Having a webcam on a personal computer in the modern-day world has become important.
Be it online interviews on Skype or work meetings on online platforms, without a webcam you won’t be able to perform any task and would get stuck.
Also, sometimes you might have an efficient system along with a webcam but it might be not working properly, hindering your work.
In such scenarios, to replace the entire system for a webcam won’t be feasible.
While there is always an option to buy a webcam, it might prove to be a cost-intensive task. In the intricacies though, there is a simple way out to set a webcam and save a lot of money.
One can connect his or her mobile camera to the laptop and carry on with the work. Apart from the work-oriented reasons, there are many situations in which connecting a mobile camera to PC could turn out to be fruitful.
One could have an extra headset with a decent camera. By connecting it to a monitor screen, he might be able to use the same for small scale security reasons. In comparison to buying a brand new video camera for the same task, it would undoubtedly save a lot of money.
Or sometimes in an emergency, if out of the blue, the webcam fails to function smoothly, the user might be able to fix the problem in much less time and also by saving a lot of money and effort.
Having said so, it is always good to know the art of connecting your mobile camera to your personal computer for who knows when the knowledge will save you. In a nutshell, why invest money, efforts and time to get a separate webcam when in fact the camera on your mobile will do the task for you?
Here are some methods by which you could easily connect your mobile camera to your personal computer:
WiFi:
Using WiFi for the task is probably the easiest way of connecting the camera to your computer. The requirement for this to work is that both your mobile and your personal computer must be connected to the same WiFi network. If this condition is not fulfilled, the method won’t perform the task.
- 1The first step is to connect both the mobile and computer to the same network using a wireless router. If the operating system is an advanced version of Windows, you might even use a virtual router to connect.
- 2Once both are connected to the same network, install IP Webcam from the store.
- 3Once installed, open the application. A screen with all the possible customization options would show up.
- 4Set the options for port, sound, voice and username/password.
- 5Once everything is set, click on the “Start Server” option.
- 6The application will open the camera and would start streaming video on a particular IP address and port. After clicking on How do I connect? on the top left corner, go for I am using a WiFi router to get the corresponding IP address.
- 7Take a note of the same and type it in the web browser. You would get a list of links through which you would be able to access and use your webcam.
- 8There would primarily be two links. One for the Windows operating system while the other for Linux. For Windows, it would be in the form of an easy-going driver but for Linux, it will come as a script which the user will be supposed to run in a terminal as root.
Once done, you will now be able to use your webcam for all your specific tasks.
This method being fairly easy, it is important to note that the functioning may be roughly affected on a minute level if the time interval of running the camera is significant enough. (For Linux users, it is important to note that disabling sound in settings might affect the working of drivers.)
How To Connect Mobile Camera To PC using WiFi
USB:
If WiFi is not a feasible option for you, you can always manage to connect the camera to your PC via USB. But this might turn out to be a slightly tedious task since android can communicate with PC only in debugging mode of USB.
Apart from the connections that need to be made, we would also need an application which goes by the name DroidCam.
- 1You will first have to set up your phone in debugging mode. To enable debugging, go to the Developer Options in settings. If you have Android 4.2 or newer versions, go to Settings and then in About<device>. Tap the Build Number option seven times to enable the Developer Options. Enable the USB Debugging following it.
Enabling debugging might vary in different devices. You can always look up the Internet if this doesn’t work for you.
- 2Once the debugging mode is enabled, connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. Don’t go for the storage option if a dialogue box pops up on the mobile screen after you connect.
- 3Download the app DroidCam from the store. Install it and open the same. It will show a starting server option.
- 4Download and install the client application on your PC from dev47apps.com
- 5Once downloaded, start the client on your system and choose the “USB” option.
After doing so, the application will start the camera on your mobile which you will be able to use as a camera on your personal computer.
How To Connect Mobile Camera To PC using USB
iPhone with Windows PC:
If you have an iPhone (or iPad) and Windows operating system on your personal computer, you can very simply use the camera as a webcam by using an app named iVCam.
- 1Download the application on your iPhone. (iVCam is also available on Android)
- 2Just like the DroidCam client, you will have to download the iVCam client on your system. Just search for iVCam Client on the web or you may visit https://www.e2esoft.com/ivcam/
- 3Once you get the client, run both the applications on your phone and your Pc. It will automatically connect and you will witness camera feed from your phone on your Windows PC.
Apart from the mentioned methods, several applications are serving the same purpose. Some examples are iCam, EpocCam, NDI HX Camera. It is always worth looking for the alternatives instead of investing a huge sum of money to get a brand new web camera. Mostly, it depends on the frequency of use.
If you require to use the webcam on a daily basis and that too for long schedules, you may consider buying a quality webcam for yourself since there are several minor issues which might come up while using a phone camera on a personal computer.
But on the contrary, if the use is limited and not for a critical purpose, the alternatives are with a try!
How To Connect Mobile Camera To PC (iPhone & Windows)
Something to remember:
While you use your phone camera as a webcam, you should be careful about the high battery drainage that might occur as a consequence. To avoid any damage, it is recommended to constantly keep a track of the draining battery and keep it charged enough to stream the video smoothly.
Tip: Try using the rear camera instead of the front camera for a better experience.