Video Input Devices

Digital Camera

Instead of film, a digital camera uses a light sensitive screen at the back of the camera. A small computer inside the camera converts the pattern on the screen into a standard graphics file which can then be transferred to a computer.

Digital Video Cameras

Digital Video Cameras can store sequence of digital images on magnetic tape, memory stick, DVDs or HDD inbuilt in the camera. They are similar to camcorders but camcorders store the videos in analogue form. Digital video cameras can be directly used as a video input device to record videos in the computer system or recorded videos can be imported in the system with required software and hardware.

Web Cam

Web cams are small video cameras designed to sit on the top of the monitor. It directly feeds in the video input to the computer through USB port. Web cams are generally used for the purpose of video conferencing over the Internet or recording small video lectures. The video quality of web cams are not as good as digital camcorders. Many laptops are now coming with inbuilt web cams.