Product ReviewsGraphics cards
One of the fastest growing areas in the computer industry is consumer video conferencing, and the latest device to enter this field is the ZoomCam. A USB-based video camera, it's capable of capturing live video at 20-30fps (frames per second). The camera is the size of a tennis ball mounted on a small bracket, which allows for movement in the vertical axis only. The bracket's rubber base helps keep it in position, and there's also a screwthread for attaching a tripod. The USB cable is 6ft long, which gives it some freedom of placement. The camera is mostly cased in white plastics, with the lens mounting and focusing ring getting a hint of Bondi blue. The software consists simply of a USB driver which can be dropped into the Extensions folder or placed by the installer. This must be upgraded via a download from the Zoom Web site. Upgrading is a confusing process, and it's very easy to find yourself in limbo. The trick is to disconnect the camera before removing the software driver. When you reconnect the camera, the Mac OS will claim there's no driver for the device, so you have to copy
In addition to the full version of CU-SeeMe, there's several trial and shareware programs supplied on CD - Webcam software, editing and capture software, and a cataloguing program. All of this software is either time-limited or a special edition with cut-down features. The documentation suggests you use Apple Video Player to test and view the images from the camera. This works well, as the camera appears as a QuickTime capture device, and should be compatible with other Mac applications. The visual quality is good, as long as you keep the size of the image display small; if you scale up to the maximum (352 x 288 pixels), a noticeable softness emerges. The camera's manual focus ring has a moderate effect on the image, which helps with close-ups in the range of 4-5ft. The fixed manual focus lens, with its f-stop of 1.9 and 52¼ field of view, is best for close-up work. The camera will capture video at 25fps or 30fps at 176 x 144 pixels, but if you go up to 352 x 288 then this will drop to 20fps. Performance is pretty good at this level, with a good quality of captured video, although there are noticeable artefacts with contrasting backgrounds. The camera also seems to be affected badly by side lighting, resulting in an imbalanced image, with whiteout occurring on the lit side. The ZoomCam USB is perfectly acceptable for video conferencing or as a Webcam, and will be a lot of fun to use. However, it's no replacement for a real video camera. The documentation needs to be revised to explain the installation process more completely, but it does seem to be good value for money. By Gavin Bell |
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