EOS Utility Remote Viewing Performance

The Canon 7D (and other cameras) come with EOS Utility. This software lets you remotely shoot from a computer. It also allows you to view Live View via a computer.

I tested this out on my old laptop, and the performance was quite poor. The frames per second (FPS) was barely usable. I was still considering this as an option for a Video Monitor, but need to confirm what sort of netbook/laptop will be required to provide enough performance to make this viable.  I performed tests on several of the PC's I have around the house with the following results

• Intel Core I7 - More then capable of handling the video feed. See the following belo
• Intel Core 2 Duo - Handles the FPS fine, but the CPU is running high at 70 to 80.
• Pentium 4 3 Ghz - Frame rate was quite a bit lower. CPU still not capped.
• Pentium M 1.8 Ghz - Frame rate significantly too low.

So it is possible to get a good frame rate and very little delay from a usb remote connection, however I have not yet determined if a netbook is capable of a useable FPS. (I do not own a netbook).

All tests were done with a 31 foot in total length USB cable run. I had to use a repeater
USB Active Extension/Repeater Cable and then a 15 foot Male to Mini-B 5Pin cable to get the length.
15 foot Male to Mini-B 5 Pin Cable. The repeater is important as USB only supports a maximum of 16 feet without one. See this video for more information