Cannot get two webcams to work

[pvdn]

I bought a second webcam (both are logitech), but have not been able to have two camera sources in OBS. Individually they work fine when i add them as source in OBS, but whenever i add the second one the image from the 2nd cam stays black. I also tried with another, older, logitech cam, and had the same issue. I cannot see two cam feeds at the same time.

Any suggestions on how to solve this?

Mac Mini M2, Sonoma 14.6.1, OBS 30.2.3

 

[pvdn]

I thought adding a camera of a different brand would fix it, but that doesnt seem to be the case. What i did figure out is that when grabbing an old macbook pro (15 inch late 2013 running OSX 11.7.10) it works instantly. So it seems to be either something with the OS version or maybe the M2 chip?

 

[AaronD]

Are they both USB?

A USB controller can't practically handle more than 1 HD video source at a time (total data rate...), and most computers have only one USB controller that feeds all the ports through an internal hub.

Sometimes you'll find one that has two controllers, with some ports on one and some on the other. If you can get one camera on each, that can work.

And there *is* some merit to having them different too. USB is supposed to have a unique serial number for each device, so even multiple copies of the exact same thing can be distinguished. But it's much cheaper to make the serial numbers the same too, if that really is the *only* difference. Then your system can get confused when it sees two of the *exact* same thing, including the serial number...