Philips PC Camera, User Manual

Page 1: ...lications 7 5 Settings 8 6 TWAIN applications 14 7 Tips and Frequently Asked Questions FAQs 17 8 Technical specifications 22 9 Regulations Warnings Maintenance 24 All brand names and trademarks acknowledged Copyright 2001 Philips Components BV All data subject to change without notice 1 ...

Page 2: ...packages included on CD ROM so you can start using the camera straightaway Congratulations on purchasing the Philips USB PC Camera This new digital camera is the most advanced means of recording high quality movies or still pictures quickly and easily on your PC or laptop computer After installation the new camera can be used for all sorts of applications such as Video e mail Video capture Create ...

Page 3: ... easy steps The best way to quick results is as follows 1 Unpack the box 2 Unplug all your USB devices except USB keyboard or USB mouse before you start 3 Place the Philips installation CD ROM in your CD ROM player let the Philips installation program install the driver software and the application software and connect the camera to the USB port marked with the USB logo when asked by the installat...

Page 4: ... the supporting surface is free of grease and dirt 1 Remove backing from adhesive tape 2 Place perch on top of monitor 3 Push disc with adhesive tape down through central perch hole The camera base can be removed by turning it through 90 degrees 1 and pulling it down out of the camera 2 The camera features a 1 4 UNC screw thread for tripod mounting 4 ...

Page 5: ... installation program should start automatically If not click the Windows Start button then click Run and type X Setup exe where X stands for the drive name of your CD ROM drive 4 Let the Philips installation program guide you through the setup procedure Mark the different components you want to install including the applications You can always re run this setup at a later time to add components t...

Page 6: ...mizing the camera s performance 7 Exit VCheck You should now have Program Group called Philips ToUcam Camera in your Windows Start menu One camera settings icon on your taskbar VProperty One VLounge icon on the Windows QuickLaunch menu on your taskbar One VLounge icon on your desktop Installed applications as selected by the user during this installation procedure 8 Plug in any USB devices you mig...

Page 7: ...e of these buttons will be greyed out and will not activate when the cursor moves over them indicating that the application is not available Please re run the Philips installation program Setup from the CD ROM to install any missing applications The other buttons and the menus offer access to other useful camera options Where to get help on the applications For detailed information about the use o...

Page 8: ... preview video image on your monitor Always use this option to see the effect of changed settings on your screen 5 1 Image Controls The first property tab is marked Image Controls Performance This text box is used to inform the user about camera settings problems or special circumstances Important messages will show a flashing icon The same icon also appears in the Camera controls tab to indicate ...

Page 9: ...es will be greyed out automatically and cannot be selected To enable higher frame rates choose a smaller video image format in your application Applications will usually offer resolution switching image format setting under menu items within the applications themselves Image Controls Here you will find the slider controls for brightness contrast gamma correction and saturation Note that the contra...

Page 10: ...he white balance setting in Manual mode when you have a colourful scene and stable lighting conditions Indoor FL Outdoor These settings compensate for the specific colour spectrum of these types of lighting However these compensations are fixed so under changing lighting conditions it is better to use the Auto setting Use the Red and Blue sliders to control the white balance manually referencing t...

Page 11: ...o inform the user about camera settings problems or special circumstances Important messages will show a flashing icon The same icon also appears in the Camera Controls tab to indicate that an important message is being displayed in the Performance text box on the Image Controls tab Flickerless The Flickerless option should only be used under flickering 50 60 Hz light conditions e g fluorescent or...

Page 12: ... audio signal Mute Shuts off the microphone completely Volume Wizard Automated volume setting By pressing the Volume Wizard start button an Automatic Gain Control cycle is started for the camera microphone to determine the optimum volume setting Speak into the microphone until the Volume Wizard stops or until you press Cancel Audio Format Audio format shows you the parameters of the audio data You...

Page 13: ...e in its multimedia settings Applications can use this setting for selecting a user preferred audio source Use preferred devices only Use this option to enforce or stop using the preferred device only For most camera applications it is preferable to check this option 5 4 Capture source Some applications may offer you a fourth tab called Capture source Usually this setting has only one option when ...

Page 14: ...era listed as an available TWAIN data source among your other TWAIN sources e g scanners Just pick the USB PC Camera as your source to acquire camera pictures directly into your application Then choose Acquire to launch the camera viewfinder which displays the moving video picture Say Cheese to capture a still image or click on the Capture option under the viewfinder or push the snapshot button on...

Page 15: ...w independently of the still image format Single Image Capture Voice Controlled snapshot This option will be disabled grayed out when Auto Image Capturing is enabled The Voice Controlled check box disables enables voice controlled capturing If this function has been enabled the user can start capturing by saying Cheese and also by pushing the Capture button in the Viewfinder or by pressing the cam...

Page 16: ...e selected filename but extended with one or more digits This digit is increased for each new image so that the previous images will not be overwritten You can enter a name for the captured images at File name or browse until you find a suitable name to use Use File type to choose between four supported file formats BMP TIF JPG or FlashPix Use the Options button to define file type specific save o...

Page 17: ...s is that the InstallShield cannot remove certain registry entries IMPORTANT NOTE If the installation program asks you to place a different CD ROM in the CD ROM drive for instance the installation CD ROM or the Windows CD ROM always wait until the busy cursor icon usually an hour glass icon has disappeared from your screen and the busy LED on your CD ROM drive extinguishes before you press the eje...

Page 18: ...the System Properties 1 Access this menu by right clicking the My Computer icon in the top left hand corner of your desktop then click on Properties Alternatively click on Start Settings Control Panel then double click on System to access this menu 2 Click the Device Manager tab to see the list of installed devices If the USB PC Camera has been installed correctly and it is plugged into a USB port...

Page 19: ...though I have a physical USB port In the Windows Device Manager right click on My Computer click on Properties Device Manager no section with the name Universal serial bus controller is visible A Check whether your BIOS enables the USB port as follows reboot your computer enter your BIOS setup and look for a text such as USB function This should be enabled Q No Video My application doesn t display...

Page 20: ...ice environments with 50 or 60 Hz fluorescent lighting when certain frame rates are used There are two solutions 1 Select the Flickerless option This option is located in the Image Controls property page This property page is accessible from within the application you are using 2 Deselect the Flickerless option The frame rates 5 10 and 20 are always flickerless in 50 Hz lighting environments Only ...

Page 21: ...he processor load is high commands will sometimes be missed resulting in gaps in the audio and video stream With audio this results in a click sound The higher the processor load the more clicks may be generated This effect can be minimized and even completely eliminated by reducing the processor load for example by 1 changing to a lower resolution e g 320x240 2 changing to a lower frame rate 3 pu...

Page 22: ...ps CIF 352 x 288 Up to 30 SIF 320 x 240 Up to 30 QCIF 176 x 144 Up to 30 QSIF 160 x 120 Up to 30 Data format I420 IYUV Camera adjustment parameters Frame rate contrast brightness saturation sharpness colour on off mirror image backlight compensation white balance exposure control hue Interfacing USB cable 2 0 m Minimum system requirements Processor Pentium II 233 MHz RAM 32 MB OS Windows 98 Window...

Page 23: ...ormats mono 16 bit 8 11 025 22 05 44 1 kHz Weight 110 g Dimensions 84 x 67 x 47 mm L x W x H Ambient temperature Operating 10 to 55 C Storage 35 to 70 C Power supply NOTE Should you wish to connect this camera to a USB hub instead of your computer s root hub you will need to use a powered hub capable of delivering the operating power specified below Power Supplied via the USB cable Power complianc...

Page 24: ...orient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help Any unauthorized modification to this equipment could result in the revocation of the authorization to operate the equipment 9 2 Wa...

Page 25: ...fore writing to disk Codec COding DECoding This refers to a compression format for creating sound and video streams on the computer Compression Term used to describe a process of compacting or squeezing video and sound information into a smaller than normal size For example 2 to 1 compression would indicate that 2 pixels would now only occupy the space of 1 pixel DirectX The latest standard develo...

Page 26: ... video streams on the computer Compression Term used to describe a process of compacting or squeezing video and sound information into a smaller than normal size For example 2 to 1 compression would indicate that 2 pixels would now only occupy the space of 1 pixel DirectX The latest standard developed primarily by Microsoft to help establish a common method for exchanging audio and video informati...

Page 27: ...uter Preview Window The window within the capture application that is used to display live or moving video Property page A window with camera setting tabs that appears when you click on a setting menu item within an application This setting menu item can have different names in different applications but is usually called Settings Preferences Video settings or something similar Rebooting Restartin...

Page 28: ...ly and to load the appropriate drivers without restarting your computer With USB devices this usually means that you will have to perform an installation procedure only once i e the first time you connect the new hardware After this first time you will not have to restart the computer when connecting the camera to the USB port The USB driver will detect the camera as newly connected hardware It ca...

Page 29: ...the TWAIN driver for the TWAIN source USB Universal Serial Bus used for connecting external devices to the PC without having to restart your PC Video for Windows Developed by Microsoft this is a standard for displaying video on the Windows desktop Windows has this built in This standard has now been succeeded by DirectShow which is part of DirectX Video stream A collection of images that combine t...