Using a video camera in video game research is not strictly speaking necessary. It is, however, highly useful to you and others as it makes possible to assess your or someone else’s responses to playing video games.
This post covers what you need to know about video cameras if you are intending to capture footage of yourself or someone else playing a video game. I will be covering this topic in relation to Open Broadcaster Software (also known as OBS Studio or simply as OBS), but I will not be focusing on the recording process, nor on setting up video cameras. Those topics deserve their own essays and therefore I will not expand on them here.
Know your camera
The most important thing about cameras, of any kind, is what most photographers and videographers will tell you: the best camera is the one you have. Cameras that you do not have are of no use to you. You can always get something better or more suitable for your purposes, but you always have to work with what you got.
The second most important thing about cameras is that you need to know what a camera is capable of. In other words, know your limitations. The third most important thing about cameras is to know how and where you will be using a camera. Knowing these things will help you to pick a camera that you intend to use in research.
Common features
The common screen and video recording aspect aspect ratio is 16:9, resolution is 1920×1080 pixels (FHD, 1080p) and frame rate is either 25 or 50 / 30 or 60 frames per second (FPS).
The 25 or 50 FPS / 30 or 60 FPS split has to do with analogue television standards. The common European standard was PAL. It matched the 50 Hz electric grid. The common North American standard was NTSC. It matched the 60 Hz electric grid.
It is likely that you will only ever notice this if you happen to be in a place that still has fluorescent or incandescent lighting. If you use 25/50 FPS in North America or 30/60 FPS in Europe, you may notice the lights flicker in video recordings. Many places have switched to LED lights, so you may not ever notice this. Most cameras also allow you to switch between the standards, which remedies any such issues.
This is not an issue otherwise. Flat screens can display any frame rate that is the same frame rate or lower than the frame of the screen, typically indicated in Hz. Higher frames can also be displayed, but not in higher frame rate than the screen frame rate.
In practice, you are free to choose any frame rate. Overall, 25 and 30 FPS are closer to a cinematic look as films traditionally have been presented in 24 FPS, while 50 and 60 FPS have more of a video gaming and live sports look to them.
This also affects the file sizes of your recordings. All things being equal, the 50 and 60 FPS recordings are twice the size of 25 and 30 FPS recordings.
Using the same 16:9 aspect ratio, many cameras can also record in 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K) resolution. Most of them can only record in 25 and 30 FPS, but 50 and 60 FPS recording is becoming more common.
Opting to record in such a high resolution is very demanding on the recording devices. Your camera may run very hot and limit your recording time to avoid overheating. Your computer may also not be able to handle such a computational load. In addition, the file sizes are going to be humongous, especially at high frame rates.
It makes more sense to record in 1920×1080 pixels (FHD, 1080p) unless you have ample storage space, your camera can handle the heat, and your computer can deal with the added computational load in recording. It can, however, be advantageous to set the camera to 3840×2160 pixel (UHD/4K) resolution, only downscale it during recording on the computer, either to 1920×1080 pixels (FHD, 1080p) or an intermediary resolution, such as 2560×1440 pixels (QHD/WQHD/2K/1440p). You can also take advantage of the higher resolution, cropping the footage to your liking. This way it can be used as a digital zoom.
Cameras and pricing
There are many kinds of cameras. These days it is rare that a camera is not capable of recording video, but different types of cameras have their advantages and disadvantages.
- Integrated webcam: ultra wide-angle
- USB-webcam: ultra wide-angle
- Action camera: ultra wide-angle
- Smart phone camera: ultra wide-angle / variable focal length
- Digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR): variable focal length
- Mirrorless camera: variable focal length
- Consumer digital video camera: variable focal length
- Professional digital video camera: variable focal length
The cameras differ not only in their focal length, which can be either fixed or variable, but also in their pricing.
- Integrated webcam = no added cost / laptop or screen price
- USB-webcam ≈ 20 to 250 €
- Action camera ≈ under 500 €
- Smart phone camera = no added cost / price of the phone
- Consumer/prosumer DSLRs ≈ under 1000 € (second hand market)
- Professional DSLRs ≈ under 2000 € (second hand market)
- Consumer/prosumer mirrorless camera ≈ 400 € to 2000 €
- Professional mirroless cameras ≈ 2000 € and up
- Consumer/prosumer digital video camera ≈ 600 to 2000 €
- Professional digital video camera ≈ 1500 € and up
The inexpensive cameras tend to have a limited set of features, whereas the expensive cameras tend have a broad range of features, which may or may not be of use to you in research.
- Integrated webcam: cheap, low visual quality, lacks flexibility and optical zoom
- USB-webcam: cheap, okay / good visual quality, flexible, lacks optical zoom
- Action camera: cheap / expensive, okay / good quality, very flexible, lacks external power options, lacks optical zoom
- Smart phone camera: cheap / expensive, okay / good quality, flexible, lacks external power options, typically lacks optical zoom
- DSLRs: cheap / expensive (second hand), manual controls, high optical quality and optical zoom, but may lack have limited video features, such as unlimited recording and high video quality
- Consumer/prosumer mirrorless cameras: cheap / expensive, manual controls, high optical quality, high video quality, optical zoom, but may lack video features and ports, poor ergonomics for video use
- Professional mirrorless cameras: very expensive, manual controls, high optical quality, high video quality, optical zoom, poor ergonomics for video use
- Consumer/prosumer digital video camera: expensive, may have manual controls, good optical quality, good video quality, optical zoom, may lack some video features and ports, good ergonomics for video use
- Professional digital video camera: very expensive, manual controls, high optical quality, high video quality, optical zoom, many if not all video features and ports, very good ergonomics for video use
In summary, you have many options at different price ranges. They can all get the job done and choice depends largely on what it is that you want to use the video camera for in research and how much you can or are willing to pay for a camera.
Webcams, action cameras and phone cameras
The simplest video camera setup is opting for a webcam. You do not need a dedicated video camera, nor a microphone as the webcam has everything you need.
You may not even need a separate USB-webcam. Laptops typically include a webcam. This option may make sense if you are playing video games on a laptop.
You may still wish to opt for a separate video camera for two key reasons. Firstly, integrated webcams are not know to provide you with high quality audio and/or video footage. Secondly, those webcams are fixed to the laptop, which limits how you can use the camera. Assuming that you want footage of yourself, facing the camera, the laptop would need to be in front of you, in an elevated position, which makes playing video games on the laptop awkward.
If you use the laptop with a separate screen and peripherals, namely a keyboard and a mouse, you have to place the laptop someone between you and the screen. This makes playing the games awkward.
Some screens also have integrated webcams. This may work for you, but you need to know the specifics of the webcam and whether it suits your purposes.
Overall, opting to use a USB-webcam is a much more practical solution than an integrated laptop or screen webcam. You maintain much of the simplicity of the integrated webcam and that same ultra wide-angle view, but you can place it almost anywhere you want. Just make sure that the USB-cable is long enough. Alternatively, check if you can use an extension cable with the USB-webcam.
Action cameras and phone cameras offer comparable or better visual quality than the USB-webcams and the same ultra wide-angle view, but they are better suited for other uses as they both lack external power options. Action cameras can record in high resolutions and frame rates, but these options are not typically available while recording in OBS. Phone cameras fare better in this regard, but, unlike action cameras, they tend to overheat on high resolutions and high frame rates.
In addition, action cameras and smart phones tend to be more expensive than USB-webcams. Overall, they offer no notable advantage over a USB-webcam, unless you already own either of them and/or happen to have other uses for them as well. USB-webcams are simply much more convenient than the other two options, especially because they are powered by the computer and therefore require no additional external power supply.
Opting for a USB-webcam does, however, still have some limitations related to the camera placement and angle. It would be preferable to record oneself at eye-level, instead of having the camera look up or down at you. Webcams are, however, typically placed above the monitor, or just below it, to avoid obstructing your view of the screen.
To be clear, nothing prevents you from placing the camera in front of the screen, as opposed to on top of it, below it or on one of the sides. That does, however, mean that the camera obstructs the view, which affects the experience of playing the game. It can be done, but it is awkward.
Having the subject, you or someone else, facing the camera, at the same height, has to do with what happens if the camera sensor is not aligned with the subject, in parallel to it. If the camera faces up, what is up in the view appears smaller than what is down in the view. If the camera faces down, what is down appears smaller than what is up in the view. This is also known as keystone distortion.
This tends to be noticeable with wide-angle lenses and ultra wide-angle lenses, which happen to be used in webcams. Therefore, if you place your camera above your screen, it usually faces down, making everything appear wider at the top than the bottom. Conversely, if you place your camera below the screen, it usually faces up, making everything appear wider at the bottom than at the top.
I find it that placing the camera on top of the screen looks better than placing below the screen. You could, however, get different results by altering the height of the screen in relation to you. This also partly depends on how near or far you are from the screen and the camera.
The issue pertaining to the angle can be remedied in OBS in a couple of ways. The simplest and, perhaps, the best way to deal with is to take advantage of digital zoom. In practice, you place the camera above or below the screen, not facing down, nor up. You then zoom in digitally, cropping out the parts that you do not want to be presented on the canvas in OBS. If the camera is placed on top of the screen, crop out parts on the top, and if it is placed below the screen, crop out parts on the bottom.
Crop the sides as well if you wish to maintain the default aspect ratio of your camera. I do, however, recommend trying out different aspect ratios and crops as it makes little sense to include all that empty space behind you on the canvas in OBS.
To be clear, there are cases where you want to include plenty of empty space behind you on the canvas in OBS. This makes sense if you wish to cover your whole body and/or account for body movements. It also makes sense to leave some room, some empty space on the canvas, even if you cover only the upper body to account for body movements, such as hand gestures when celebrating or the like.
Note that because digital zooming is, in fact, cropping, you are recording video camera footage at a lower resolution than what your camera is capable of. This is not a problem if you intend to include the video camera footage on top of the recorded video game footage, for example placing it in one of the corners of the canvas in OBS, because you are downscaling the footage.
In this arrangement, the aspect ratio is 16:9 and the overall, canvas recording resolution is 1920×1080 pixels (FHD, 1080p). Most cameras can record in this resolution, which means cropped video camera footage should still have plenty of resolution in this arrangement.
Cropping the video camera footage can be a problem if you intend to capture both the video game footage and the video camera footage in high resolution.
In this arrangement, the aspect ratio is 32:9 and the overall recording resolution is 3840×1080 pixels. The video game footage is recorded in 1920×1080 (FHD, 1080p) on one side and the video camera footage is recorded also in 1920×1080 (FHD, 1080p) on the other side. If the maximum recording resolution of the camera is 1920×1080 (FHD, 1080p), cropping the video camera footage will reduce its visual quality, because you end up having to upscale the video camera footage to match the canvas.
If the video camera is capable of recording in a higher resolution, namely 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K), it possible to crop the footage without reducing the visual quality of the video camera footage. This does, however, result in a higher computational load for your computer as you are using a higher resolution source than the typical 1920×1080 (FHD, 1080p).
If you increase the resolution of the canvas, going up to 2560×1440 pixels (QHD/WQHD/2K/1440p) in 16:9 aspect ratio or 5120×1440 pixels in 32:9 aspect ratio, you might be able to crop the footage on a 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K) capable camera.
If you go beyond that, increasing the resolution of the canvas, you will still be fine with 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K) in 16:9 aspect ratio. A camera capable of recording in 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K) should have enough pixels. This is, however, no longer the case with 7680×2160 pixels in 32:9 aspect ratio. Any cropping will simply reduce the quality as each side is supposed to be 3840×2160 pixels (UHD/4K).
Video and still cameras
Other kinds of cameras offer more features and flexibility in the recording process than USB-webcams. They are, however, fairly expensive.
The other kinds of cameras share the placement issue with USB-webcams, but they tend to have optical zoom or other lens options, which helps to mitigate the issue pertaining to keystone distortion. Using a tilt-shift lens on a camera that uses interchangeable lenses probably offers the best solution to this problem, but that would also be a rather costly solution (500 € and up in the second hand market, 2000 € and up otherwise).
Most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras were and continue to be designed for still photography, but many of them can also used in videography. They can offer you exceptional video quality due to their large sensors. They may, however, have quality issues and technical limitations, namely limited recording time, for the simple reason that they were not designed for recording video. You may also need to acquire a power adapter to avoid having to rely on batteries (which are fairly expensive).
The limitations imposed on recording time is not simply because the manufacturers would like you to buy a camera for still photography and another camera for videography. Instead, this limitation has to do with overheating. DSLRs and mirroless cameras tend to have larger sensors, but also poorer heat management than dedicated video cameras. There are external fans and heat sinks designed for this purpose, but they only mitigate the issue.
Most dedicated video cameras, also known as camcorders, may not offer you the best visual quality as their sensors are typically smaller than the ones found in DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, but they have been designed for videography. Most importantly, their internals have been designed to deal with the heat.
The notable difference between consumer and professional video cameras has to do with their features. The former pack some of the core capabilities of the latter in a fairly compact design. The latter offer more video and audio formats, audio and video ports, bigger sensor sizes and more lens options than the former. The prosumer (professional/consumer) video cameras are similar to both. They tend to cost more than the consumer video cameras, but less than the professional video cameras.
The sensor size is not a major issue. The larger sensors found in DSLRs and mirrorless cameras do outperform the smaller sensors in terms of visual quality, especially in low light conditions, but this is not particularly important as you are not doing cinematic work, playing with the depth of field or the like, nor documentary work in challenging lighting conditions. It is much cheaper to invest in lighting that negates the low light advantage that the DLSRs and mirrorless cameras have over other cameras capable of recording video.
Choosing the right camera
Overall, the different kinds of cameras that are capable of recording video have their advantages and disadvantages. It is entirely up to you to decide what works the best for your purposes.
I would choose either a high-end USB-webcam or mid-range consumer/prosumer digital video camera. The former requires little know-how to set up and use. It offers adequate visual quality at a price that you cannot beat. The latter requires a good deal of know-how to set up and use. It offers good visual quality and better control over just about everything, albeit at a much higher price than the former.
It is worth noting that 4K 60 FPS capable cameras used to be fairly rare and expensive. You would have to pay 2000 € and up for that combination, but prices have gone down over the years.
To my knowledge, there is currently one webcam that is capable of 4K 60 FPS. It costs about 200 to 250 €. A consumer/prosumer digital video camera that is capable of the same costs about 1300 €.
If you think that they are expensive, it is worth noting that the older and some of the current consumer, prosumer and professional digital video cameras are only capable of 4K 30 FPS and they tend to be equally expensive. In fact, they can be more expensive than the new ones that are capable of 4K 60 FPS.
This discrepancy in pricing may seem odd, but it is explained by the various other features of the different camera models may have. Those video cameras that are capable of only 4K 30 FPS may simply be built better, have better lenses and/or ports for various accessories, such as XLR microphone support, than the 4K 60 FPS capable video cameras.
Professional mirrorless cameras and video cameras offer little advantage in terms of the video quality over USB-webcams and consumer/prosumer digital video cameras. Using them in research projects make little sense unless you happen to already own such cameras.
I would also consider where and how you are going to be playing the games you want to research. A USB-webcam is most suitable in a tight office setting where you are sitting close to your screen, by a desk, because webcams tend to utilize ultra wide-angle lenses (equal to 15mm focal length on a full frame, 36x24mm, sensor). Action cameras and smart phones can be used the same way, but they offer no advantage over USB-webcams. A consumer/prosumer video camera is most suitable in a living room setting where you are not sitting close to your screen, because digital video cameras tend utilize zoom lenses that offer focal length range from wide-angle (25-29mm) to super-tele (to 300-700mm focal length on a full frame, 36x24mm, sensor).
DSLRs make sense only if you already happen to own one, or find them cheaply from the second hand market. Only a couple of DSLRs are produced these days and they lack in utility when it comes to videography.
Mirrorless cameras are also an option, but they can be fairly expensive if do not already happen to own one. Moreover, while they are more suitable to videography than DSLRs, they have not been designed with that in mind. Notably, they are prone to overheating and may have limited recording time even in 1080p.
The notable upside of the DSLRs and the mirrorless cameras is the option use all kinds of lenses on most of them. This makes it possible to use the camera in different kinds of settings, both in tight office spaces and open living room settings. There are some mirrorless cameras that overcome the limitations and thus allow you to take full advantage of the changeable lenses.
In summary, I recommend opting for a high-end USB-webcam, especially if you are working on a tight budget and in tight spaces. If you want flexibility and features, I think that a consumer/prosumer digital video camera offers the best value for your money. If you already own other kinds of cameras, you might be able to use them for your purposes.
References
- OBS Project ([2012] 2025). OBS Studio (computer software). https://obsproject.com