Slashdot Mirror
Low Cost Videoconferencing and GNOMEmeeting?
aht asks: "OK!, here is my problem: I'm about to install a LAN of about 20 computers. Each computer must have a soundcard and a videocamera to videoconference with each other and to the outside (Internet). As Netmeeting compatibility is required, we're trying GNOMEmeeting with a USB Logitech QuickCam, but results have not been satisfactory at all. We're not sure if that bad results come from Logitech's USB driver, GNOMEmeeting or both."
"If we're not able to get videoconferencing working with GNOMEmeeting, we will be forced to install Windows 2000. :-(
We're considering moving from the USB videocamera to a BT8{4,7}8+videocamera, but we have economic restrictions: computer and videocamera and everything should stay close to or under $1000.
If we do choose to abandon the USB setup, what combination of hardware, videocamera and software would we need to satisfy our requirements?
We're using Debian Linux and we'd like to stick with AMD processors, if possible. Any help will be welcome!"
The Quickcam Express's Driver's Homepage:
http://qce-ga.sourceforge.net/
The Driver's Sourceforge Page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/qce-ga/
PHP, it kicks ASP!
I'm using GnomeMeeting at work with great success. It works perfectly with Netmeeting provided that you install the GSM codec for Netmeeting. However, all our webcams are Philips webcams, they work very well with GnomeMeeting and the quality is good. Personnaly, I think that there is a lack of such great quality software, like GnomeMeeting. If you have problems, you could contact their mailing list, they are very kind.
Andreas
I have been using Gnomemeeting without any major issues for a while now. My cam is based on ov511 driver, and after I updated the ov511 driver to the latest version, the picture quality is fine. Bear in mind, GnomeMeeting is relatively new and is still under development. Provided you have a decent connection, I recommend GnomeMeeting. If some of you want to use netmeeting, then go ahead and use it. I'm sure this thread was started with the knowledge that Netmeeting is available and works. Comments like those above are not a benefit to anyone. If you need help with GnomeMeeting, try the mailing list or the irc channel. Both places have friendly helpful people willing to help out with your problems.
Damien Sandras, the lead for the GnomeMeeting project, has snapshots rolled of the forthcoming 0.12 release of GnomeMeeting.
:
Ripped from Mailing List
There are a lot of new features
* ILS rewrite (you can browse several ILS servers at the same time)
* full ILS support
* videograbber support (you can now make changes on the fly)
* gatekeeper support
* docklet support (Miguel Rodriguez)
* image zoom support
* jitter buffer delay support and other advanced codecs settings
* devices auto-detection
* bandwidth control support
* preferences reorganisation
The drivers are the problem. There will hopefully be a user added section for Camera ratings on the site soon.
On the V4L mailing list there have been a lot of discussions about which cameras are best and how to take advantage of a bttv based card to use a camera for video input. The mail list is here. And you have to be a list member to see the list archives. You might also check out which cameras are supported at http://www.linux-usb.org and match that up with something on the V4L list and/or GnomeMeeting list and archives .
First thing to do is isolate whether it is the camera driver or the application. Try the camera with different video applications. (xawtv etc)
? id =9
Check out different camera models with gnomemeeting. I didn't think many logitech cams were well supported. Last I heard they refused to release the programming specs.
Check out
http://www.linux-usb.org/
for more info.
Follow the links to this url to get cameras that work well.
http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdevices.php3
In my experience it's hard to get anything that could be described as "acceptable" from a Logitech Quickcam.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
I use both a Kensington USB and two different PCI web cams with GnomeMeeting -- there is no comparison.
1 1 . While any composite or S-video video feed can be hooked up to this card -- including a regular consumer electronics video camera or even a VCR -- the small composite/S-video web cams are hard to find these days.
For raw frames per second, the PCI cameras in full screen mode rarely drop a frame -- let alone in the small GnomeMeeting view port. Jump around alot while it is in fullscreen mode and it will skip, but otherwise it looks like a regular video feed. USB cameras are often rated at ~30fps at the _lowest_ video mode. That said, the Kensington USB I have looks crappy in it's lowest mode, and still can't keep up to the PCI in any mode. Note that this is after applying a patch to the se401 USB camera driver to increase the buffer size.
For quality, the camera itself matters most. The USR/3COM Big Picture camera I have has adjustment buttons on it, and even a reverse video mode (a perk...but not practical). The USB cams tend to have light sensitive CCDs, and even if they don't the quality (fps and color) can be an issue.
Keep in mind that I'm not being picky here...there is a drastic and dead obvious difference between the two. USB 2 or Firewire cameras might also be an option though I can't offer advice on those.
Bottom line: Use PCI video, not USB, if at all possible regaurdless if the OS or conferencing tool used.
The camera is the pricy part; ex. $15 for a good card, http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=VID-0
Caution: While many PCI and USB cameras are supported, verify it before purchase. I bought an oddball Genoa PCI card, and it works well for RCA/Composite cameras but not with the bundled QuartzSight camera.
As for your specific issue -- use GnomeMeeting or not -- that's up to you. Unit cost is lower since there's no Windows licence, so you might be able to put that money towards better hardware.
GnomeMeeting is a nice program. Through no fault of it's own, you have a USB device to examine how well GnomeMeeting itself works. If this is the only test you do, you can't make a good decision.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
GnomeMeeting is compatible with every videodevice that is compatible with the Video4linux API.
It will not work out of the box if the driver doesn't support QCIF as size. But it doesn't depend on GnomeMeeting, but on the driver.
GnomeMeeting is a really good project. That's all I can say. It is the first opensource H.323 GUI for Linux and the author made a great job, for free, for the community. Many people seem to forget that.