Want to video call someone from your computer but don’t have a Webcam? No problems, DroidCam and LiveDroid are free tools that let you convert your Android device into a web camera for your Windows computer.
Streaming on the Internet is growing to be yet another career path taken by many. This is another way for one to build upon and share their skills and knowledge. But while using some desktops, a webcam or any other imaging device is not available, and the streamer is forced to buy an external USB-based imaging device. Companies like Logitech, iBall, and HP (Hewlett Packard) are some leaders in this area. But today, we will discuss a way to help us use an Android device to replace the requirement for this special imaging hardware.
Convert Mobile Phone into a webcam for Windows PC with DroidCam
Once you are done with installing DroidCam on the PC client and Phone, you are ready to go. There are four types of connections available, which are as follows:
- Wi-Fi Mode: Under this mode, you can wirelessly connect your mobile phone to the computer and use it as a webcam. This mode is always recommended as it is the easiest to set up. You just need to copy the details as it is from the phone and enter them on the PC Client. In this mode, your mobile phone acts as a Server and your PC as a Client.
- USB Mode: As the name suggests, this mode lets you use to turn your phone into a Web Camera on a USB Connection. This mode is recommended only if you don’t have a Wi-Fi router installed. Sometimes, this type of connection may require advanced configuration due to the missing of some drivers.
- Wi-Fi Server: This mode is only compatible with the paid version of the mobile app. In this mode, your computer acts as a server and the mobile as a client. The mode can run under 3G/LTE so that you can connect to an external IP and share your mobile’s camera with a PC from wherever you are.
- Bluetooth Server: This mode is similar to the previous one. You must have the paid version of the mobile app to use the model.
Once you’ve successfully established a connection between your phone and your Windows PC, you are ready to go. You can use the DroidCam to video chat with your friends using Skype or any other video calling software. Remember that the UWP version of Skype is not supported, but you can download Skype for Windows to use DroidCam with Skype.
The software is unique in its kind and performs the very uncommon task of converting a phone into a webcam. Nowadays, Android phones come with a camera no less than 5 MP, so you can enjoy a quality even better than an average webcam. DroidCam is very simple to use and operate; no advanced configurations are required except in the USB case if the drivers are missing.
Click here to download DroidCam client for Windows as well as your iPhone or Android phone.
Use Android phone as a webcam for streaming with LiveDroid
First, you need to get the #LiveDroid application from the Google Play Store on your Android device.
Second, you need a broadcasting software like OBS (Open Broadcaster Service). Find the latest version of OBS for your Windows computer on their official website.
Once you have both downloaded and installed, you can proceed ahead.
Get your Android device connected to a WiFi network for the best results and then open #LiveDroid application on your Android device.
You will land on a page like this-
Now, you will have two options, namely-
- With Preview.
- Without Preview.
The first option will need your phone’s screen to be on until you want the stream to be opened. The other option will make it continue to work even when you lock your phone.
Now, open the Open Broadcaster Service software on your Windows computer.
Hit the + button in the Scenes section and select Browser source. It will open a new mini window.
When you would have selected the appropriate option in the #LiveDroid app on your Android device, you might have got a Source URL. Enter that source URL in that mini window. Save the configuration by clicking OK.
Check if your video stream if it is being broadcasted from your Android Phone’s camera to your OBS Software.
You can set up your broadcasting settings in OBS and start streaming flawlessly.
Keep this in mind
If you use a mobile data connection like 3G or 4G on your Android phone, it will work just fine, but you might face hiccups due to the reliability of WiFi over a mobile data connection.
This works with any broadcasting software if it supports video input from a source URL via a network connection.
For a head start, the configurations for the video feed must be around the following-
- Camera : 0.
- Frames Per Second: 15,000.
- Resolution: 1280 x 960.
- Quality: 100.
Hope this helps.
