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The picture is in wide-screen ration (not sure 16:9 or 16:10 or whatever) if using the enclosed software, but it looks in normal ration on MSN messenger.My webcam is mainly used for my kids and parents to talk and see each other. And the other good thing I did not know before purchase is the lens have Auto Focus, which is really neat. After I switched to the new one, my parents also see better image on the other side.In overall, I am very happy with this purchase. I ordered this webcam to replace my old one which was abused by my kids, so my review is based on comparison to the old one.This webcam itself is actually very tiny, the unit feels cold and seems to be made of metal. Upon finishing installation and seeing picture displayed on the monitor, my wife and I were both surprised by its clear and sharp image quality. My old one and my parents' webcam are the same model.
We've had about 4 other cameras from Logitech to MS and this one is the best soa far as well as the best priced. I rated it 5 stars with everything we've used it with, and only 3 with things we haven't. I bought this camera and my 11 year old installed it. She uses it with Oovoo. I cannot complain about it at all.
Low light can still be somewhat of an issue.As far as aesthetics, it looks quite good, although included webcams in cameras sit flush and probably look better, if you don't have one built in you really don't have a choice. I do wish it had mac support, but it's clearly stated it doesn't, so it's not a ding against it per se, just would have been nice.Overall it's probably not worth replacing your built in camera if you have one for this, but if you don't have one already, this is a good one to get. It has a rubber mount, which worked on the lcd I tried it on, and looks like it would work on almost any of them.The software was easy to install, took longer than I thought (maybe 10 minutes), and after that it updated itself (firmware) and was ready to use with anything that could use a camera. It's 720p, which means the resolution is 1280x720, nothing staggering, but a lot crisper than the standard 320x240 or 640x480 cameras (it actually has about 4x the pixel count as a normal webcam). You can do all kinds of fun house mirror style effects on the software (and the image that's transmitted on skype), and add objects like hats/mustaches/etc that automatically sit on your head and track with it, pretty amazing.
You plug in the camera and you see a junky image show up in the screen that's slightly blurry and when you move creates some nasty blur.Well you can forget most of that with this camera. Because the camera has glass optics and a good camera, it resolves most of the other issues with webcams. There is a blue light that will turn on when the camera is on, which is handy for people who get freaked out having a camera always pointed at them. I've seen older versions of this from microsoft that weren't as good, but let you download additional hats/glasses/etc, so maybe that'll come. If you've used a webcam in the last 5-10 years you basically know the drill.
While it is truly 720p hd in resolution, don't expect something like you'd see on your 720p television. Some will enjoy the 'add-ons' that you can put on the screen.
However, I feel that the 720p hd selling point is moot, as at least for me, it did not make a large difference. This is an excellent webcam, with a built in mic, and a flexible base for easy ajustment, it is very convinient, and very easy. Maybe with faster internet speeds, but insofar, a good webcam, it should be recommended, but dont expect the picture quality to improve drastically.
I think logictech would of been a better idea for HD capturing and using for messenger, this cam does not meet its expectation. I for one think half these video showing how clear this cam is are actually retouch videos run threw other editing program to falsely claim that the video is even near good capture clarity. Video capture is mediocre, sound is digital but muffled, i seen some vids showing how clear the caption on this cam is, but I for one have not seen it even with all apps off and just having the cam run you only get decent video, that HD quality does not show, nor these claim about it. they now force auto focus ture color with the clear frame technology which actually distort the picture quality instead of improving it which tends to blur a lot and some time just goes out of focus with the slightless movement which can be annoying which was a bad idea on Microsoft part. I'm going to be brutally honest, this cam is not as close to HD as they say. Picture quality is ok not great. When I use it i do see artifacts, and the new driver/updated program does'nt help either.
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