The 'Video capture devices on this system' drop down list will show you all webcams and video capture devices that are currently installed and working on your system. Select one of these and then click on the 'Preview' button. The webcam's image will appear in the preview panel, as long as no other Windows software is currently accessing that webcam.
When you have found the webcam you want to display, then click on the 'Set as default' button which will set Repeat Signage to use that particular webcam.
Web cam / video capture device settings
Please note that the webcam's setting are determined by the application software that was installed when you installed the webcam. Normally, this is under the Windows Start menu. Some manufacturers have allow you to change the defaults to do the following:
- Change the resolution of the webcam - Many webcams use 640x480 pixels to capture video images. Make sure that you are using a resolution higher than the size of your video capture control in Repeat Signage if possible. For example, if you size the control to say 400x300 pixels then selecting a webcam's resolution to 320x240, it will give you a poor image as Repeat Signage doesn't have enough pixels to work with without stretching the image.
- Mirror image or Flip image - Mirror image puts what's on the left of the image on the right side and visa versa. Flip image will put the webcam image upside down.
- Change the brightness of the image.
- Black and white mode - Most have a black and white option.
Pop-up video webcam settings window when you preview a webcam
Sometimes the manufacturer's software will be displayed automatically in a pop-up windows when you use a particular webcam. There will be an option under this pop-up's settings to disable this. This needs turning off otherwise this will pop-up when you are playing presentations.
What happens if the webcam is not available or unplugged (and playing videos instead when webcam offline)
By default, Repeat Signage will display the background colour or image for this control. You can click on the 'Shape/border' tab and use the 'Background shape colour or picture' panel to display an image you would like displayed when the camera is offline. Alternatively, you can go to the 'Backup' tab and make this webcam control completely invisible. This allows to put another control underneath the webcam control to be displayed instead. You could use the software that came with the webcam to record a video of what the camera sees, for say a couple of minutes. You could put a video control underneath this webcam control playing that video (muted). If the webcam goes down, then the user will see a video instead.