Thanks you so much , really appreciate you taking time to answer this...
I think approaching this from Skype side would be a waste of time, as it's highly unlikely they would respond and actually do something about a particular user having hardware issues with particular webcam on a particular Android box. But... I will try anyway, as weirder things have happened!
Skype for Android has, unfortunately, NO settings whatsoever, there's no option (like in Skype for PC) to select video and audio source and tweak anything. It's simply "plug-and-pray", it either works or it doesn't.
My main concern isn't really that stretched effect, that's just preview of myself, it's stretched just for me , but the other party can see me ok..
The problem is that green screen. I get it half of the time, or a bit more than half of the time. Then the other side cannot see me, and I have to restart skype, or more often restart minix, etc..
And yes, getting info on a webcam model that actually works on UH-9 would be extremely useful. Preferably 1080p or at least 720p resolution
You're welcome
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OK, I've attempted a test for you this A.M. However, as I feared my Creative external webcam is so old nothing (with Android) is even detecting its presence
full stop. (Skype, the default Android camera app, several 3rd party camera apps, or external USB webcam apps I downloaded from the Play Store.)
I had a feeling that might be the case. Even a brief test in Windows was dicey at best without any specific drivers for Win 10, (the most recent I could find were for Win 7 which shows when the webcam was last used lol).
I continue to test/use the CE ROM on a second U9-H but for the most part I still use the stock ROM on my primary U9-H, (there may be some gains but there are some losses too).
I prefer the 6.0.1 ROM as I actually completely lose the availability of some of my paid apps with 7.1.2 rather than ensuring their continuity. Obviously I won't be alone there!! (Something else you may also wish to consider when ceaselessy recommending the 7.1.2 ROM
@notrui !! If an app has actually lost support in an older OS then yes, consider the change. Otherwise, I see little point in changing firmware purely because some apps "
might" not work in the future. (Typically, app users are often given advanced warning if an app will cease to be supported in an older version of Android. Most users are far better off waiting until they find out this will definitely be happening, or that it has already happened.)) Change when or if that change is necessary rather than doing it arbitrarily.
as for another app argument:
- The webcam seems to work ok with the Android Camera app
It may still be worth trying to contact Skype. You said yourself that the camera seems to work OK with the Android camera app which would indicate that the U9-H isn't completely incompatible with your webcam. You also just mentioned that when you experience this problem, sometimes just restarting Skype itself is enough to clear the problem & immediately carry on with your video conference
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If this were truly a "hardware" problem, we'd expect to see your camera completely/consistently fail in ALL apps as my webcam has, rather than working well in some & failing just "some of the time" in others.
A restart apparently clears the problem as well which also points to a software problem, (whether that's Skype itself or the firmware remains to be seen without additional info from other users but again, you've previously mentioned the webcam working fine with the Android camera app without any problems & some of the time with Skype).
You've also mentioned it's just the small "preview" window (of yourself) that experiences the odd stretching effects & that your chat partners actually see you normally & as expected. (This would indicate Skype itself is simply failing to correctly display the native resolution of your camera for the "preview window" alone, as in other apps or the camera image that your connected party actually sees you appear perfectly normally without that stretched effect.) Otherwise, the camera is also working "some of the time", whilst other times a reboot is required too. Again, if a true hardware problem outright, you generally wouldn't expect it to work at all.
Wait & see what Skype come back with, "stranger things" indeed lol
. Given other users have previously mentioned that they have successfully used external webcams with Skype & other apps with the U9-H, you may just need to wait in the hope these users happen to see this thread to comment. Alternatively, create a new more specific thread to ask other forum members what webcam's they're using with their U9-H's
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Hope you find a solution one way or the other
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