When you want to talk to someone in a different city or even country you pick up
the phone and dial a phone number (that costs money).
Back in the early 1960's there was a scientific magazine that predicted
technological
advances one of the articles was about a pic-to-phone or a vid-phone. A phone
with a tv that would allow you to see the person you were talking to. Cool!
Unfortunately it will take over forty years to realize a real low cost way to
make a video phone call.
Today you can make a video phone call with your computer and a peripheral called a Web
Cam (in some cases free!).
Web Cams have a Digital Camera and some with a microphone built in.
The quality of the image is controlled by the quality of the camera, the connect
speed of your internet connection and the resolution of the receiving software.
This review is for two different Web Cams, one is about five years old and the
other one is brand new.
The Creative WebCam Live! Ultra (purchased in 2005)
Specifications:
Video Resolution
Up to 640 x 480 pixels
Picture Resolution - Still mode
Up to 640 x 480 pixels
1280 x 960 pixels with software enhancement within Creative WebCam Center
Video formats
RGB24
I420
USB 1.1 or 2.o
Power from USB connection
Exposure control
Automatic
White balance
Automatic
Field-of-view
76 degrees +/- 5% (diagonal)
Focus range
15 centimeters (6 inches) to infinity
Sound
Built in microphone
The Logitech WebCam Pr0 9000 (new)
Specifications:
Video Resolution
Up to 1600 X 1200
Picture Resolution - Still mode
Up to 720 pixel widescreen mode
1600 X 1200 pixels
Video formats
Native 2-MP HD sensor
Up to 30-frames-per-second video
USB 2.o
Power from USB connection
Exposure control
Carl Zeiss® optics with autofocus
Sound
Microphone with Logitech® RightSound™ technology
Still images
Up to 8-megapixel photos (enhanced from native 2 MP sensor)
I tested these two web cams through Skype.
The test -
Call my laptop from my desktop through Skype. The connect speed is 7MBPS (Mega
Bits Per Second). Both accounts go out
the same router then return. This is not
an optimum test such as calling from one country to another but a good test of
the Skype servers and my network connection to those servers (free call). The
resolution and quality are the best for the technology of the time.
Creative WebCam
The older Creative web cam (connected to the laptop) lighting is yellowish and
the focus is very fuzzy. The camera is about 3 feet from the subject. The video
would break up if I moved around in the frame.
Logitech WebCam
While this camera (connected to the desktop) was five feet away from me the
resolution is quite good and when I moved around in the frame the video did not
break up.
Creative WebCamstill image -
You can see the Desktop monitor in the image it is hard to discern the Skype
application on the screen.
Logitech WebCam still image -
You can see the laptop video in the image with the Skype application running.
The Creative camera still image resolution is 160 x 120 pixels where as the
Logitech resolution is 320 x 240 pixels. The focus for the Creative is not as
sharp as the Logitech. Increasing the image size with the Creative web cam to
320 x 240 makes the image very fuzzy. How ever increasing the image size of the
Logitech web cam to 640 x 480 it is still sharp (and my office is a mess...)
As with any technological advance the newer product will be cheaper and the
quality of the data will be higher. The Creative Web Cam Live cost a little
under $150 in 2005. The Logitech 9000 cost $89 in 2010.
If you only need to view an area for security reasons then an older web cam off
of eBay or a local yard sale will work just fine but if you want to do Video
Calls and or Conferencing then you will want to have a higher quality camera.
One of the great things about the internet is a phone call from say Arizona, US
of A to Wales, UK with video would be free! Cool!
Note:
I used Skype over Yahoo! because the Skype software works through a firewall
(port 80) vs five to twenty ports that Yahoo! requires to connect, transmit, and
receive video and sound. You can read about
Skype here.
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