[SOLVED] Philips sic4700/37 web cam is too dark!

[rfurgy]

Hi, I'm new here and to Linux Mint. I have a webcam rendered useless due to migrating to 64 bit Windows but have a dual boot with Linux Mint 8. Come to find out I'm finally able to get my web cam working in Linux Mint.
Linux is AWESOME! Anyway, I've relentlessly been at this cam to try and use it because I video chat with a friend half way across the country but have been unsuccessful the last couple month till now.

The cam is working, it just comes in way too dark. The program of choice is aMSN because my friend also has MSN Messenger which we have used in the past before I migrated to 64 bit. I can adjust the cam settings in aMSN but it doesn't help much. I found some work arounds but everything I tried was to no avail. No matter what I did there was always something not working for me to get my cam adjusted.

OS= Linux Mint 8 x64
Messenger= aMSN (I don't think the app is the problem because the cam is also dark in cheese, although cheese is a tad better but not by much)
Webcam= Philips sic4700/37 (indicated on camera) or ICatch (VI) PC Camera (name of camera Windows Vista identifies it as and installed drivers for)
I believe they are one in the same because this camera was distributed by many computer manufacturers as an accessory. To be honest, I've also seen the ICatch referenced to as two other cams I don't remember the name of at the moment.

Unfortunately (or maybe I should say Fortunately ) there is absolutely no 64 bit driver support for this cam in M$ but I at least have it working in Linux Mint 8 x64 (Linux is AWESOME! ~had to say it~), just the reason I need to use Mint some more

Hopefully someone can help me through this, and thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[rfurgy]

From what I can tell, there is suppose to be a way to manually change the settings (gamma, brightness, etc...) in a file somewhere but none of the suggested work arounds I'm seeing are working for me.

Could use some help hunting this down to get the settings corrected for my camera.

Thanks

[rfurgy]

Well, my solve to this problem was to make a trip to Walmart and buy myself a Logitech 1.3-MP Webcam C300h (same as the C300 but with a head set, didn't say on the box but it is a UVC cam). Plugged it in and wah-lah problem solved. At least the horrible video quality and shoddy compatibility between the Philips sic4700/37 and the V4L driver. I did find a driver for the Philips cam but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to compile it (don't have the hang of compiling yet). Not sure if that driver would make a difference or not but I do still have the cam and would be more than willing to trouble shoot it and see if a viable work around could be established. I'm still learning all the ins and outs with Linux and definitely need to get some more compiling experience under my belt, not only for personal uses but possibly for helping others as well.

Next I'll have to see if I can get the cam to work for chatting so I don't have to switch to Windows to use it and create Folding down time for my SMP. So any help on this matter would be awesomeness!

[rfurgy]

Well, I'll consider the Philips sic4700/37 web cam as just one of those old pieces of hardware that needs to be replaced. Fortunately I'm able to do that.

Also I gave the cam to my brother so I no longer have it to troubleshoot.

If you have this cam, I highly recommend buying a newer one. The Philips sic4700/37 cam has compatability issues with Linux and Windows, specially 64 bit. My choice was the Logitech Webcam C300, worked right out of the box for both 64 bit OS's.