title: getUserMedia video quality
body: <p>I am working on a tablet (HP) with Windows 8.1. We developed a web application, accessed from the tablet with the Chrome browser, which accesses the tablet's webcam using the getUserMedia API (the implementation is simple, based on JavaScript, similar to the one here for example: <a href="https://davidwalsh.name/demo/camera.php" rel="nofollow">https://davidwalsh.name/demo/camera.php</a>).
  Our application will be used to take photos of identity cards, and then submit them to a servlet.</p>
  
  <p>The quality of the picture taken inside the browser, using the getUserMedia API, is quite poor, and the letters on the identity cards are sometimes not easily readable in the image.
  If I use the "Camera" application from Windows 8.1 on the same tablet, and take pictures of the same identity cards, in the same light conditions and from the same distance, the resulting images (JPEG) are very clear.</p>
  
  <p>Why is this difference in quality? I read all about the getUserMedia API, and I tried all the available parameters (constraints, width, height, jpeg quality), but I cannot obtain a good quality image.
  What is the reason for which the same camera on the same tablet results in such a quality difference when used in the browser, and when used with the Windows camera application, and is there a way to obtain better quality in the browser (develop a custom plugin)?</p>