Ask Slashdot: Best Webcam To Augment Impaired Vision?

mynamestolen writes "In order to read paper-based books many visually impaired people want to attach a webcam to a computer and attach the computer to a TV. Some Electronic Magnifiers are purpose-built to provide a similar solution. Different organisations around the world (such as in the UK) have help pages. But I have not been able to find a guide to set up my own system. So I'm asking Slashdot readers how to go about it. What is the best camera to use if I want to hold the camera in my hand and point it at book or magazine? What parameters should I adjust, either in the software or on the camera? Depth of view, refresh rates, contrast, color balance and resolution might be key problems. My system is Linux and getting drivers for a good camera might also be a problem."

Magnifying Glasses

[bfandreas]

My grandma used big, huge magnifying glasses.
Are we hitting some kind of magnifying barrier or why the Rube-Goldberg solution?

It's propably easier on the ants, tho.