/* This is the README.sq905 file for libgphoto2/camlibs/sq905.
*
* This README is part of the libgphoto2/camlibs/sq905 library source and is
* distributed with that source under the LGPL license. a copy of which
* license may be seen in any of the source files in libgphoto2/camlibs/sq905,
* or in the head directory of libgphoto2.
*
* Copyright (C) 2003 - 2010 Theodore Kilgore <kilgota@auburn.edu>
*/
INTRODUCTION:
Cameras with chip from S&Q Technologies are often called DSC(2770) cameras.
They have USB Vendor:Product number 0x2770:0x9120, and are classified as USB
Class:Subclass:Protocol ff:ff:ff (proprietary:proprietary:proprietary).
These cameras are cheap, basic, and come in many brands and models -- all
with the same USB Vendor:Product number and identical /proc/bus/devices
entry. In this broad set of cameras, differences can include such things as
different resolution capabilities, mirror-imaging of data which requires
line reversal, and different sensitivity under various lighting conditions,
apparently due to different video sensor chips. Further complicating
matters, neither S&Q Technologies nor the associated camera "manufacturers"
seem responsive to requests for information about their chips or cameras.
I have several different SQ905 cameras for testing. For other cameras,
I am totally dependent on reports from users and testers. If you have
another 0x2770:0x9120 camera and want it to work and it currently does not,
then I will be very glad to hear from you. Saying this a different way:
further progress with your camera will depend upon your input.
Moreover, the Gphoto project tries very hard to keep a complete list of
all supported cameras, by name and/or by any other distinguishing features,
such as a model number if any is printed on the camera or on the packaging.
If your camera is not on the list of supported cameras, then even if it works
please report it, so that it can be explicitly added by name in the listing
found in the source file camlibs/sq905/library.c. Please do this to help
others. A camera is not sold with the USB vendor:product number printed on
the package. Also even if it works perfectly in Linux with Gphoto software
it will usually not say that on the package, either. For these reasons,
again, please remember to report your camera if it is previously unlisted,
even if it works.
One would reasonably suspect that all of these cameras have the same chip in
them, or similar chips from SQ. The cameras do distinguish themselves from
one another to some extent, reporting a number which can be thought of as a
"chip id" or "model" ID (for more discussion and a list of known IDs skip
down to "THE MODEL OR CHIP ID NUMBER"). If your camera reports an unknown
chip id, then please let me know about that. Your camera may well work
anyway, but it may require a different color tiling scheme, or it might
mirror-image the photos. The only way to cure such a problem is for us
to know about the camera's chip ID and to know precisely what the
non-conforming behavior is.
WHAT CHIP IS ACTUALLY IN THESE CAMERAS?
The brief answer is that I do not know.
The website of SQ Technologies <www.sq.com.tw> lists several camera
controller chips in addition to the SQ905, which is now (2007)
discontinued. All of the SQ cameras which have the same USB ID do use the
same control sequences, however. The lower-resolution cameras all seem to use
the same Hynix video sensor chip. The video chips in higher-resolution cameras
do not all behave the same way and thus probably come from several sources.
Fortunately, it seems that the "chip id" is a sufficiently reliable indicator
of how to process data from the camera.
THE MODEL OR CHIP ID NUMBER
Very early during initialization, the camera reports a four-byte string.
Apparently, this string identifies the model, the precise chip in the
camera, or perhaps the controller and video imaging chip combination. The
string may be associated with special behavior. For example, the camera may
produce photos which are mirror-imaged unless line reversal is done, or
perhaps the color tiling is different. Fortunately, most of the time one may
assume that the model is "SQ_MODEL_DEFAULT," but not always. To help in
those cases where it does make a difference, the model number is recorded
during camera initialization. You can see what number your camera has, by
doing any gphoto2 operation in debug mode and saving the debug output into a
file. For example, to do "gphoto2 --summary --debug 2>debug" will create a
text logfile called "debug." In that file, look for the place where the
computer and the camera actually start to talk to each other, and you will
see the number. A list of known numbers follows:
Brand name/model Number Credits to
Argus DC-1510 and many other cameras 09 05 00 26 T. K.
PockCam, Che-Ez Snap, some others 09 05 01 19 Paolo Tribolet Abreu,
Christian Bulow
Magpix B350 Binocular Camera 09 05 01 32 T. K.
Precision Mini 50 05 00 26 Fabien Devaux
Vivicam 3350 09 05 02 19 T. K.
DC-N130t 09 05 02 25 Cedric Cellier
Global Point Splash Mini (waterproof) 09 05 02 19 T. K.
Of these models, most actually use the "default" settings for photo processing.
WHAT FEATURES DO THESE CAMERAS HAVE, AND WHAT DOES THIS DRIVER SUPPORT?
FEATURE LIST SUPPORTED (Y/N/Part)
-- USB connection to computer Y
-- High resolution 352x288 or 640x480, uncompressed Y
-- Low resolution 176x144 or 320x240, uncompressed Y
-- High resolution 352x288 or 640x480, compressed Y
-- Low resolution 176x144 or 320x240, compressed Y
-- Ability to "switch" resolution between pictures Y
-- Ability to download all pictures on camera Y
-- Ability to download the first k pictures, where
k is less than the number on the camera Y
-- Ability to download individual photos Y
-- "Video clip" capability. Clips are saved as directories. Y
-- Capture and immediate download of a 320x240 snapshot Y
-- Webcam mode: Not supported here. But see notes below. N
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following things can be done with button-pushes on the camera:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Frequency filter for use in artificial light. Can be set
to cancel 60hz or 50hz interference.
-- Delete all, delete last, resolution setting, compression mode setting.
Unfortunately, it does not seem possible to do any of these things with
commands sent from the computer even if the camera is tethered, except for
the fact that for some of the cameras the command which triggers capture also
has the effect of deleting everything stored on the camera. Thus, deletion
of all photos may work for your camera, but it may not.
Notes:
All known sq905 cameras have either a 640x480 high-resolution setting and a
320x240 low-resolution setting, or a 352x288 and a 176x144 setting. If your
sq905 camera uses a new resolution setting, then you will be unable to
download photos until that new resolution setting is listed in sq905.c in
sq_get_picture_width () and in library.c where the picture height is chosen.
If you encounter new resolution settings, then please report them so they
can be put into the camlib.
All known sq905 cameras use only 320x240 in capture mode. Also, capture
never uses high compression, even if it is otherwise turned on. Please
report any behavior different from this.
"Video clip capability" is implemented for all known SQ cameras. "Video
clip" output is always uncompressed, ignoring the "compression" setting.
Also, it is possible to create more than one clip or to intersperse clips
and ordinary still photos on the camera.
The pictures obtained on the uncompressed settings can often be superior to
those obtained using the software which came with the camera, but not
always. Generally, considering that they are cheap, low resolution cameras,
these cameras give relatively good pictures,
Video capture of one photo is done with "gphoto2 --capture-preview". The
related command "gphoto2 --capture" is not implemented. It would be used to
take a photo which can be downloaded later on, through normal photo download
procedures. But the hardware seems unable to support "gphoto2 --capture".
The sq905 cameras can function as webcams. Support for the webcam mode of
these cameras is available through the module gspca_sq905, included as
part of the regular kernel since kernel version 2.6.29. This means it is
part of the kernel source, of course. It is then up to your distro to
include the webcam support for these cameas, or not. The webcam mode for
any of these cameras can do streaming at any of the resolutions 160x240,
176x144, 320x240, 352x288, and in addition at 640x480 provided that the
camera's hardware will do this (What is the max resolution for still photos?
The same applies in webcam mode). However, do not expect a high frame rate
in webcam mode. The camera is a USB 1.1 device, and it is streaming
uncompressed frames, using bulk transport, not isochronous transport.
Thanks is hereby given to the authors and maintainers of the old "sq"
module, which for several years provided an out-of-kernel module to support
streaming with these cameras.
HARDWARE LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
1. The downloading of "thumbnails" as special files is totally
unsupported by the hardware. The manufacturer's driver downloads a
consecutive list of photos and creates thumbnails, then "saves" only the
photos which the user selects. Gphoto2 prefers ability to do random access.
2. The camera's data storage provides only sequential access, not
random access. In other words, it acts as though it were a tape drive
instead of a disk. The constraints which this places are obvious.
3. Considering the way the communication protocols of these cameras
seem to work, it would seem nearly impossible to copy any data to the camera
for storage and transport. The camera clearly does not have files on it,
only data addresses. And the camera does not keep time. For similar
reasons, it would also seem impossible to delete a photo from the camera by
action of software on the computer. The camera supports two choices for
deletion: delete the last photo taken, or delete all. Each action is
performed by an appropriate sequence of button pushes on the camera.
(Addendum: Deletion of all photos is supported on the Argus DC-1510 and
certain cameras similar to it (Precision Mini?). The routine for starting
webcam mode will delete all photos on the DC-1510. But not on the Argus
DC-1512 and apparently not on most other SQ cameras. A "Delete all" function
is included, for those who have cameras which can use it. If your camera's
literature warns that using the camera as a webcam or PCcam will cause data
loss, then "Delete all" will probably work.)
To find a way around the listed constraints would indeed be most
interesting. Who knows? Maybe these things can be done. Could be that these
chips have undocumented capabilities. But maybe not. I have especially
hunted for undocumented commands which would support things that the camera
will only do with button presses, but I have not found any.
WHAT GUI FRONTENDS DOES THIS CAMERA LIBRARY SUOPPORT?
Gtkam seems to work quite well for me with this library. Note, however, that
gtkam will require you to download the contents of video clips separately
from ordinary photos. Clips are put into subdirectories, and you must enter
a subdirectory to see and download the frames in it. Digikam does not work
quite so well for me. But it may work nicely for you, and you are hereby
encouraged to try it. If you want to use either gtkam or digikam, you are
encouraged to read the camera's manual.
NOTES
1. The program is set up to put out pictures in PPM or raw format.
2. The gamma setting (actually seems to be one over gamma) used for
the construction of PPM image files has been obtained by trial and error. It
seems to work very well for outdoor pictures, but the setting is a
compromise between what happens with outdoor photos and what happens with
indoor photos. Conceivably, the program could support a choice between two
or more gamma settings, optimizing for different conditions.
4. Please get back to me with reports about other SQ cameras, with their
specifications (what it says in the manual about resolution and number of
pictures, as well as make and model, ID reported, and whether it works or
not would be enough), and with a log file if there are problems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
-- to several members of East Alabama Linux Users group, for help
and encouragement:
Bruce Gray,
Darrel Hankerson,
Thomas Kilgore (my son, the Perl hacker)
Kelley Price,
for some basic help with C.
Wade "Bear" Tinney,
for help in discovering how to subscribe to the gphoto-devel mailing
list
-- to Prof. Stan Reeves, Department of Electrical Engineering,
Auburn University, for a very informative discussion of how a Bayer
array is constructed.
-- to my colleagues
Darrel Hankerson, who knows clever ways to pass a character
string from one function to another
Steve Stuckwisch, who could explain to me Darrel's
explanation
-- to Christophe Barbe, for encouragement
-- to Lutz Miller, for making me do it right.
-- to Cedric Cellier, for devising the sq_rewind ( ) function, for
implementing the directory structure for video clips, and in general
for his continued interest in these cameras.
WARRANTY?
Absolutely not. No warranty. Never. Not responsible for any actual
or potential damage or consequences to anyone or to the equipment of
anyone for using this program, whether the alleged damage or alleged
consequences are claimed to be real, imaginary, direct, collateral,
for pain and suffering, or are claimed to be inflicted upon any
"third party" who is not the user or installer of the program. The
program has been written for my pleasure and to broaden and deepen
my knowledge of computer hardware and software. The program has not
been written with the immediate expectation of financial gain or
profit on my part, nor has it been commissioned for pay. It is
presumed that any end-user of this program will have access to the
source code of the program and can judge for himself or herself
whether he/she wishes to use it or not, or can consult someone with
appropriate expertise to make such a judgment.
Theodore Kilgore
07/07/03 (revised 03/09/07 and 02/18/10)
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