Also it would mean it would have to dial up every time you wanted it to update the image this would not be very convenient.Ī permanent broadband connection allows you to offer a high quality streaming webcam as well as the static options.īy the way don’t be worried about a webcam using up your bandwidth. You can use a dial-up connection for your webcam but this would limit options available to you, You would only be able to offer a static infrequently updated image. Also you need to consider will the camera get knocked and moved about by accident thus rendering the view useless. You should ideally mount the camera so it has a good all day view of your scene without getting direct sunlight onto it.
If you would prefer to use an actual video camera rather than a webcam then you would need a TV Card such as a WinTv card by Hauppage, their early WinTv cards (with bt878 chipsets) had VFW, their newer range such as PVR250 etc use WDM drivers instead so can't be used. The only requirement is that is uses Video For Windows (most do by the way!).
Most modern webcams use a USB interface to connect to the PC and come with their own driver software (which you must install). For instance are you going to mount the camera permanently outside in weatherproof housing or are you just going to put your normal everyday webcam pointing out the window of your office. Which one you buy will depend on what you want to do with the camera. There are many different webcams on the market that can be purchased from just about anywhere these days. This should apply anyway if you are using a PC on a broadband internet connection! I would recommend that you use an up-to-date system that has all the windows updates installed as well as a good virus checker that is up-to-date. If you are familiar with Linux operating system then you may prefer to use one of the many free programs available for that system, My guide here will assume you are using a modern-ish PC with Windows XP.