[anandspeak]

Hi Folks,
I own an Old SONY DSC-W7 7.2mpx Digital Camera. Is there any way to update the firmware or some other software, that will enable me to use the camera as a High Resolution Web Camera with my laptop?

Is it even possible, in the first place OR am I just hoping for too much?

ANy direction is much appreciated!

Thanks,
-Anand

[smax013]

anandspeak, on 04 May 2011 - 05:04 AM, said:

Hi Folks,
I own an Old SONY DSC-W7 7.2mpx Digital Camera. Is there any way to update the firmware or some other software, that will enable me to use the camera as a High Resolution Web Camera with my laptop?

Is it even possible, in the first place OR am I just hoping for too much?

ANy direction is much appreciated!

Thanks,
-Anand

It should be theoretically possible. Whether it is actually possible, I don't know.

You would need three things...

1) The camera would need to be able to send the "live" video signal to its "line out" (i.e. so that you could send the video/audio from the camera to the computer).

2) Your computer would need to be able to accept that "live" video signal from the camera.

3) You would need some sort of web camera/video chat software (i.e. a program that uses some video chat protocol) that can accept and use that "live" video signal.

I believe that there were cameras that could do such stuff, but I kind of doubt that any camera can do it.

[LiveBrianD]

Basically, you need a video capture card and an ability to output what the camera sees via something like Composite Video or HDMI. It can be done, but with webcams as cheap as $20, is it worth it? Plus you need batteries for the camera or the AC adapter, which is inconvenient. Basically, you CAN, but it's likely not the cheapest option.

[smax013]

LiveBrianD, on 05 May 2011 - 06:26 PM, said:

Basically, you need a video capture card and an ability to output what the camera sees via something like Composite Video or HDMI. It can be done, but with webcams as cheap as $20, is it worth it? Plus you need batteries for the camera or the AC adapter, which is inconvenient. Basically, you CAN, but it's likely not the cheapest option.

And you would still need some webcam software that will work with camera output that comes in through the capture card. And I honestly don't know if there is such a beast.