What are the differences between the Watchport/V, Watchport/V2, and Watchport/V3 USB cameras?
Interfaces:
The Watchport/V is a VfW (Video for Windows) based camera that uses a TWAIN driver, so it is compatible with both VfW and TWAIN software applications.
The WatchportV2 and Watchport/V3 are both DirectShow based camera. We also have TWAIN driver for them as well, so they are compatible with DirectShow, VfW and TWAIN software applications.
Operating System compatibility:
Click
here for a list of Watchport/V drivers. Click
here for a list of Watchport/V2 and Watchport/V3 drivers. (Click the OS drop box at the bottom for a list).
Configuration settings:
The Watchport/V2 and Watchport/V3 have additional support for MJPG (Motion JPEG) compression, Noise Filtering, Back Light Compensation, Sharpness, Contrast, 50 Hz / 60 Hz Flicker control for AGC (Automatic Gain Control), and Area of Interest.
Drivers:
The Watchport/V2 and Watchport/V3 share the same drivers, whereas the Watchport/V has its own driver.
CCD:
The V2 CCD uses a complimentary (CYMG), interlaced color filter array. This route basically produces an approximation of RGB colors (adding and subtracting colors to convert to RGB).
The V3 CCD uses an RGB, progressive color filter array. With this method, the data is already in terms of RGB, so there is no interpolation needed. With less conversion being needed, there is less of a quality loss.
Similarities:
All three cameras share the same enclosure and lenses.
The Watchport/V3 offers the best picture quality (due to progressive interlacing), is RoHS compliant, has a higher quality IR filter, and has slightly less low light sensitivity than a Watchport/V2.
Last updated:
Jan 11, 2024