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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!
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 .
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.
>Put Windows 2000 on the machine and run netmeeting.
You may not want to limit yourself so dramatically...
Note that MS netmeeting has explicitly stopped support for all open standard codec protocols. This is another attempt to lock out compatibility with Open Source software. MS has done their best to hide that they ever supported any open standard protocols, but you can still get support for an open standard netmeeting codec (if you need to interoperate with folks using netmeeting).
The project mentioned in this article sounds like it's trying to solve a specific videoconferencing problem, and not be a generic desktop solution. In that case, you definitely don't want the excess MS baggage: you're getting the whole elephant when all you need is the tail; linux is much easier to tailor to suit a specific need. Compound that with the high pricetag of W2K and the limited budget, and Windows becomes very unattractive.
WebBriefing is a closed source project for Linux. I have found that it complements GnomeMeeting very well in that each has functionality missing in the other. WebBriefing seems to have dropped off the face of the earth , but I could still find the RPM .
Also, realize that GnomeMeeting relies on PWLib. It's V4L compatibility stems from this. I remember going through the source once and seeing the limited compatibility... you might want to do the same. I don't know what project is in control of this library, but that might be a good place to ask about compatibility. The V4L mailing list is also a good resource.
When I die, please cast my ashes upon Bill Gates -- for once, make him clean up after me!