How many USB cameras can be accessed by one PC

Question

I am just wondering how many USB cameras can be accessed by one desktop PC? Is there any limit? I am planning to create my own Windows application (using .NET) to capture ar

Answer 1

The problem is not how many you can discover. On a single USB bus, ~127 could be possible.

But, a USB bus can only transfer a limited amount of bytes per second. So if you want to use more then one, you have to calculate the amount of bandwidth you have for the video stream.

Example : A USB bus normally can deliver realistically ~35 MB/s. 640*480*2 bytes per pixel => 614400 bytes per frame. @30 FPS this is ~17 MB/s, so you can use 2 cameras simultaneously with this setup.