Using the Panorama 2 / S / G in PC Camera mode

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OK folks here's a new one for you - how to use the Panorama in PC camera / webcam mode.

It works on 32bit Windows (x86) installs.
It works on 64bit Windows (x64) installs as well all the way up to Windows 10.

This is primarily useful for changing the focus on your camera so the majority of you will never need to do this.

As a disclaimer if you take your camera apart to change the focus then you will lose your warranty status so only attempt that if you're happy to do so.

So first of all download this driver package

https://mega.co.nz/#!YEci2DDT!snZApjMZfTaLJtKWqRKJENNdwc-JCSphSxlgDoEz2vc

Extract the ZIP file to a folder in your PC.

Now this completes the updating of the driver files.

Next post will carry on the process.
 
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So, you now have the correct drivers to talk to the Panorama on your PC.

At this point remove the SD card from your Panorama camera and connect it up to your PC via the Micro USB port.

It won't automatically power on and this is normal.

Hold down the triangle / event button at this point and keep it held down while you press the power button normally. Keep the triangle button held down until the camera has fully booted and switched into the PC mode (the screen will update to show it's connected).

Your PC will now detect the new device - you now need to tell it to manually find the drivers in the root of the archive you downloaded and extracted earlier.

There should be two devices found - a COACH camera device and a COACH video device and they should both install.

If a message pops up about unsigned drivers just say Continue anyway (good point - if you're running newer versions of Windows you probably need to allow unsigned drivers during the boot process - details here http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-can-i-install-hardware-with-unsigned-drivers-in-windows-8/)

These should install without any issues.

Once complete a camera and scanner wizard may appear - just close this down.

Now we need to install the VideoLAN client - if you don't already have it download it and install from here:

http://www.videolan.org/index.html

Once that is installed launch VideoLAN.

upload_2014-10-16_9-26-50.png

Click the Media menu and then Open Capture Device.

upload_2014-10-16_9-27-19.png

You now need to change the video device name to Panorama II.S.G Video which is your Panorama:

upload_2014-10-16_12-17-46.png

Now select Advanced Options

upload_2014-10-16_9-28-6.png

Change the Picture aspect-ratio n:m setting from '4:3' to '16:9'

upload_2014-10-16_9-28-29.png

Click OK to return to the previous screen and then click Play.

You should now have a 1280x720 stream playing on your PC!

vlcsnap-2014-10-16-08h16m02s218.png

And that's it :)
 

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When you're finished just remove the cable from the Panorama and it will power down - the next time power is attached it will behave normally.
 
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I've just tried again with driver signing enforcement disabled on Windows 10 and these drivers don't work on here.

There are no drivers that I know of for the Mac that will work for this at the moment.

For Linux it would use the zr364xx that is built into modern kernels but you would need to add the IDs manually - unfortunately the driver seems to have timing issues with the Coach 12p and doesn't work currently in either Ubuntu 7 or 12 (I went back to 7 as saw a comment that the driver was broken in 8 onwards but it made no difference).
 
Sorted - right then that makes life a lot easier!

https://mega.co.nz/#!YEci2DDT!snZApjMZfTaLJtKWqRKJENNdwc-JCSphSxlgDoEz2vc

Extract that to a folder on your PC.

All you have to do now is hold the triangle button down and tap power to power the camera on while holding the triangle button - when it gets detected by a PC just point at the root of that extracted folder and it should all install - I've renamed the descriptions of the drivers to say Panorama too :)

Then when you get to VLC just use the Panorama item instead of Video Capture X and it should work!

Hopefully someone can try this and confirm it works please :)
 
I've updated the first two posts to use this new file as well - as you can see it's much easier and quicker thanks @FourEyes
 
I've just cleaned up the machines I had here to get rid of the old test stuff I'd been doing and then used the new modified archive linked to earlier:

https://mega.co.nz/#!YEci2DDT!snZApjMZfTaLJtKWqRKJENNdwc-JCSphSxlgDoEz2vc

Connected the camera up to Windows 10 and pointed it at the new Panorama Video drivers and after getting it to detect both devices it's working great in VLC on Windows 10 x64 as well :)
 
Brilliant stuff - thanks for testing that out!

Well that's another trick that the DCT all around 2014 best camera can now do too :D

I might have another crack at changing the code of the Linux driver one day to try and get it working there too. Unfortunately even with the device ID changes on Linux that's not enough - looks to be a timing issue.
 
Working with Skype (video only NO audio via dashcam mic.). [emoji327]
67d730e5030b0cfcda57a31d2a6b298a.jpg
 
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Yeah it is purely a video mode driver - I tried to kick it into 1080p but it's not having any of that- the driver seems to max out at 720p which I assume is USB bandwidth as it's in MJPEG mode I think!

Definitely an improvement from the first time I got it working at something silly like 150x90!
 
Yeah it is purely a video mode driver - I tried to kick it into 1080p but it's not having any of that- the driver seems to max out at 720p which I assume is USB bandwidth as it's in MJPEG mode I think!

Definitely an improvement from the first time I got it working at something silly like 150x90!

You earned a gold star today that's for sure.
HuSJagz.png
 
OOoooooh beer! I like beer :D
 
Great news! Just wanted to adjust focus, but I don't have AV cable))) Now it's not a problem))
Thanks!
 
It's not perfect but definitely easier than trying to focus on the small screen!

Good luck - getting the focus right on these cameras is an absolute pain so make sure to mark the factory points first so you can easily use those as a baseline.
 
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