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Xbox webcam mod

twelly27

By twelly27
in Getting Started With Imaging

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burger

burger

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Posted

I've read that they are CCD, but have also read that that is a false rumour!

Why would they use a CCD in such a cheap camera? It doesn't make sense.

They are ccd, I have taken a couple to bits,

They are cheap because they are old, the philips would be cheap also if not for the demand, a same age webcam without ccd go for 99p on ebay the 900's for £99, but the original selling price would have been the same.

I got a philips 657 ccd one a few days ago for 99p + £3 postage, its just a bit of luck sometimes

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JamesF

JamesF

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They are ccd, I have taken a couple to bits,

I have taken a couple to bits, but I was always under the impression they were CMOS. How do you know it's a CCD? Did you find a model number for the sensor or something?

James

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JamesF

JamesF

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I see that someone else has taken one to bits and look at it under a microscope and there are no markings, so I'm interested to know how you know it's a CCD. It might be useful to be able to tell in the future.

James

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burger

burger

Posted
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I have taken a couple to bits, but I was always under the impression they were CMOS. How do you know it's a CCD? Did you find a model number for the sensor or something?

James

Hi James,

I found the spec sheet somewhere after reading a modding guide, it mentioned something about it being too small to be a CMOS sensor.

will see if I can find it again

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JamesF

JamesF

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I found the spec sheet somewhere after reading a modding guide, it mentioned something about it being too small to be a CMOS sensor.

will see if I can find it again

Sounds like quite a weak argument to me :) Be interesting to know the rationalisation behind it.

James

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burger

burger

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Just looked at a couple of the webcams I have, philips and creative, both on the list of known CCD cameras WEB-CAMERAS

I also checked the xbox one, the chips on them all look the same (to me), when the daylight reflects off them you see a full colour spectrum.

I have an old Trust camera (cmos in the manual) and although the chip looks the same it is very dull and not at all reflective.

Not very scientific I know but does tend to match the info out there.

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burger

burger

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Surely that's just due to light reflecting off the Bayer mask that's in front of the sensor?

James

No idea.

Did say it was not very scientific.

Just checked all my webcams, 7 different models all very reflective except one, the trust cmos one.

Seems very unlikely to me that the one that looks different is just down to a mask on the chip or it is a mask on the chip and again would suggest to me that the ccd have it and the cmos dont.

I

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JamesF

JamesF

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I believe that pretty much any colour camera will have the Bayer matrix, though I guess it may be made from a different medium giving a lower level of reflection. I really don't know, which is why I'm interested in the original basis for the decision. It would be nice to see something that said, for example, "CCDs have this feature X for reason Y. CMOS sensors don't. The Xbox camera has feature X and therefore must be a CCD" just to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.

In the end it doesn't matter, I guess. Historically CCDs have been more sensitive than CMOS sensors, but CMOS sensors are improving and perhaps the question should be not "Is it a CCD or CMOS sensor?" but rather "How sensitive is it?".

James

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burger

burger

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I believe that pretty much any colour camera will have the Bayer matrix, though I guess it may be made from a different medium giving a lower level of reflection. I really don't know, which is why I'm interested in the original basis for the decision. It would be nice to see something that said, for example, "CCDs have this feature X for reason Y. CMOS sensors don't. The Xbox camera has feature X and therefore must be a CCD" just to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.

In the end it doesn't matter, I guess. Historically CCDs have been more sensitive than CMOS sensors, but CMOS sensors are improving and perhaps the question should be not "Is it a CCD or CMOS sensor?" but rather "How sensitive is it?".

James

Thats what I was thinking,

I expected a camera costing £30 now with the recent advances in technology would have been better than a 10 year old ccd camera.

But I have not seen any comparisons on any new cameras around now.

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JamesF

JamesF

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thats the reason I went for Xbox one, very cheap to learn stuff with quite happy with mine took this of Jupiter with it, for a very first try I'm happy

A good attitude, I think. The Xbox cam may never rival the SPC900 or DFK21, but the experience, knowledge and frustration gained are just the same :)

James

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JamesF

JamesF

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Waste water pipe does seem to have a bit of variation in outside diameter, perhaps because 32mm is what used to be 1.25". I know some people have had success with film canisters with the end cut off, so if you can find one of those it may work.

The expensive alternative is to buy a "proper" nosepiece; usually about £12 I think.

James

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