USB Video (microscope)

Someone is asking about a USB driver for a mini microscope – on the Archive Mag site – any ideas?.

It’s got to be the same USB interface as a webcam so 2 problems.

1) reading the data.

If the device uses the standard video interface as laid out by usb.org it will be possible to read the data from the device with my modules. Some devices have maker specific interfaces. The process is not much different to recording audio.

2) displaying the data.

I don’t know anything about video formats. The camera tells you the format of the data it is supplying and you need something to play it.

I don’t know anything about video formats. The camera tells you the format of the data it is supplying and you need something to play it.

I’d also be interested in being able to use a USB microscope. If only to aid examinations of an LP stylus! 8-] Preusmably to make progress we’d need someone to get a candidate device and be able to capture some of the ‘raw’ data stream it gives. Then try and make sense of it?

I wonder: Do they have to send video? Or can they be set to supply ‘snapshot’ images in a standard format? That would presumably be easier to deal with.

Jim

You can just get snapshots but lining up the stylus without video will be tricky. Stills and video can be read at varying resolutions depending on the device – like audio can be read at varying resolutions. So even if RISC OS is slow to play video you could use very low resolution video aim the microscope and take a snapshot for detail.

Unfortunately playing video isn’t as easy as playing audio