Buy Webcam : Introduction

Thanks for coming to my site to learn about buying a webcam. I wrote this short guide to help my customers to buy a webcam more easily, giving them information on how a webcam works and what the main differences between models are.

A webcam will allow you broadcast a moving image of yourself over the internet using nothing more than computer, camera and a little software. This little guide will tell you everything you need to know about webcams including what they can do, what they can't do, and what all the jargon means. It'll also provide some links to other useful sources of information.

Although webams have been around since the beginning of the 1990s, they have only enjoyed success in the mainstream during the last few years. As more people have got online and discovered the benefits of using webcams, and as the price has dropped, more people have been buying webcams. Now that most people using the internet have good enough computers and connection speeds to be able to use webcams, many are choosing webcams to hold video-conversations or video conferences. If you're ready to buy a webcam please explore the site using the links on the left hand side.

If I buy a webcam, what will it do ?

A webcam will:
- Connect to almost any computer
- Capture moving images of you
- Broadcast those images over the internet
- Enable you to video-conference with others using any software
- Record short videos for you
- Take still photos.

A webcam cannot usually:
- Take extremely high-quality images
- Be used to make long films
- Make cups of tea (except more expensive models)

The Jargon

Webcams now come in all shapes and sizes but they will all have certain features in common. The things to be most aware of when you're buying a webcam is the resolution (i.e. how many pixels the camera can capture at any one time), which will determine the quality of image you'll get from the camera. Below are a few features you'll find in descriptions of webcams. You'll need to think about these if you want to buy webcam.

Resolution

As I mentioned above, generally the higher the resolution the camera has, the higher quality image it will be able to transmit. Webcams usually come in these resolutions, the numbers corresponding to the maximum number of dots (or pixels) per photograph taken.

- 100k (100,000 pixels)
- 300k
- 480k
-1.3 Megapixels (or 1,300,000 pixels)

So the more pixels in your camera, the higher the quality of image produced. Generally if you buy a more expensive webcam you can expect a higher resolution.

Note: Although some cameras claim to be 1.3 Megapixels, they may not technically be capable of producing images of that resolution without the aid of software. For that reason, some 480K cameras are sold as 1.3Megapixel cameras on the basis that they produce the same quality images as their 1.3 megapixel counterparts. There's also some difference in quality between 1.3Megapixel cameras.

What do you really need?

Generally speaking, 100k cameras usually produce quite poor quality images and are best avoided. Because the images you're transmitting will be relatively small, a 480k camera will usually be of a sufficient quality. The thing to remember is that streaming video is always compressed so as to allow it to be broadcast over the internet more effectively. Therefore, you'll always lose some quality in the images you're producing. If you want to buy a webcam for video calling, you will find that most cameras on our site are 1.3mpx quality.

1.3 Megapixel cameras are also usually of a quality that's good enough for streaming live video (i.e. video confrencing) and recording short videos.

If you want to take digital stills, resolution is slightly more important and I'd not recommend anything less than 1.3 megapixels.

Frames / Second

Standard video is around 32 frames per second - that being 32 still images compiled together every second to give the impression of movement. Apart from the cheaper cameras, most are capable of capturing this number of frames per second. Most cameras operate on a 32 frames/second basis when producing small images, but can slow down if you're trying to broadcast a larger-size image.

Again, it's unlikely that you'll ever be able to broadcast 32 frames/second, unless you have a very good connection speed between you and the recipient.

Digital Zoom / Focus / Face Tracking

Some cameras allow you to zoom in on the object being filmed. This is always a useful feature because you may be forced to put the webcam in a position that is quite far from your face. It's sometimes quite difficult to get webcams to sit where you want them to, so using a digital zoom can be a useful way of getting around this problem. You should note though, that a digital zoom will usually reduce the overall quality of the image. It shouldn't be a problem if you're using a high resolution camera though.

You can usually focus webcams by rotating the rim of the lens. Allows you to focus on objects at various depths of field.

Face Tracking - does what it says! The camera will detect your face using colour and movement sensors and keep your face in the centre of the shot. Face tracking sounds useful, but the likelyhood is that you'll be pretty close to the camera anyway so you won't need it too much. Again though it's good if you can't easily move the camera to the position you want.

CMOS sensor

This is the name given to the technology that captures the images (image sensors centred around the lens). The reason webcams have come crashing down in price is largely due to the use of CMOS sensors which are much cheaper than older types of image sensors.

Auto-colour / Balance

This feature means you won't have to re-adjust the light balance when using the camera. The camera should automatically detect the level of light in the room and then alter the image accordingly so that your image is not overexposed / underexposed.

I should point out at this point that the light in a room really makes a huge difference to the quality of the image you'll get out of your camera. See more hints on getting a good image from your camera here.

Microphones

Many newer cameras come with built-in microphones which means you can use the camera for voice-chatting as well as simple video exchanges. A few things to note -

Stand-alone microphones:

- Usually cost more than buying a built-in microphone/camera
- Will have a better quality sound
- Can still cause feedback (unless you're using headphones or a headset)

Built-in microphones:

- Save space and are more convenient to carry
- Are usually inferior quality microphones
- Can be tricky to plug in if the USB port is far away from the microphone jack

For what it's worth I think the best solution is to use a microphone headset which eliminates feedback noise and gives a much higher quality sound for voice chats. Ok, you'll probably look like a telesales operator but at least you'll be heard on the other end!

Note : Many of the Logitech and Microsoft webcams have built-in USB microphones which are brilliant for voice calls but can cause some echoing. For this reason, Logitech has developed its rightsound technology which stops the echo (see our page on Logitech webcams) and often bundles headsets if you buy a webcam from them.

Software

There's loads of software available on the market and I've got a separate page here with links to all the downloads. You should be able to use any model of webcam with any software that enables some sort of video option. Popular software includes:

- Skype
- MSN
- Yahoo messenger
- Did I mention Skype?

The big-brand manufacturers always bundle software with their webcams, too. I'll try my best to review as much of this software as possible on this site to tell you whether it's worth installing or not. The software that comes with Logitech / Microsoft / Philips webcams allows you record and edit images and videos. But there's plenty of free software available at

www.tucows.net

LINKS:

For more information about the webcam as an historic instrument, I recommend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMOS_sensor

If you want to test your webcam out with a stranger or just want a friendly chat I recommend the excellent

Messagr - a search engine for people online using Skype

Main manufacturers include

Logitech
Philips
Microsoft
Creative
Trust
Labtec

Other pages you might find useful:

Buying a laptop webcam

Our look at Microsoft webcams

webcam store homepage