How to make computer recognize DV Camera through USB port

[Jim]

I have a Panasonic PV-DV953, and just recently had an application
that I need to stream some video using this camera since it will
focus close to an object where the standard webcams will not focus
that close.

I insalled the USB DRIVER and WEBCAM software that came with it,
but Windows XP will not recognize the camera. Here is the strange
part. The USB driver shows up in the little removeagle devices
icon at lower right.

If I use OOVOO video chat program, it recognizes the camera and
it works perfectly.

If I use SKYPE, the video has a black bar in the middle of the screen.

If I use JUSTING TV, nothing, it does not recognize the camera at all.
This is the software I want to use with the camera to stream close
up view of a piece of scientific gear digital readout.

In the control panel, under scanners and cameras, it does not
recognize the camera, and when you try to install it and point it
to the right place on the supplied DVD (Drivers), it says the
software is not for that camera, even though it is already installed.

Anyone ever had this type of problem and can maybe offer any
suggestions? Should I uninstall and re-install the drivers?
Not sure just how to do that.

Thanks,

Jim

[Paul]

The camera has some choices to make, in terms of interconnecting to the computer.

1) If the camera pretends to be a "hard drive" in terms of its storage method,
when you plug it in, it could appear as a "USB Mass Storage" class device. That
could be why it is showing up in the "Safely Remove" icon in the lower right
hand corner.

Some multimedia devices, instead of being "USB Mass Storage", are MTP or
Media Transfer Protocol devices. USB Mass Storage is a "single agent" protocol,
meaning the camera can't write to its "hard drive" at the same time as the
computer is reading out any data. MTP, on the other hand, supports multiple
agents, so the camera can write to the drive, at the same time the computer
is doing stuff. (Naturally, they can't be hammering the same exact file at the
same time.)

USB Mass Storage protocol is built into most modern Windows versions.

MTP was delivered at one time, with advanced version number Windows Media Player
installs.

Maybe there is some way to do live streaming with MTP, but I don't know the
details.

2) OK, that isn't really practical for live streaming.

The way a web cam works, is standards compliant webcams show up as
"USB VIdeo Class" or UVC devices. So if the camera stopped pretending to be
a "hard drive", then if the camera support UVC, the usual Windows interfaces
can pick that up.

I don't remember my webcam showing up in the "Safely Remove" icon, so I suppose
that might be another bit of info about whether it is using UVC.

About half of the cheap webcams, don't follow the standard, in which case
their custom driver CD should be installed.

You can get some information about what the camera is doing from a protocol
perspective, by using the Microsoft program UVCView. (I expect Linux has
just as many options for ferreting out the info, if you wanted to use
that OS instead.)

This is my standard blurb for the older version of UVCView.

*******
ftp://ftp.efo.ru/pub/ftdichip/Utilities/UVCView.x86.exe
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/USB_IDs/UVCView.x86.exe

File size is 167,232 bytes.
MD5sum is 93244d84d79314898e62d21cecc4ca5e

(You check the MD5sum to see if the copy is unadulterated. MD5sum has been
broken from a security standpoint, so it isn't an absolute "proof of purchase".)

This is a picture of what the UVCView info looks like.

http://www.die.de/blog/content/binary/usbview.png

Some information on the parameters seen in UVCView.

http://www.beyondlogic.org/usbnutshell/usb5.htm
*******

There is a later version of UVCView, but I doubt it adds anything
to the capabilities. UVCView, is just USBView program with UVC
Class readout added to the analysis of the config info.

This is my recipe for the latest version I know of.

*******
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=11800

GRMWDK_EN_7600_1.ISO 649,877,504 bytes

You can use the 7ZIP program, to extract a file from within the downloaded
ISO, without the hassle of installing it.

Using 7ZIP, open the ISO, then navigate to "WDK" and find

avstreamtools_x86fre_cab001.cab

Click on the cab, do an "Open Inside", then select

_UVCview.exe_00006

then extract. Then rename the extracted file to

UVCView2.exe

The file should be 133,632 bytes and have MD5SUM = 213f6e89cc4ab4e7e9e3e2ad394b83cb
*******

The device being analyzed, should be connected directly to
a computer USB port. It doesn't help if there is a hub in
the way. You might not "see" the device at all with UVCView
if you did that.

You look in the right hand pane, for the config info the camera
is presenting. The info may change, as a function of the camera's
mode of operation. What you're checking for, is whether any
"useful" classes are present in the interface.

HTH,
Paul

[Jim]

Paul;

Thank you very much for the detailed information adn the links
to the software, I will try to ferret out the problem.

Jim