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There are many videos on YouTube that explains how to use camera of a dead smartphone and connect it to phone by USB-OTG. However I want to know

Is that possible to modify and connect a dead smartphone camera to a PC as webcam using USB cable? Does it need some extra device?

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C.F.G
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    This is a question about the *use* of existing devices, and does not contain sufficient engineering background to elevate it to a design question. Especially, there's no research into the links used by camera modules. So, voting to close as off-topic here. – Marcus Müller Jul 07 '20 at 08:46
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    Hey, welcome! Well, it's not possible directly. It's not that you just plug it in and it works. You need to figure out what protocol it uses, find or make a converter board for it which will be visible as a USB device for the PC. Something like a driver board (like displays have small boards where you plug in your HDMI). Possible? Yeah, most likely. But it will take some wits and work – Ilya Jul 07 '20 at 08:46

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Of course it is possible.

But is does not work simply by connecting USB wires to camera. It just needs a interface board with chips that talk USB on one end and talk with the camera interface at the other end.

So if you know what interface the camera module has and what is the pinout mapping and voltage levels used on the camera, it can be interfaced. There might not be ready made modules for this so you would have to design the adapter electronics yourself.

In reality, if a random camera is taken out from a random dead phone, chances that anyone has the experience, enough time, money for tools and determination etc needed to figure out what interface and pinout and voltage levels the camera uses are quite small. So while a nice idea to reuse old modules, it will be cheaper to just buy a webcam.

Justme
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  • +1. Thanks for answer. As the @MarcusMüller said it seems that my question is not appropriate for this forum so I have another question here: Is it possible to improve laptop camera (just camera and not its board) by replacing its lens (camera) with a smartphone high resolution back camera? – C.F.G Jul 07 '20 at 10:49
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    That's another "is it possible" type of question. Of course anything is possible, unless it is against the laws of physics, so changing a lens should be doable. That's not an electronics design question though. – Justme Jul 07 '20 at 10:51
  • @Justme Can you point me to that specific direction? Where do I start. I want to achieve exactly what you said creating a board and interfacing. Thanks. – Darshan Mar 22 '22 at 11:05