StarCam 370i - low quality colour

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szucsati

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Problem: If not using StarCam 370i in a sunny room the picture turns purple and the dark coloures come up incorrect as shown in the pictures below (correct firs, SC second).

pana2.jpg
msi2.jpg


(Supposed) explanation: We found it is because of the lack/faulty (? not sure yet) of an IR filter layer. Probably the cam was designed like this to be able to work in night mode. Please read this article to understand the necessity of the IR filter and read through the topic for details (especially from this post).

Solution: Use an energy saving (neon based) bulb. It produces less IR light than the normal light bulbs. Please read this post.

Will update this post if we figure out anything important.

========================
Original first post:
Hi!

I asked my sister to bring a StarCam 370i for me from the UK. I got it, it's cool but I'm very disappointed about the coloures. It looks like it doesn't like dark coloures. My black t-shirt is light grey, my dark blue one is light purple, my darg green chair is also light purple...

I tried to adjust the colour settings but couldn't set it up. Is this normal? What can be wrong? :(
I use the latest driver from the msi webpage (she left the CD in Englang :( ).

thx
 
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hmm, is that the default settings? try clicking on Reset, and see if those Hue / Saturation values change

also, i just found this review on the web:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?cid=7&id=2464

The image quality was found to be rather grainy, but we expected that since the image sensor used is really entry-level. However, you can adjust the various settings on the fly, like gamma, contrast, saturation and they are immediately reflected on the MSI utility's preview screen before taking that snap.
Click to expand...

i think you might have to live with this :cry:

 
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I would accept a grainy picture, I think it's all right for a webcam but not a picture with incorrect coloures...  :cry:
The Saturation just does what it has to, so I could turn it to bw for example, the Saturation makes the other coloures even worse...
 
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Yes I did :(.
There's quite a big contrast between the correct and the incorrect colours, that's why neither the hue nor other settings can help.
 
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Well I am certainly no expert on the subject when it comes to webcams. Best I can say is to keep writing the folks you got it from and MSI. The other thing is to keep checking for any software updates.

I know it isn't much to leave you with. I hope the situation gets resolved.
 
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Hi All,

Just to let you know I'm having the same problem.

I bought 2 x Starcams yesterday - works fine on my PC at work - CLICK

On my PC at home though, I get very poor colour reproduction - CLICK

On my second home PC (identical MSI motherboard, different video card), the colours are awful aswell.

I'll do some more digging around.

Cheers
Callan
 
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Hi callan!

The first usefull information:)! Did you try to change the cameras? To see if the one that produces poor quality works fine at your working machine? If yes, what videocard do you use in each PC? What about the OS? I only tried on XP SP2. With an MSI mobo + ATI VGA, ASUS mobo + ATI VGA and an MSI mobo with IGP (nvidia). And I think I used the USB 2.0 port on each computer. They all produces the same quality.
 
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hmm, seems we may be narrowing the problem down to something software/hardware related with the system, rather than the camera itself

can we have some full system details to look at (like in my signature)?

szucsati, what Nvidia display drivers are you using with your integrated Geforce4?

 
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I think it's rather a sw problem then a hw. I tried on a virtual VMware machine as well. I'll check if I have a win2k ghost image somewhere but I don't think so. I'm too lazy to do an install. I have a Fedora Core 4 installed on this machine but I don't know how to make the camera work on it.

I use ForceWare 71.89 with the IGP.

What can effect the quality of the camera? The DirectX maybe.. But all the XPSP2 systems has DX9. And the driver for the camera. Wish I knew what chip is in the camera.
 
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DirectShow processing filters, and display drivers can have effects on how video is displayed on your screen

try installing a recent ForceWare driver, to see if it makes any difference. if not, try a downgrade to 66.93


 
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I would use the camera on the two pcs with ati card, I just checked it with the other computers (my sister's and my parent's machine). So i won't try to play with ForceWare drivers. BTW i think the other pc with the GF4 has an old Detonator on installed.

A win2k install is getting ghosted back to my main pc. Slowly...
Hm.. Should I check the nforce2 drivers? Yeees, I should! But I don't think it would effect the Linux machine with a vmware :)
 
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Now I know it has an SN9C105 controler chip. And I also know that LG LIC-300 and Sangha sn-535 have the same.
I tried with a driver from LG and a driver from.. I don't know where :). Non of them worked fine. I also found a driver for Linux and it producet the same (ok.. even worse) quality!

And see these sample pictures (in the bottom): http://www.oc.com.tw/article/0508/readparticle.asp?id=4300 They are almost perfect! :(

callan! I'm waiting for you :).
 
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What should we do now? It looks there are one good and 3-4 bad cams on the forum. Should we send them back to MSI?

Where is callan? :(
 
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Hi, just got one of these webcams. Works fine. As for the lighting, I know its a simple thing to suggest but have you tried the auto setting in the AMcap? think its called the aux-led? on auto it is constantly adjusting but off displays it well i find. Also, it could just be that the quality is down to opinion?! So what i think is good you might think isn't......

sounds simple but if u've set everything up right then i can't see the problem.....

 
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http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=2139&CategoryID=203&SubCategoryID=182

i am going to buy one of these for myself, it should be here within the next couple of days, so maybe i can help to figure these things out! :biggthumbsup:

for the sake of ?20, it would be useful for me, if i can help better, rather than speculate ;)



(plus, a night-vision webcam will be useful for me, if it helps to identify the drunken f***ers who keep breaking our front fence at night :grin:)

 
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mattjones: that one just turns on/off/auto the infra leds.

Dr Stu: My sister bought my cam from the same shop in Manchester.
 
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ok, got mine today, so after a little playing around, here's what i think...


i've attached a couple of snapshots i took early today, during daylight. camera seems to handle images quite fine, though as stated already, colours do look a bit wishy-washy. the camera doesn't fare as well in poor light, the second picture shows my arm and a can of Kronenbourg lager (both dark blue in colour), but both look very pale

conclusion: the camera in this StarCam is only the basic VGA type (as i used to have in my old Nokia 3650 mobile phone). picture quality was mostly ropey with that too, but overall its good value for a budget webcam, the streaming quality is pretty good, and the MyGuard software is a handy novelty, and works quite well



[attachment deleted by admin]
 
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