Pong Cam - My ESP32S3 Thinks It's a WebCam! I turned an ESP32-S3 into a plug-and-play USB webcam—with no camera attached. The ESP32 generates its own frames, encodes them as JPEGs, and streams them over UVC as MJPEG. I ramp it up from a static BBC test card, to animated GIF playback, and finally a fully playable Pong running at a solid 30 FPS. Under the hood: Espressif’s UVC device component (TinyUSB), Bulk mode for stability, AnimatedGIF for decoding, and esp_new_jpeg for fast JPEG encoding (~21–23 ms/frame). It’s a fun proof that the S3 can be a real-time “display” straight into your PC. 01 February 2026