📷 PCam

Portable, Ultra-Low Latency Android Webcam for Windows

📷 PCam - Remote Camera System

PCam is a portable, plug-and-play remote camera application that transforms your Android smartphone into a high-definition, ultra-low latency webcam for your PC.

Using hardware-accelerated H.264 streaming, PCam delivers smooth video feeds that can be bridged directly into popular video conferencing and streaming applications such as Zoom, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Skype, OBS Studio, and more.

The system consists of two components:

• PCam Desktop Client (Python / Tkinter)
• PCam Mobile Broadcaster (Android / Jetpack Compose / MediaCodec)

---

✨ Features

🚀 Zero-Configuration & Portable

The desktop client is distributed as a standalone executable.

Users do not need to install:

• Python
• FFmpeg
• ADB

Everything required is bundled inside the release package.

⚡ Low-Latency H.264 Pipeline

• Hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding
• Optimized frame transport
• Reduced latency
• Stable video transmission

🔗 Dual Connection Support

Wi-Fi Mode

• Automatic device discovery via mDNS
• No manual IP configuration
• One-click connection

USB Mode

• Automatic ADB tunneling
• Maximum stability
• Lowest possible latency
• Ideal for streaming and content creation

🔄 Remote Camera Controls

Control your smartphone directly from the desktop application:

• Switch front/back camera
• Toggle flashlight
• Rotate canvas

🎭 Virtual Camera Integration

PCam can forward video streams into OBS Virtual Camera, making your phone appear as a native webcam in:

• Zoom
• Discord
• Microsoft Teams
• Skype
• Google Meet
• Any DirectShow-compatible application

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📦 Release Package Structure

After extracting the release archive:

PCam/
│
├── PCam.exe
│
├── Binaries/
│   ├── ffmpeg.exe
│   ├── adb.exe
│   ├── AdbWinApi.dll
│   └── AdbWinUsbApi.dll
│
└── Images/
    └── PCam_logo.png

Included Components

File	Description
PCam.exe	Main desktop application
ffmpeg.exe	Embedded H.264 decoder
adb.exe	Embedded Android USB bridge
AdbWinApi.dll	ADB dependency
AdbWinUsbApi.dll	ADB dependency
PCam_logo.png	Application branding asset

---

📱 Installing the Mobile Broadcaster

1. Transfer PCam-MobileApp.apk to your Android device.
2. Install the APK.
3. Allow installation from unknown sources if prompted.
4. Launch the application.
5. Grant camera permissions.

---

🔌 Connecting Your Device

Option A — Wi-Fi Connection

1. Connect both devices to the same network.
2. Launch PCam.exe.
3. Wait for the status indicator to show:

Searching for devices...

4. Press the broadcast button in the Android application.
5. PCam automatically discovers the device via mDNS.
6. The status changes to:

Connected [Wi-Fi]

---

Option B — USB Connection (Recommended)

1. Enable Developer Options on Android.
2. Enable USB Debugging.
3. Connect the device via USB.
4. Accept the authorization dialog on the phone.
5. Launch PCam.exe.

PCam automatically:

• Detects the device
• Creates an ADB tunnel
• Starts video transmission

Status indicator:

Connected [USB]

---

🎭 Using PCam in Zoom, Discord & Teams

Install OBS Studio

Install OBS Studio if it is not already installed.

OBS provides the required Virtual Camera driver.

Start PCam

1. Connect your phone.
2. Verify that the preview is visible.

Enable Virtual Camera Output

Enable:

Send to Virtual Camera

from the settings panel.

Select OBS Virtual Camera

Inside your video conferencing software:

1. Open Video Settings.
2. Select:

OBS Virtual Camera

Your smartphone feed is now available as a webcam.

---

⚙️ Troubleshooting

Green Screen or Corrupted Pixels

In unstable wireless environments, the initial H.264 keyframe may arrive fragmented.

If the preview appears green or heavily pixelated:

1. Click Switch Camera once.
2. The mobile encoder will generate a fresh keyframe.
3. The stream should immediately recover.

---

Temporary Disconnect Messages

PCam includes an intelligent timeout threshold of 4 seconds.

Short packet loss events will not immediately terminate the stream.

For maximum stability, use USB mode.

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Windows Defender SmartScreen Warning

Because PCam is distributed as a standalone executable generated using PyInstaller and does not currently include a commercial code-signing certificate, Windows may display:

Windows protected your PC

This is a common false positive for independent software distributions.

PCam:

• Is open source
• Contains no malware
• Does not install background services
• Cleans up all spawned processes on exit

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👨‍💻 Local Development

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• FFmpeg
• Android SDK Platform Tools (optional)

Install Dependencies

pip install pillow opencv-python numpy zeroconf pyvirtualcam

Run Desktop Client

python PCam-Client.py

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📦 Building a Release

Install PyInstaller:

pip install pyinstaller

Generate a standalone executable:

pyinstaller PCam-Client.spec --clean

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💡 Architecture Notes

PCam was designed with resource efficiency in mind.

Core design principles:

• Asynchronous networking
• Hardware-accelerated video encoding
• Minimal memory allocations
• Lightweight desktop UI
• Event-driven architecture

This allows PCam to deliver low-latency video streaming while maintaining low CPU and memory usage on both desktop and mobile devices.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.