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0 pointspi-rat6y ago0 comments

Who would you prefer doing daily standups or long stretches of remote pair programming with?

The one with the low resolution, low contrast, washed out, low fps video that makes it hard to read emotion or even detect where his/her attention is?

Or the one with sharp features, pleasant colour rendition, high resolution, and maybe even a pretty bokeh in the background?

Humans love pretty pictures. See OKCupids[1] image analysis vs attractiveness for example. Shallow DOF = More attractive.

See also hanselman's[2] thoughts on the matter of having a high quality setup for remote work.

[1]: https://theblog.okcupid.com/dont-be-ugly-by-accident-b378f26... [2]: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/GoodBetterBestCreatingTheUlti...

0 comments

the_hoser6y ago

Neither. We usually turn the cameras off to hide the fact that none of us got dressed that morning.

coding1236y ago

We turn all that off because inevitably someone starts saying: I can't hear you guys, it's coming in robot voice, can you turn off the screen/video share?

pc866y ago

It sounds like they don't have adequate internet to be working from home.

1 more reply

dpkonofa6y ago

>the low resolution, low contrast, washed out, low fps video that makes it hard to read emotion or even detect where his/her attention is?

This is totally disingenuous. We're not comparing a 120p camera to a 1080p camera. We're comparing a sharp camera with great color rendition to a slightly higher resolution of the same camera.

aantix6y ago

Slightly offtopic - are there any webcams out there that can provide a shallow depth of field in realtime?

sbr4646y ago

You can use a Black Magic Design Web Presenter which allows connecting 2 pro camera/lens setups via HDMI/SDI, and XLR mic inputs. It shows up as a USB webcam like normal.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebprese...

bufferoverflow6y ago

You can turn a Canon/Nikon DSLR into a webcam. Using SparkoCam.

So theoretically you can get a cheap old T3i + 50mm/1.8 and have a crazy good webcam with near-cinematic quality.

spac6y ago

I was very excited by the idea. Ironically, it's only available on Windows.

1 more reply

pi-ratOP6y ago

Not any good one that does it in hardware out of the box that I know of. There are mod kits for CS lenses for c920/930/brio, if you can live with a tighter shot. If you've an compatible RX100/A6000 or similar laying around, then an Elgato Cam Link like hanselman's setup above might be the easiest option.

https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/cam-link-4k (1/5 the price of the blackmagic device above/below)

There's also some software "solutions", but I've no idea how good they are, probably not iPhone portrait mode quality.

Aeolun6y ago

I think the issue is that in most cases the problem isn’t the webcam, it’s the network that is carrying the stream.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointspi-rat6y ago0 comments

Who would you prefer doing daily standups or long stretches of remote pair programming with?

The one with the low resolution, low contrast, washed out, low fps video that makes it hard to read emotion or even detect where his/her attention is?

Or the one with sharp features, pleasant colour rendition, high resolution, and maybe even a pretty bokeh in the background?

Humans love pretty pictures. See OKCupids[1] image analysis vs attractiveness for example. Shallow DOF = More attractive.

See also hanselman's[2] thoughts on the matter of having a high quality setup for remote work.

[1]: https://theblog.okcupid.com/dont-be-ugly-by-accident-b378f26... [2]: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/GoodBetterBestCreatingTheUlti...

0 comments

the_hoser6y ago

Neither. We usually turn the cameras off to hide the fact that none of us got dressed that morning.

coding1236y ago

We turn all that off because inevitably someone starts saying: I can't hear you guys, it's coming in robot voice, can you turn off the screen/video share?

pc866y ago

It sounds like they don't have adequate internet to be working from home.

1 more reply

dpkonofa6y ago

>the low resolution, low contrast, washed out, low fps video that makes it hard to read emotion or even detect where his/her attention is?

This is totally disingenuous. We're not comparing a 120p camera to a 1080p camera. We're comparing a sharp camera with great color rendition to a slightly higher resolution of the same camera.

aantix6y ago

Slightly offtopic - are there any webcams out there that can provide a shallow depth of field in realtime?

sbr4646y ago

You can use a Black Magic Design Web Presenter which allows connecting 2 pro camera/lens setups via HDMI/SDI, and XLR mic inputs. It shows up as a USB webcam like normal.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebprese...

bufferoverflow6y ago

You can turn a Canon/Nikon DSLR into a webcam. Using SparkoCam.

So theoretically you can get a cheap old T3i + 50mm/1.8 and have a crazy good webcam with near-cinematic quality.

spac6y ago

I was very excited by the idea. Ironically, it's only available on Windows.

1 more reply

pi-ratOP6y ago

https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/cam-link-4k (1/5 the price of the blackmagic device above/below)

There's also some software "solutions", but I've no idea how good they are, probably not iPhone portrait mode quality.

Aeolun6y ago

I think the issue is that in most cases the problem isn’t the webcam, it’s the network that is carrying the stream.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse