Logitech C920 webcam on Ubuntu 14.04 hesitates / chops every 3 seconds
My Logitech HD Pro C920 webcam on Ubuntu 14.04 (64 bit) runs out of the box (thanks to UVC, if I understand correctly), video and audio are sharp and clean, but only for 3 seconds... The video (audio is fine) hesitates or chops every 3 seconds or so for maybe half a second, then runs again 3, 4, 5 seconds smoothly and hesitates again for half a second ...
The hardware is fine, the webcam records and plays without any problem on Windows 7. My PC is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9300 @ 2.50GHz, 64 Bit, Grahics Intel G33.
Here is what I tried so far:
- tried different recording software: Cheese, GTK UVC video viewer, VLC (Media – open capture device – video camera)
- connected the webcam to different USB ports
- tried lower resolutions and fps
- clean dual-boot re-install (Windows 7, Ubuntu 14.04)
- tried my webcam on another PC that also runs Ubuntu 14.04 – same choppy result
- tried another older webcam (Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000) on my PC – runs smoothly
I thought, maybe, it's just this special model which does not run smoothly on Ubuntu. The C920 (as opposed to the C910) – Linux cobination doesn't seem to be officially supported, but I googled around and found others describing how great their Logitech C920 runs on their Ubuntu without the need to install any additional driver or software.
As I am new to Ubuntu, this might also be a very basic settings problem... I'm completely lost here. Do you have any idea what else I might try? Thanks for your advice! ... and btw hi to everybody!
Here is s.th. else I just tried: Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu are based on the same core system, but I gave it a try anyway and installed Xubuntu. The result is the same as expected: still choppy.
Solution 1:
I experienced the same issue, although I was able to resolve it with Guvcview. As I understand, the problem is that the software re-encodes the already h264-coded video stream from the camera.
When I set the codec to "raw video codec", I got crystal clear picture without the hesitating artefact. So: Video menu > Video codec > Raw camera input