Powershot G7X - Webcam help.

[smdw912]

I'm having trouble understanding how to get my G7X to work as a webcam. I purchased from amazon a mini hdmi to plug into it. However I think that pretty much makes it that whole screen most likely used to show family or friends videos and pictures of the day. Also another issue I have is that my GPU has all of the hdmi slots used up already. Is hdmi to usb reliable ?

So pretty much to sum up my concerns.
Do I need a program to run the g7x as a webcam
How to a plug in the hdmi into the computer when there are no ports.


Thanks for your time!

 

[basroil]

Sorry to break it to you, but that's not possible. You are confused and have misinformation:
1) The G7X does not have a continuous video mode over USB at full resolution. Though some cameras have video preview modes for remote control, none can be used as an actual webcam without risk of damage and lowered resolutions
2) Video cards have HDMI OUTPUTS, only video capture cards and select video cards that include video capture cards (ATI All-in-Wonder cards from a decade ago) have HDMI Inputs. You need to connect the camera via USB to have useful data.
3) Even if you could send HDMI directly to the computer, you would need a very powerful machine to actually use it, as raw HDMI data is huge.

Basically, it's cheaper and better to just buy a 1080p webcam that was actually meant for use as a webcam. You can find things like the Logitech C615 HD for under $50, while the cheapest video capture cards with a similar quality will be closer to $80 (and then you need to worry about the camera running out of battery or crashing from overheating)