Lifecam VX-5500 Choppy and Erratic Video

D

Doug

Hello and thanks for reading my post. I have a four-year-old Toshiba
Satellite A75-S229 laptop. It is running Windows XP SP3. It has an ATI
Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP graphics component with the latest driver available
as of this writing (available here:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...3&selFamily=1073768663&selModel=835418|PSA70U).
I also have the latest BIOS installed as of this writing.

I got a Microsoft Lifecam VX-5500 for Christmas, but unfortunately the video
it displays flickers horribly. Blocks just move around the image constantly.

When I installed the Lifecam software, I saw it say "verifying minimum
system requirements" so I know that the laptop has enough speed and memory to
handle the webcam.

Any advice would be appreciated; thank you.
 
P

Paul

Doug said:
Hello and thanks for reading my post. I have a four-year-old Toshiba
Satellite A75-S229 laptop. It is running Windows XP SP3. It has an ATI
Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP graphics component with the latest driver available
as of this writing (available here:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...3&selFamily=1073768663&selModel=835418|PSA70U).
I also have the latest BIOS installed as of this writing.

I got a Microsoft Lifecam VX-5500 for Christmas, but unfortunately the video
it displays flickers horribly. Blocks just move around the image constantly.

When I installed the Lifecam software, I saw it say "verifying minimum
system requirements" so I know that the laptop has enough speed and memory to
handle the webcam.

Any advice would be appreciated; thank you.
Click to expand...

If you're not satisfied with the product, consider a refund.

An alternate test you could try, might be to use Windows Movie Maker to
acquire a short movie segment. Using a different playback application then,
might work around any issues with the video card driver.

Paul
 
D

Doug

Bob I said:
perhaps too much software running in the background?
Click to expand...

Nope, that wouldn't be it. I have minimal processes and services running on
the laptop. The actual speed of video playback is fine; it's just distorted
and "blocky", as in little squares of the video image become detached and
move around.
 
D

Doug

I never used the webcam on the laptop back when it was SP2, so I wouldn't
uninstall a whole service pack when it wasn't guaranteed that it would work.
I also wouldn't give up the security benefits of SP3 just to get a webcam
functioning properly. I am pretty sure that the problem lies with the old ATI
video driver or the Microsoft Lifecam driver for the camera itself. I use the
camera on my new PC without a problem, so I know that it is fully functional.
 
A

Airman Thunderbird

Doug said:
I never used the webcam on the laptop back when it was SP2, so I wouldn't
uninstall a whole service pack when it wasn't guaranteed that it would work.
I also wouldn't give up the security benefits of SP3 just to get a webcam
functioning properly. I am pretty sure that the problem lies with the old ATI
video driver or the Microsoft Lifecam driver for the camera itself. I use the
camera on my new PC without a problem, so I know that it is fully functional.
Click to expand...

Having the exact same problem with a Microsoft NX3000 webcam my daughter
got for Christmas which refuses to work properly with her Dell Vostro
1000 laptop with a Sempron 3800, 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP.

The Vostro also has an ATI video chip.

It functions correctly at the lowest resolution, but the video breaks up
at 640x480 and 320x240.

It works correctly when plugged into our aging desktops, with half the
RAM and smaller processors than the Dell.

Please share if you find a solution outside the group. We will, as well.
I have another brand of webcam coming which advertises no need for extra
drivers. Will post if it works.
 
J

JFK

I just got the Lifecam VX-5000 and have the same horrible flicker. I have a
[4-5 yr old] desktop pc and mb has integrated video - guess what - ATI Radeon
9000 IGP. I also am running sp3.

Were you ever able to resolve the problem?

I installed this Lifecam on my newer HP laptop and it works fine.

Jim
 
Top