Introduction&Quick Start (UVC2.0)
What is UVC
UVC is short for USB Video Class, and it’s one of the USB devices classes. A USB device sends a class code to a USB host to load related software modules for the devices. We’ve been familiar with USB devices like Mass storage class, Human Interface Device class, and Video Class is just like them.
The UVC describes devices capable of streaming video like webcams, digital camcorders, and the documents defined by the USB Implementer Forum describes the basic protocol and the different payload formats.
What is UVC Camera
A UVC Camera is a camera with a USB interface that meets the standards set for the USB Video Class. This means that every UVC Camera is a USB camera, but not all USB cameras are UVC Cameras, because they might adopt the USB interface without meeting the Video class requirements. Take our current USB3 Camera shield as an example, it’s not a standard video class, and requires extra drivers to work.
Therefore, a major advantage of the UVC cameras is their universal compatibility and flexibility. As they meet the video class standard, you can easily use them on different platforms with a USB port without handling the driver issue, like the Raspberry Pi or a smartphone. It also makes it easier for you to migrate your applications from one platform to another.
At present, our UVC cameras support Windows, Linux, MAC, and Android systems, but do not support the iPhone system.
What UVC cameras does Arducam offer
Currently, Arducam offers a series of UVC Camera modules, and they are mainly for the following purposes:
- Low light cameras for better surveillance of poorly illuminated environments.
- Wide Dynamic Range cameras for shooting under high contrast.
- Dual cam IR/VL camera for Face Recognition and Biological Detection
- Autofocus camera module for shooting objects close and far away on the same camera.
- Raspberry Pi V2/HQ Cameras in USB interface.
You can find more details in the next chapter: Specs and Selection Guide.