Laptop GPS World

Anyone know of an adapter that will allow connection of a rear view (backup) video camera to a laptop? I'd like to use Garmin's Mobile PC and the rearview camera on the same laptop and toggle/switch between the two when necessary.
Thanks,
BillR

You will need to get the signal to your video card. Many desktop video cards have "composite video in" on them. I've never seen a similar thing on a laptop. So you would need to find some sort of USB adapter that would take a composite video input from the backup camera and send it to your video card. This would almost certainly have to be a combination of hardware and software.

Check this page for a list of some devices that would to the trick. This is just an example of the sorts of things that might do what you want. Ignore the fact that the majority of them are TV tuners. The part you need is the video capture portion that accepts composite video input.

I hope that helps get you pointed in the right direction.

EDIT: I just Googled "USB video capture" and got lots like this ... adapters that are just for video capture.

...ken...

Thanks, Ken, I'll check into the link you provided.
I note that much of the activity on here is from you folks in Canada. Any particular reason?
Thanks again for your quick response.
BillR

That's because we're so smart and helpful. And good looking.

And we don't have much else to do in winter.

My pleasure.

...ken...

Take a look at Centrafuse. It's a frontend software for your laptop for running multiple programs. It has support for a camera input, and will display the image on the screen when activated.

I run Centrafuse in my truck and it runs the following from "inside" the program:
XM Radio
iGuidance v2004 GPS navigation (via a plugin) (Centrafuse can also be purchased with it's own GPS system. However, I don't care for the data or the way the maps are split)
MP3 playback
Drivers Daily Log (Commercial drivers logbook)

It can also do a *LOT* more with the functions already built in. Plus, you can download 3rd party plugins, as well as "link" the vehicle to the computer via Phidgets, which can sense items from the vehicle, such as putting the car into reverse to automatically switch to the Camera display.