Editing Webcam (section)

=== Internal software ===
As the [[bayer filter]] is proprietary, any webcam contains some built-in [[image processing]], separate from compression. Digital video streams are represented by huge amounts of data, burdening its transmission (from the image sensor, where the data is continuously created) and storage alike. Most if not all cheap webcams come with built-in [[Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]] to do [[video compression]] in real-time.

Support electronics read the image from the sensor and transmit it to the host computer. Most webcams come with a controller that translates video over [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]] from Sonix, Suyin, [[Ricoh]], [[Realtek]] or others. Typically, each frame is transmitted uncompressed in [[RGB]] or [[YUV]] or compressed as [[JPEG]]. Some cameras, such as [[camera phone|mobile-phone cameras]], use a CMOS sensor with supporting electronics "on die", i.e. the sensor and the support electronics are built on a single [[Integrated circuit|silicon chip]] to save space and manufacturing costs. Most webcams feature built-in [[microphone]]s to make [[videotelephone|video calling]] and [[videoconferencing]] more convenient.