Several times I’ve tried to use various versions of “Webcam XP”, bot the free version and the full version as a trial, mainly to watch my pets. But despite it offering control over PAN and ZOOM, those controls won’t work. They won’t work from the program itself (on the machine where the cameras are) and they won’t work on the remote browser screen either. My drivers for the cameras are fully up to date, and my system is old (Win-XP Sr3) so i don’t expect more updates. But I’m just wondering if there are special settings or registry entries I need to turn on or modify, in order to allow a program to operate these controls.
Hi!. I red the manual for this cam and the camera itself do not provide pan and zoom. However, if you use Logitechs own software you have pan and zoom as digital features. You zoom in first and then you can move a window (pan) to see different areas. That is done in the software. This is not supported in WebcamXP/7. A digital zoom and pan is included in Netcam Studio, but then you need at least Windows 7.
-Henrik
Thanks. I really appreciate that, and I’ll have to re-read the docs. But at least I know its not some configuration issue I’m missing. I guess I could use some kind of remote PC control software to operate Logitech tool, but from what you’re saying, its not “true” pan or zoom, just a digital framing trick, right? If that’s the case, I may as well just monitor on a smart phone, and manually “zoom” with my fingers! I’ll have to be more careful picking cameras next time! The way these Logitechs were advertised, you wouldn’t know the PAN and ZOOM features were not true camera operations!
Thanks. Yes, I got a little suspicious when I saw the cam because they usually look a little bit different if a cam have built in Pan, Tilt and Zoom. Therefore, I red the specifications and at the end it says “with Logitech software!” and then you can do pan, zoom, … This is little bit sneaky I think. However, reading the manual gave clear information that this is only possible in the software. So, yes “just a digital framing trick”. When the cams had a resolution of 640x480 pixels it was not possible to do a digital zoom since you could see the pixels rather quickly. With the megapixel cams you can do a lot of digital zoom (software zoom) and still have a good image. Software zoom and pan is of cause much cheaper that a real pan and zoom in the camera. So, sorry for this. Another solution is also that you can train your pets to stay within the viewing angle of the cam. But, this is maybe a little bit more difficult ;).
Your suggestion using a smartphone and manually dance with your fingers over the display will probably work very fine ;).
-Henrik
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Ha! Well the HD is fine “zoomed” all the way out, and especially now that I know there is really no point setting it as a closeup with the software. The smartphone zoom will give as much resolution, without loosing any of the frame. Pretty sure that since WebCam-XP just serves up JPG images quickly via AJAX magic, I can probably also just do CTRL+ in any browser. Plus, the motion detect can send me emails with photos as confirmation that the beasts are eating and alive, so its better to get as wide a frame as possible. My main use of ZOOM is in the room where the food and water is, to take a closer look at their reserves.
OK… thanks again. This is just for looking at cats, but if I ever need to set up real indoor/outdoor surveillance, I might have to paay a few more bucks and get a real remote control camera.