This is a very simple program that can be used to query and set webcam parameters that are exposed via the UVC webcam interface.
What you can set will depend on your make and model of camera, and how much it follows the UVC standard.
This program uses libuvc to get and set webcam options. You need to install libuvc first if you want to compile and install this program. Otherwise, UVC Controller has no other dependencies (I want to keep this simple and easy to install).
To keep things simple, I've made a very basic makefile that should work on most systems. To compile you need a C++ compiler that supports the C++ 17 standard, and type;
make
This should output
# A very simple build :-)
g++ -std=c++17 -O2 -I/usr/local/include main.cpp controller.cpp options.cpp uvcdevice.cpp -L/usr/local/lib -luvc -o uvc_controller
and will create the program uvc_controller.
This assumes that your libuvc is installed in /usr/local. If it isn't
then edit Makefile and change INCLUDE_DIR and LIB_DIR to the
right paths.
Running the program will enter a simple text interface, e.g.
./uvc_controller
[1]: backlight compensation : 0 <= 6 <= 6 : default 2
[2]: brightness : -64 <= 30 <= 64 : default 0
[3]: contrast : 0 <= 48 <= 64 : default 32
[4]: exposure_abs : 1 <= 500 <= 5000 : default 157
[5]: focus_abs : 1 <= 240 <= 1023 : default 240
[6]: gain : 0 <= 1 <= 1 : default 0
[7]: gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
[8]: hue : -40 <= 0 <= 40 : default 0
[9]: power_line_frequency : 0 <= 1 <= 2 : default 1
[10]: saturation : 0 <= 110 <= 128 : default 56
[11]: sharpness : 0 <= 3 <= 6 : default 3
[12]: white_balance_temperature : 2800 <= 5000 <= 6500 : default 4600
Choose an option... (use q to quit, s to save, l to load)
Only options that can be set on your camera will be displayed. Type the number of the option you want to set and press return, e.g. for me, to change gamma I would press;
7
You have chosen 7
gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
Set the value
This then shows the valid range of values (here from 72 to 500), the current value (here 250) and the default value for the camera (here 100). Type in the number you want to set it to, and press return. For example, to change to 200, I'd type;
200
Setting value to 200
gamma : 72 <= 200 <= 500 : default 100
Set the value
This will set to 200, and will now let you set the value again.
To exit back to the menu, type q and press return;
q
[1]: backlight compensation : 0 <= 6 <= 6 : default 2
[2]: brightness : -64 <= 30 <= 64 : default 0
[3]: contrast : 0 <= 48 <= 64 : default 32
[4]: exposure_abs : 1 <= 500 <= 5000 : default 157
[5]: focus_abs : 1 <= 240 <= 1023 : default 240
[6]: gain : 0 <= 1 <= 1 : default 0
[7]: gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
[8]: hue : -40 <= 0 <= 40 : default 0
[9]: power_line_frequency : 0 <= 1 <= 2 : default 1
[10]: saturation : 0 <= 110 <= 128 : default 56
[11]: sharpness : 0 <= 3 <= 6 : default 3
[12]: white_balance_temperature : 2800 <= 5000 <= 6500 : default 4600
Choose an option... (use q to quit, s to save, l to load)
You can save the current values of your options to a file by typing
s and pressing return;
You have chosen s
Save to file - what filename?
Type in the filename that you want to use. Be careful as this will overwrite
the file. For example, to save to options.txt you can type;
options.txt
options.txt
Writing to file options.txt
[1]: backlight compensation : 0 <= 6 <= 6 : default 2
[2]: brightness : -64 <= 30 <= 64 : default 0
[3]: contrast : 0 <= 48 <= 64 : default 32
[4]: exposure_abs : 1 <= 500 <= 5000 : default 157
[5]: focus_abs : 1 <= 240 <= 1023 : default 240
[6]: gain : 0 <= 1 <= 1 : default 0
[7]: gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
[8]: hue : -40 <= 0 <= 40 : default 0
[9]: power_line_frequency : 0 <= 1 <= 2 : default 1
[10]: saturation : 0 <= 110 <= 128 : default 56
[11]: sharpness : 0 <= 3 <= 6 : default 3
[12]: white_balance_temperature : 2800 <= 5000 <= 6500 : default 4600
Choose an option... (use q to quit, s to save, l to load)
Next, you can load from a file be pressing l then return
You have chosen l
Load from file - what filename?
We can load from options.txt by typing in its name, e.g.
options.txt
Reading file options.txt
Set backlight compensation to 6
Set brightness to 30
Set contrast to 48
Set exposure_abs to 500
Set focus_abs to 240
Set gain to 1
Set gamma to 250
Set hue to 0
Set power_line_frequency to 1
Set saturation to 110
Set sharpness to 3
Set white_balance_temperature to 5000
[1]: backlight compensation : 0 <= 6 <= 6 : default 2
[2]: brightness : -64 <= 30 <= 64 : default 0
[3]: contrast : 0 <= 48 <= 64 : default 32
[4]: exposure_abs : 1 <= 500 <= 5000 : default 157
[5]: focus_abs : 1 <= 240 <= 1023 : default 240
[6]: gain : 0 <= 1 <= 1 : default 0
[7]: gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
[8]: hue : -40 <= 0 <= 40 : default 0
[9]: power_line_frequency : 0 <= 1 <= 2 : default 1
[10]: saturation : 0 <= 110 <= 128 : default 56
[11]: sharpness : 0 <= 3 <= 6 : default 3
[12]: white_balance_temperature : 2800 <= 5000 <= 6500 : default 4600
Choose an option... (use q to quit, s to save, l to load)
Next, you can quit the program by pressing q and then return.
You have chosen q
Quit :-)
You can also just use the program to load an existing parameter file
by passing this as a command line argument. If we want to load
the options.txt from above, we could type
./uvc_controller options.txt
Loading from file options.txt
Set backlight compensation to 6
Set brightness to 30
Set contrast to 48
Set exposure_abs to 500
Set focus_abs to 240
Set gain to 1
Set gamma to 250
Set hue to 0
Set power_line_frequency to 1
Set saturation to 110
Set sharpness to 3
Set white_balance_temperature to 5000
[1]: backlight compensation : 0 <= 6 <= 6 : default 2
[2]: brightness : -64 <= 30 <= 64 : default 0
[3]: contrast : 0 <= 48 <= 64 : default 32
[4]: exposure_abs : 1 <= 500 <= 5000 : default 157
[5]: focus_abs : 1 <= 240 <= 1023 : default 240
[6]: gain : 0 <= 1 <= 1 : default 0
[7]: gamma : 72 <= 250 <= 500 : default 100
[8]: hue : -40 <= 0 <= 40 : default 0
[9]: power_line_frequency : 0 <= 1 <= 2 : default 1
[10]: saturation : 0 <= 110 <= 128 : default 56
[11]: sharpness : 0 <= 3 <= 6 : default 3
[12]: white_balance_temperature : 2800 <= 5000 <= 6500 : default 4600
This is deliberately a very simple program that I put together on one day to set the options of my webcam. Please feel free to fork this project and give it a better interface or more options :-)