PDA

View Full Version here: : Phillips sps900nc Webcam - first impressions


Robert_T
25-03-2006, 06:00 PM
Hi All, I've had this new webcam for a week now and only got a chance to try it last night. I was interested to see of I could squeeze better performance out of this compared to my Neximage. Same chip, but the 900nc has a better codec YUY2 and I was hoping might be able to be used more effectively at 10fps without info loss or even 15fps - though it's NOT a USB2 device.

The camera controls allow control of both exposure and gain and contrast. The only downside is that in changing the exposure it doesn't tell you what it's changing to - bit of experimentation required or use WCCTRL which I haven't tried yet. Got it with the 1.25in adaptor which seems to block out the stupid light you can't turn off on the front.

I should state that so far the conditions I've used this under have been woeful - both in seeing and transparency, so I can't draw too many conclusions. I've posted a couple of jupiters in another thread showing the result under very poor seeing.

I had been hopeful that perhaps the way the chip was configured or installed it might prove a little more sensitive than the neximage. It's not. That said, it DOES appear to have better signal to noise. I had long suspected this must be the case when others with Toucams were talking about running them at 50-80% gain. When I do this with the neximage it is VERY grainy. WIth the 900nc it's noisy, but much "finer" noise or grain.

I'm hopeful that with good conditions it might therefore pip the neximage in terms of image quality... might have a better chance of using my 4x powermate as well... watch this space ;)

cheers,

asimov
25-03-2006, 06:19 PM
Don't worry, I'm watching this space intently :)

Thanks for the info thus far.

asimov
25-03-2006, 06:35 PM
BTW I was under the impression no one made the adapters for them yet but it sounds like I'm not up with the latest :)

davidpretorius
25-03-2006, 07:24 PM
thanks Rob, am glad to see the 4x powermate may get a run.

Robert_T
25-03-2006, 08:07 PM
Yeh, I'd thought that too. Telescopes and Astronomy have them though. They fit well enough, but need to be gentle (more gentle than I was :doh: ) prying up the lens cover before fitting.

SO far my chip is pretty free from dust bunnies which makes a nice change too :D

cheers,

asimov
25-03-2006, 08:10 PM
Wot!? A dust-bunny-free-chip!? Well I never! :)

davidpretorius
25-03-2006, 08:32 PM
asi, positive thinking and the dust bunnies go chasing carrots!!!

matt
28-03-2006, 06:35 AM
Rob

Very interested in your comments re the NexImage Vs the Toucam.

I was airing the exact same thoughts/doubts during a conversation the other day.

I've seen plenty of comment the 2 webcams are identical in CCD chip and performance but like you I've had my suspicions.

It will be interesting to see how Asimov goes now he's using a toucam in his new 9.25.

Cheers

Robert_T
28-03-2006, 09:15 AM
Hi Matt - There's definitely a difference in that the 900nc appears less noisy. This has more to do with quality of surrounding circuitry and how it's put together etc so is possible with the same chip. I certainly wouldn't toss the neximage yet, it's certainly more user friendly. I'll need some good seeing to see if there's a serious advantage with the 900nc and it's different (though hard disk hungry) YUY2 codec and better sig to noise.

cheers,

cheers,

iceman
28-03-2006, 10:13 AM
I've been using the 900nc firmware (plus the Optimised Colour macro) on my 840k ToUcam for the last month or so.

Seems to work well.

Robert_T
28-03-2006, 01:01 PM
must get across optimised colour mode... is that a mod like raw mode done the same way?

cheers,

davidpretorius
28-03-2006, 03:30 PM
yup, same program wrmac

http://www.astrosurf.com/astrobond/ebrawe.htm

have a good read through and ask any questions. Easy to change, it only takes a matter of seconds to swap between modes