Acceptable basic webcam
Written: Jun 16 '02 (Updated Jun 19 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Cheap, got it for $41, acceptable image quality
Cons: Software is not that friendly, only good as a webcam (not a camera)
The Bottom Line: A basic, cheap webcam that for web-based videoconferencing; forget about taking pictures and videos with the webcam unless you can accept low quality images.
|
|
|
| coldspring's Full Review: Creative Labs Video Blaster WebCam 3 |
INTENDED USE
I was looking for a webcam that would be used in videoconferencing via NetMeeting or Yahoo Messenger. I had initially bought the Quickcam Express on offer at $34, which I thought was a good buy. On using it, I found the image quality unacceptable and traded it in for the Creative Video Blaster Webcam for an additional $7: total $41
SYSTEM SPECS
The system that I was going to use it on has the following specifications:
Pentium 4 1.8 with 256 MB RAM, MSI GeForce 4 64 MB RAM display card, Windows ME and a 17" NEC monitor.
CAMERA SPECS
320x240 resolution, 640x480 with software interpolation, 30 frames per second, bundled software and drivers, USB interface
BOX CONTENTS
Out of the box the Creative Video Blaster Webcam had the following:
- Webcam attached to USB cable
- Installation CD
- Instruction manual
- Warranty registration card
INSTALLATION
It is important to install drivers first BEFORE inserting the USB cable into the USB port. Although this fact is not mentioned by the installation program, it is stated in the installation manual. Once the driver install is complete, a reboot is necessary. Overall, installation was straightforward and problem-free.
WEBCAM IN ACTION
The webcam is hinged on a stand with 4 rubber feet. The webcam is best placed on top of the PC monitor. There is a focusing ring on the lens which is useful to focus the webcam onto far or near subjects. I found the focusing ring to be quite precise and had no trouble focusing.
Creative bundles in basic software which allows you to capture still images, videos in AVI format and use the webcam as a motion detector. For the AVI videos you can also enable sound if you have a microphone attached to your PC.
There is a snap button on top of the webcam which snaps a picture. Overall, the software was easy to use but doesn't score that high on user friendliness. Other software bundled include Creative Webcam Photoeditor, Pixmaker, Pixscreen, Mediaring Talk and Microsoft Netmeeting.
You can change the image size from 640x480 downwards to 320x240 and lower and change the frame rate from 30 frames per second downwards. The camera controls enable you to change the brightness, contrast, saturation, backlighting, frames per second, etc. Leaving the the controls on automatic generally produces good results. The best pictures are produced at the webcam's native resolution of 320x240.
The webcam drivers are also used by NetMeeting and Yahoo Messenger.
MOTION DETECTION
An interesting feature of the webcam is the motion detection feature. You can set up the webcam to capture a short video if it detects movement. The software is even able to update a web page with an image but I have not tried it. You can set the sensitivity of the motion detection which uses software to determine movement. You can also set the length of video (5, 10 or more seconds) to capture and whether you want sound recorded. It was kind of fun to leave it on and come back later to see the captured images. One problem I found was that if the motion detection software is continously recording, there were many corrupted files.
IMAGE QUALITY
The picture quality, for both still and videos are low. Don't expect the still pictures to look like a photograph nor the videos to look like something taken with a video camera. This is not possible at this price point. The stills are usable as thumbnails, any larger and the fuzziness becomes obvious. The videos are more acceptable as the fuzziness becomes less obvious with movement.
Image quality is acceptable for a device at this price range. I made some adjustments to the hue and backlighting to get better results.
When I tried using the webcam on NetMeeting and Yahoo Messenger, the smaller images made the picture look even better. Faces and objects were clearly visible, even in florescent lighting, with a bit of color bleeding along some edges.
The lens is not wide-angled enough for my purposes. It does give a clear head shot, which is great for talking in a videoconference, but if I need to include more of the scenery, I have to push the camera further back. Since it is placed on the computer monitor, I can't get it too far back as it will fall off.
CONCLUSION
This is a great product for videoconferencing applications such as NetMeeting and Yahoo Messenger. The picture quality is clear enough to make it a great choice at this price. There are better webcams that can be had for twice the money, but I'm not willing to spend that much on a webcam. And although it will take pictures and videos like it says on the box, I would rather take photos and scan them in...as for the videos, perhaps my next purchase is a video capture card :)
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
coldspring
|
|
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I am an IT professional who is also interested in gadgets, consumer electronics and cars.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.