Lab

Webcams

It almost goes without saying that technology gets better all the time. If there's one common peripheral, though, that doesn't seem to have progressed all that much over the years, it's the humble webcam.

A decade ago, webcams faced a hostile environment. The connection between camera and PC was too slow for smooth video, and dial-up Internet imposed an even worse bottleneck. That meant resolutions stayed low and compression rates high. The result: small, grainy video windows that updated so slowly they felt like slideshows.

As USB 2.0 and broadband increased the available bandwidth, using a webcam became a more enjoyable experience. But the cams themselves did little to take advantage. Instead, they just got cheaper, to the point where you could choose between any number for the price of a round of drinks, and all of them would be equally rubbish.

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In the last few months, this has finally changed. Manufacturers apparently realised that users had stopped blaming their dodgy Internet connections or slow PCs for the poor quality of video chat, and were ready to consider better cameras. So they've got their act together and released webcams with clever features like autofocus and zoom, decent lenses instead of the kind of plastic tat more commonly found in a cracker, and higher resolutions - some even claiming HD video quality.

That's not to say every webcam on the shelves now is a marvel. For a start, just because a camera has a 2 megapixel sensor, that doesn't mean it will sustain a video phone connection at anything like this quality; the figure may refer only to still photo resolution. Taking stills with your webcam can be useful if you need a quick snap of a document or object, but it's a separate function from video.

It's also worth checking whether the quoted maximum resolution is described as 'optimised' or, more accurately, 'interpolated'. That's a polite way of saying a smaller number of pixels are actually being captured, and software is guessing extra dots - much like when you scale up a photo in an image editing program. Quality won't match an original image captured at that resolution.

There's more to videoconferencing than the picture: you also need sound. A noise-cancelling mic with a headset is the best arrangement for avoiding feedback from your PC's speakers, and if it's supplied with the camera it avoids any setup hassles. If you prefer not to wear a headset, or need to capture speech from several people at once, you'll want a webcam with a built-in mic.

Finally, check that the webcam is compatible with your PC, and what software comes with it. Many have little or none, because makers assume you'll be using them with video-capable instant messaging (IM) programs such as Skype. Webcams can do far more than this: for example, point one at some modelling-clay figures and you can make your own stop motion cartoons. But you'll usually have to find software for yourself.

Because of this, the system requirements quoted aren't always particularly relevant, but recommendations generally include Windows XP (with SP2) or Vista, at least a 1GHz processor, and 100-200MB of free hard disk space. Most cams need a USB 2.0 port, which all recent PCs have.

By spending just a little more than the bare minimum, you can get an excellent webcam. We tested eight of the latest, from £19 to £55.