on the quiet side, but that can be boosted in software.

Linux Compatibility

As with most webcams, it's just plug 'n' play. The latest version of Ubuntu detected it without hassle. It shows up as: 0c45:6366 Microdia USB 2.0 Camera.

That's a Sonix Technology Co. Ltd device, and it does correctly advertise a 2592x1944 resolution as both JPEG and video/x-raw YUY2.

Both Cheese and VLC detected the highest possible resolution - albeit only at 15fps for motion JPG. Using guvcview I was able to control the focus - either manually or auto - as well as being able to adjust the exposure.

Is it true 2K?

Earlier this year, I reviewed a WiFi Endoscope. That claimed to be 2560×1920, but the native resolution was 640×480. That's pretty common in cheap cameras - use a low-end sensor, upscale in software, and sell to people who only buy on specification inflation.

In this case, as far as I can tell, the camera is better than 2K! It picks out much more detail than my 720p camera, and has variable focus.

Limitations

Some video chat services, like Google Meet, only go up to 720p. I couldn't find any which went above 1080p. Even getUserMedia wouldn't go higher than that in the browser.

At the highest resolution, it's limited to 15fps using MJPEG. And only 2fps on RAW video. The camera claims to have an h264 stream, but I couldn't access it on Linux or Mac. At 1080p, you get 30fps.

Let's crack it open!

The cover is held on with a few dabs of glue. A quick spludger and it is open.

Here's a close up of the PCB. DH-48-02 V2.0 No markings on a camera module.

The microphone module appears to be 4R12 5W60.

Let's flip it over! USB soldered in. Sometimes these have connectors. Unpopulated space in the lower left. A closer look at the brains shows they are a SONIX SN9C5256AJG and a Boyamicro BY25D80AS TIG 2022

Verdict

So, to sum up…

• This camera claims to be 2K / 1440p. But it is actually 2592x1944! Much better than advertised.
• The mono mic is a bit quiet.
• Has auto / controllable focus and aperture.

All for less than £30!

The webcam cover is handy - you can easily see if the lens is open. The clip is well designed for hanging off the top of a laptop or monitor.

The lens makes a satisfying and audible click as it snaps into focus. And the optics are - for a cheap camera - great.

You're not going to be able to make use of all the pixels on a virtual pub quiz, but this is a cracking bit of kit for £26.

The MacBook I'm using doesn't have any lux sensors that I can see - most phones have a separate sensor which means the camera isn't in use all the time.

What I find curious is that the camera's hardware light isn't on. It turns on when an app is accessing the camera - but not when the OS is.

Is that a security hole?

Anyway, if you're wondering why your screen isn't adjusting its brightness correctly, uncover your webcam. If you've got nothing to hide...

This is the, slightly cumbersomely named, elp-usb100w05mt-dl36.

What's in the box?

The USB cable is around 5 metres long, and is wired into the camera. Four screws and rawlplugs are also included. Why? Because there are mounting holes at the back of the camera.

To access them, your have to unscrew the base. The whole camera unit comes apart - this allows you to change the orientation and angle of the camera.

The unit is a simple affair. A central lens, a light sensor above it, and 24 Infrared LEDs.

It's rainproof - so suitable for mounting outside. No software is needed - it is detected as a USB video camera in Linux.

Sample Shots

Here's the quality of image taken in the midday sun. Click for bigger.

There's a bit of fish-eye on the image, but colours are reasonably good. Image is a bit soft, but certainly good enough to let you see what's going on.

Here's the same shot at night.

IR illumination is pretty good. You don't get much fine detail - but it is more than enough to see what's going on. The camera needs to be installed outside - the IR will reflect back into the lens if the unit is placed behind glass.

Drawbacks

It's only a 1280x720 resolution unit. That's fine for seeing detail in things close up - but you're not going to pick up car car number plates very easily.

The MJPEG stream is meant to be 30fps. In reality, it varied between about 10FPS & 30FPS. Again, good enough for security camera footage.

Poor audio. There is a cheap mono microphone inside the unit. As in right inside the dome. If you tap on the lens, you'll hear it, but it doesn't seem to pick up speech or anything else. But if all you care about is seeing what's going on, it's not a huge issue.

The USB cable seems pretty chunky - but I'm not sure how weather-proof it is. If you install it, remember to regularly inspect it for defects.

Internals

You can unscrew the dome! It's tight, and there is a rubber layer there to keep it waterproof.

You can see the tiny condenser microphone in there. Everything is securely afixed and neatly wired. You could easily replace the internals if you needed.

Verdict

A pretty good camera for forty quid. If you have a Raspberry Pi mounted outside, this is a good way to get video to it.

In a world of cheap, WiFi connected IP cameras, this makes sense for anyone who wants a more reliable connection - and a camera which can boot up instantly.

Quality isn't exactly high def - but, for the price, it will do.

Get it

You can buy the camera for £40 on Amazon (Affiliate link).

Or get it direct from the manufacturer

Linux Tech Specs

Camera works out of the box with Linux - tried on a recent Debian build and an older Raspberry Pi.

USB Info: 05a3:9310 ARC International

Full v4l2-ctl output:

Driver Info (not using libv4l2):
    Driver name   : uvcvideo
    Card type     : USB 2.0 Camera
    Bus info      : usb-0000:00:14.0-3
    Driver version: 4.10.17
    Capabilities  : 0x84200001
        Video Capture
        Streaming
        Extended Pix Format
        Device Capabilities
    Device Caps   : 0x04200001
        Video Capture
        Streaming
        Extended Pix Format
Priority: 2
Video input : 0 (Camera 1: ok)
Format Video Capture:
    Width/Height      : 1280/720
    Pixel Format      : 'YUYV'
    Field             : None
    Bytes per Line    : 2560
    Size Image        : 1843200
    Colorspace        : sRGB
    Transfer Function : Default
    YCbCr/HSV Encoding: Default
    Quantization      : Default
    Flags             : 
Crop Capability Video Capture:
    Bounds      : Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
    Default     : Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
    Pixel Aspect: 1/1
Selection: crop_default, Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
Selection: crop_bounds, Left 0, Top 0, Width 1280, Height 720
Streaming Parameters Video Capture:
    Capabilities     : timeperframe
    Frames per second: 10.000 (10/1)
    Read buffers     : 0
                     brightness (int)    : min=-128 max=127 step=1 default=0 value=0
                       contrast (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=128 value=128
                     saturation (int)    : min=1 max=128 step=1 default=64 value=64
                            hue (int)    : min=-40 max=40 step=1 default=0 value=0
 white_balance_temperature_auto (bool)   : default=1 value=1
                          gamma (int)    : min=72 max=500 step=1 default=100 value=100
                           gain (int)    : min=0 max=100 step=1 default=0 value=0
           power_line_frequency (menu)   : min=0 max=2 default=1 value=1
      white_balance_temperature (int)    : min=2800 max=6500 step=1 default=4600 value=4600 flags=inactive
                      sharpness (int)    : min=0 max=6 step=1 default=3 value=3
         backlight_compensation (int)    : min=0 max=2 step=1 default=1 value=1
                  exposure_auto (menu)   : min=0 max=3 default=3 value=3
              exposure_absolute (int)    : min=1 max=5000 step=1 default=625 value=625 flags=inactive
         exposure_auto_priority (bool)   : default=0 value=1