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Tested Video Input Devices
(this is simply a list of devices tested by various users)

 

Video Capture Devices (suitable for NTSC or PAL video cameras):

Hauppauge WinTV Model 401 -- PCI card with S-Video and Composite (RCA jack) inputs. Tested throughly under Windows 2000 and Windows XP. You only need to install the basic driver for it to work with ImageSalsa. Recently, Hauppauge updated the drivers, but these have not been tested. The older Windows 2000 driver had more flexibility than the older Windows XP driver, but now there appears to be no OS distinction. Best resolution was 320x240 for the composite input and 640x480 for the S-Video input (de-interlaced).

Hauppauge USB Live -- USB capture device with S-Video and Composite inputs. Similar to WinTV card in performance but only performed to 320x240. Tested with Windows 2000.

Belkin USB VideoBus II -- USB capture device with S-Video and Composite inputs. Another great input device. Tested with XP.

Osprey-100 -- PCI card with three (3) composite inputs. Card has three inputs but only one can be enabled at a time. Must manually configure input by hand. Drivers claim to support more than one card to allow multiple simultaneous inputs, but this hasn't been tested. Card runs flawlessly for days on end. Only device tested to date that de-interlaces a composite input into a good-quality 640x480 image. Tested with Windows 2000 and XP.

Hauppauge ImpactVCB -- Basically Hauppauge's repackaging of the Osprey-100.  Usually sells for much less.

Driver for Bt8x8 chipsets -- Includes WinTV, Osprey-100, ImpactVCB, Intel Create and Share PCI, and many other PCI cards that have the Bt848 or Bt878 chipsets.  You can use this driver to run all of these cards with all Windows operating systems.  I have tried this driver and it worked on a WinTV model 401 card and older Intel Create and Share PCI card.  It supported 640x480 capture modes with the composite (RCA) inputs on both cards.  Both cards were installed at the same time so the driver can also detect multiple cards installed in the same machine.  The card does not, however, provide separate enumerations of Video-for-Windows devices.  Like most USB devices, they appear under the generic "Microsoft WDM Image Capture (Win32)" device and you have to select one card at a time.  This may also mean that you can only run either a USB capture device or PCI card running this driver at a time and not both as you can with many PCI card's standard drivers.  Another concern I have is that with my 2.53GHz Pentium 4 system, I could only obtain 10 frames per second even at the lowest resolution -- apparently a driver limitation.  The WinTV driver would run at 30 fps at 320x240.

http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/

Tested Cameras:

Logitech QuickCam -- (little white eyeball looking camera) Not very sensitive in low-light conditions. Haven't tested in outdoor lighting. No stability issues. Tested with XP.

Kodak DVC-325 -- A user reports that this USB camera works great with Windows XP.  Reported very stable.

Other cameras that our users have reported success with:

Logitech QuickCam Pro 400 USB Camera

3Com HomeConnect USB Camera

Panasonic KX-HCM10 Network Camera

Multiple device compatibility:

Some cameras/devices will work together and others will not. Here are my observations.
Hauppauge PCI cards and Osprey will not work together as many PCI cards many the same Brooktree chipsets (including these two cards). Both cards do work simultaneously with the USB devices.

Any two or more devices that use Microsoft's WDM Image Capture driver can only use one at a time and they have to be selected in the driver -- using the Show Source Dialog button under the Video Feed Setup window. These typically many of the USB devices.

An almost guaranteed solution is to use one or more "network" cameras with a PC camera or video capture card.

Devices that will not work:
Snappy -- Popular printer port capture device. Does not have VFW drivers and manufacturer's web site no longer exists.

Veo Observer Network Camera -- Does not provide static image URL required to load images from network cameras.  I've asked the company for network communications protocol that could be incorporated into ImageSalsa, but have received no response.


* If you have been using a video camera or video capture device not listed and it has performed well, send a note to support@imagesalsa.com. Please include OS information and a pointer to the manufacturer's web site if available.