Web cam, please

10_66

After having recently bought a logitech microphone to use Skype to talk to my sister who's just moved to the States, she wants me to get a web cam instead. I paid around £20 for a reasonable microphone, so don't feel like paying very much on top of that for a web cam. Can anyone recommend a reasonable one for as little as possible, please! I'm a bit of a technophobe, and haven't a clue how to set one up either, so simple would also be good. Many thanks.

rmg1

I got one from my local Best Buy for about £8. It's quite reasonable, has a built in mike (not excellent but good enough) and installs in minutes.

Fazza

Logitech generally do good quality webcams too. Currys do a reasonable selection for around the £20 mark, just check the mega pixel (mp) when you read the product description...the higher the mp, the higher the quality should be. All these cams should come with an installation disc which runs you through the setup too

10_66

Fazza wrote: »

...just check the mega pixel (mp) when you read the product description...the higher the mp, the higher the quality should be. All these cams should come with an installation disc which runs you through the setup too

What's the minimum mp that I should have, please?

tanith

I have a logitech webcam with built in mic, sorry I can't remember how much I paid but it was from PC World and it works perfectly with Skype..

Fazza

myself personally, for a webcam I would say at least 3mp but it depends on how good the quality you want it to be. Normally the store assistants can help you weigh up the pros and cons for each webcam but you certainly dont have to spend loads on every day webcam, certainly no more than £20

TakeThis

Fazza wrote: »

myself personally, for a webcam I would say at least 3mp but it depends on how good the quality you want it to be. Normally the store assistants can help you weigh up the pros and cons for each webcam but you certainly dont have to spend loads on every day webcam, certainly no more than £20

Ridiculous. You must be confused.

1.3MP by hardware will be more than enough.

VGA quality (640 x 480 pixels) equals 0.3 MegaPixel.

'HD Video calling' (1280 X 720 pixels) is < 1 MegaPixel.

Full HD spec (1920 X 1080 pixels) is just over 2 MegaPixels

Running the 'HD' spec at 30fps will require more than just a basic PC and the Full HD spec probably a highly rated system.
So why would you suggest a 3MP webcam?

Fazza

That just my opinion on what I have been told about webcams and was the advice I followed for which I was happy about. I can only offer advice on my personal experience and knowledge. You obviously have more knowledge in webcams than myself so I stand corrected and open the floor to you lol

10_66

TakeThis wrote: »

Ridiculous. You must be confused.

1.3MP by hardware will be more than enough.

VGA quality (640 x 480 pixels) equals 0.3 MegaPixel.

'HD Video calling' (1280 X 720 pixels) is < 1 MegaPixel.

Full HD spec (1920 X 1080 pixels) is just over 2 MegaPixels

Running the 'HD' spec at 30fps will require more than just a basic PC and the Full HD spec probably a highly rated system.
So why would you suggest a 3MP webcam?

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what this means. Please explain what this bit means "Running the 'HD' spec at 30fps will require more than just a basic PC and the Full HD spec probably a highly rated system". I'm afraid I'm about as thick as you can get with techie things. Does this mean that if I bought a 5mp webcam (on PC World's website @ £19.97), that I wouldn't be able to use it on my computer? (Please don't ask me what the spec is of my computer, when I click on properties, all I know is that it is has 185 GB of storage of which 159 GB is free space).

TakeThis

Fazza wrote: »

That just my opinion on what I have been told about webcams and was the advice I followed for which I was happy about. I can only offer advice on my personal experience and knowledge. You obviously have more knowledge in webcams than myself so I stand corrected and open the floor to you lol

Ok, let me give you an example by using some webcam specifications:

Features:
Chat with sharp, smooth and clear Video/Voice
This smart webcam is USB 2.0 ready
Up to 8 Mega Pixels resolution upgrade function This is worthless nonsense
High Quality picture with high-speed USB 2.0
6 LED’s Lights switch control
Built-in Microphone
Driver less no need install Driver (Win98 needs driver)
Smart face tracking, tracks yours every move
Smart Motion detection function
Spice up your chats with advanced video FX
10 Mode background frames
Use your own customized background frames
Clear and sharp still picture
Metallic body and fashionable style
Adjustable lens for accurate image shooting
Multi-Attach base designed for both desktop and notebook PC
Snap shot function
Supports digital zoom
Video recorder function
Night vision function
Supports Yahoo Messenger, Skype, MSN Messenger and other compatible instant messaging Services

Specifications:
Image Sensor: High Quality CMOS Sensor
Image Resolution: Up to 3200x2400(insert pixel)
Image Control: Color saturation, brightness, sharpness and brightness is adjustable
Anti-flicker: 50Hz, 60Hz or outdoor
Image Quality: RGB24
Exposure: Auto or manual
Angle of View: 58
Interface: High Speed USB2.0 (Fully backward compatible with USB 1.1)
Hardware Pixels: 480 K
Frame Rate: 30 fps
This is the important specification
Lens: 3G
Lens: f=6.0 F=2.0
Focus Range: 4cm to infinity


The other specification is for an artificially enhanced still picture, not for video.

TakeThis

This is an example of a true 0.3MP webcam video stream:



That is how it will look when using Messenger.

Most laptops have this specification.

This is the size of the picture on an HD Webcam:



Having a spec better than this on most laptops is close to pointless, as the screen resolution won't stand to it and the graphics card may struggle to process 30 frames per second for fluid video.

For most people 1.3MP video by hardware is more than enough. These will likely be labelled HD webcams now.

Ignore the silly 5MP claims. They are of no use other than to get you to buy it.

Is your computer up to the task?