How to change your Android smartphone to a "high -resolution web camera"

Life Hacker [Japanese version] Reprinted from the article published on September 16, 2021

Now we are alive in the time of the online conference.People who use a personal computer without a web camera may sometimes need a high -quality video camera.

But why not consider using Android smartphones as a high resolution camera before going to buy a new web camera?

Do a much better job than the low quality webcam on most laptops.And it also saves money.

What to prepare

We do not recommend luxury, such as "use new smartphones only as web cameras."

However, if you used it in the past or a second Android smartphone is rolling, you should use it for online conferences.

If the back camera of the smartphone is functioning, you will not worry that much.Expenses only cost a tripod for smartphone and Android apps.

If you buy a good tripod for your smartphone, or if you are good at it, you can make your own.But if you want to record online meetings and calls every time, you shouldn't hurt if you buy a good tripod.

How to use Android smartphones as a high -resolution web camera

There are many Android webcam apps, but "DROIDCAM" is reliable for free and highly evaluated on Play Store.

DROIDCAM can be downloaded for free, but there are some restrictions, such as 480 pixels, advertising, and unusual videos of videos, such as rotation or reversal of the video.

There is no such restriction on the paid version of "DROIDCAMX" (600 yen), but the free version is practical enough.

1.After downloading the app to the Android smartphone, launch Windows PC or Linux and install the desktop DroidCam client.

2.After installing both, open both smartphones and personal computers DroidCam.

3.Check the IP address and port with the Android DroidCam app.If there is no zero in the IP address, make sure that the smartphone is connected to Wi-Fi.

4.On the DROIDCAM of the computer, click the Wi-Fi icon at the top left of the screen, enter the IP address and port, and press Start.

5.When the camera video is displayed on a personal computer, turn the tripod or smartphone back camera toward you.You can use this camera video to talk with ZOOM or online conference app.

It is important to note that if DroidCam's smartphone and personal computer use different frequencies on the Wi-Fi network, a connection problem will occur.

For example, a smartphone is connected to the 5GHz band, and the PC is 2.If it is connected to the 4GHz band, this setting will not work.There is no problem if both are connected to the same bandwidth of the same Wi-Fi network.

In addition, DroidCam also supports USB cable connection, but in that case the connection procedure is a little complicated, so most people should not do that much.

If you really want to connect to the cable, click "Connect Via USB (Android)" on this page of DROIDCAM's website to describe the details (English).

Finally, while using an Android smartphone as a web camera, I think it is good to remain it on the power.You want to avoid suddenly breaking the battery during an important online meeting and suddenly breaking the camera video.

Source: Amazon, Google Play Store (1, 2), Dev47aps (1, 2)