Webcams 6: General advice on using web cameras with XSplit Broadcaster

While many people make use of webcams, the simple fact is that most application software that makes use of a webcam doesn’t give the end-user much control of its settings. Most video chat or conferencing software offer only a few basic settings. Thus it is that most people don’t even consider that there are some things that can be adjusted to improve the results you get from your webcam.

Those who are more serious about streaming video may use software like Wirecast, XSplit Broadcaster or Open Broadcaster. These programs offer more explicit control of the camera settings. This week the folks at XSplit published a nice blog post offering some good guidance on setting up a webcam for optimal results.

While they address things relating to their software specifically, the advice is broadly applicable to many situations. They have a short video that shows very graphically how disabling the automatic settings of a Logitech webcam can dramatically increase the frame rate it achieves.

I would not have expected this! Like most people, I was happy with the results of the default settings, so I didn’t dive beneath the covers to see what was possible. It seems that XSplit has some nice built-in tools for measuring camera performance.

This change in settings is something that I will definitely try during the coming VUC call with Iotum.