Comment by lima-lima | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lima-lima | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Perhaps useful for others: I had this thought as well (that my handy camera is already a high quality webcam) and had great performance on Linux with the app DroidCam [1], which includes the V4Lloopback module when you install the desktop program and presents the android camera as a webcam at /dev/video#. Connected to my computer via USB (ADB) it shows no noticeable latency. This is a bit different to all the IP webcam apps which expose the handy camera over your LAN (but that is an option as well).

The desktop app allows you to toggle the handy LED flash for better front lighting, to lock exposure, to trigger autofocus, and to adjust white balance.

I tried it first with the free version, which doesn't allow HD video. The full version is a few dollars; doesn't contain ads.

I have no connection to the developers, but am a happy user. Works flawlessly anywhere a webcam is expected (for me so far: skype, Zoom, Jitsi).

The desktop app is open source, but unfortunately not the android app. I was surprised not find an open source version of this concept (and don't currently have the time to develop it).

[1] https://www.dev47apps.com/

On a side note: I guess it's still "mobile" in english - "handy" is pretty german. ;)

Not sure if it's still valid, but "handy" has a different meaning in slang:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=handy

Again, a native speaker might consider different, but as a german the usage of "handy" immediatley caught my eye. :D

OP's usage is correct. Handy means "at hand", or convenient.

I know what "handy" means in English.

So if I ask an American to show me his "Handy", he knows that I want to see his "mobile phone"?

Because that's what "Handy" means in Germany. It's actually "mobile phone", hence the confusion. I learned that "Handy" is almost exclusively used in Germany.

The German usage of "handy" as a noun does not exist in English. "My handy camera" doesn't mean "my mobile camera", it means "my camera that is conveniently at hand".

("Mobile phone" isn't very common in the US either. Common usage used to be "cell phone" or "smart phone", but is now simply "phone".)

In US english, handy means convenient

I've been using this app also. Works very well with linux. Haven't had any issues except when I updated my system and didn't rebuild the kernel modules.

Haven't sprung for the paid version though as I am hoping the back ordered webcam I purchased at the start of this comes in the next few weeks.

Remember to rebuild the kernel module if your kernel gets updated!

Works quite well on my Debian box, as well as the Windows machine I use for work. I was able to use the virtual camera the Windows client creates to share with MS Teams.

Between that and OBS Studio [0] which makes it easy to do green screen work, I'm having some real fun with our team meetings. Just make sure you get the virtual camera driver [1].

[0] https://obsproject.com/

[1] https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-virtualcam.539/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com