With the growing availability of high bandwidth
internet connections getting a webcam and staying in touch with friends and
family has never been easier.
What is a Webcam
A
webcam is a small video camera that takes still or moving images and sends
them to your PC via a USB cable. The quality of image capture is determined by
the webcam's lens, optical sensor and the frame rate the camera can transmit.
The best available resolution is 640x480 and the frame rate is almost always 30
frames per second. If your looking to take movie clips then you will need a
camera with a high resolution and frame rate. If you want to use your video
camera for video conferencing, you could go for a cheaper, lower-spec camera but
with the ever increasing availability of high bandwidth internet connections and
VoIP software such as Skype, I would recommend going for a good quality camera.
PC specification and your Webcam
At this point it would be a good idea to check the minimum specification
required to run the webcam of your choice, and whether your PC meets that
specification. The majority of current webcams require at least Windows 98
Second Edition to work properly. Minimum processor requirements generally vary
from 350MHz to 700MHz but I would suggest a processor speed of at least 1000MHz.
RAM specifications vary from 128MB to 512MB. Manufacturers of
webcams will generally state a wide compatibility specification, however, a
good rule of thumb would be to take the top specification mentioned for your
webcam and use that as your minimum specification requirement.
Ok your PC has met the minimum RAM and Processor specification for your webcam,
the next thing to think about is the kind of port your webcam is going to plug
into. The majority of webcams manufactured in the past five years plugs in to a
USB port. However, there are two kinds of USB ports older USB1.1 ports
(12Mbit/s) and the more recent USB2.0 ports (480Mbit/s). These two types look
identical and you can plug a USB2.0 port into a USB1.1 socket and you can plug
older USB1.1 devices into a USB2.0 port, however, only a USB Hi-Speed device on
a USB2.0 port will transfer data faster than 12Mbit/s.
Upgrading your PC to meet your webcam requirements
Before you undertake any upgrade, you need to compare your PC's specifications
to the minimum requirements of the
webcam you want
to install. Check out the need to know below before you take the plunge.
A webcam's manufacturer will specify certain minimum requirements that your PC
should meet if it is to work successfully with the device. These generally
include the version of Windows on your PC, your processor's speed and the amount
of RAM fitted. Some webcams use a USB Hi-Speed connection. Before you buy one of
these cams check to see if your PC has USB2.0 ports. If your PC runs a version
of Windows older than XP then it almost certainly doesn't have USB2.0 ports.
Most current webcams come with a built-in microphone, but a few don't. Before
you buy, check to see if your webcam has a microphone, if it doesn't you'll have
to buy one that plugs into your sound card.
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