Logitech Quickcam Orbit Webcam
from LogitechProduct description
The Quickcam Orbit Webcam from Logitech is a contemporary webcam that offers motorized pan and tilt to assist in focusing the camera on the user with ease. The 1.3 mega pixel camera also provides great video and picture quality so that your friends and familiy see yourself in the best way! Below are some itemized specifications of the product your everyone's review:
- Two year limited warranty
- Full screen video with synchronized audio
- Digital video camera
- Video resolution at 640 x 480, Native resolution at 1280 x 960
- Supported on PC, running Windows XP or later
- Built-in microphone
- Saves images in .jpg format
- Video capture speed at 30 frames per second
Product Research
Based on user review inputs from Amazon.com the following experiences & feedback are shared below.
From Rick V:
I echo what one of the other reviewers stated.
The hardware is excellent: the image is NEVER grainy, even in miserable lighting conditions (monitor reflected light only, for example). Cowbofrank dot net gives some good examples of just how good the picture is in various lighting conditions. I have a wide array of cams (call me a cam fetishist) and until now I have benchmarked all cameras against my trusty old INTEL PRO which is 5 yrs old but still makes people as what I am camming with.
This one is visibly better uin quality and the CCD sensor, for once, makes a real improvement over the CMOS sensors in the cheaper cams.
The pan and tilt is 'cute' and gadgety (has a bit of a wow factor) but frankly, given the wide screen lens, it is not relly needed. Would have been better to work on an autofocus.
The RightLight and RightSound technology to improve sound and pic quality in a wide range of conditions are SUPERB. Nothing to compare it with other than expensive bi-aural mics and light measurement in a more expensive digital cam.
The fps is excellent. I really get comments that my cam seems like watching TV. And that is not just caused by the bandwith of my internet connection.
The reason I also ducked a star is because the software, especially the drivers, do hog resources. And not a little. I run a P4 machine, 3+ ghz, 2gb internal, and I noticed a difference. It truly does seem to load a lot of junk in the registry. I do not think it is a real problem, given the speed of today's machines and I think Logitech will fix this in future driver updates. They are loyal to their customers...
Also, keep in mind that this is a small trade off when you're on a quest for true video conferencing capabilities that don't give you the impression you are working with premature technology. This baby can run full screen video and do it without decline in fps.
From Evan Ross:
I upgraded from the Orbit to the Orbit MP and found that it is a major step backwards in quality.
The software control panel is much harder to use, with very coarse and twitchy sliders. You can't type numbers into the edit boxes.
Also, although still images are wonderful, the quality of live video for webcams and chat clients is horrendous. The subsampling algorithms used to convert the high-res camera images into low-res images for transmission cause blurring, loss of definition, and constant snow/shift patterns.
I'm going back to my $30 low res camera that provides higher quality for video conferencing.
From Bamidele Thomas:
I have about three different logitech webcams, one for my laptop, it is the small clip on one, and the other two are for my desktop computers at work and home. Why three, because I got them all at a good price. The orbit can just sit on the desk, so as to not be in the way on the lcd screen. I purchased this one without software becaused I already had some from my other webcams. I think webcams are cool for communicating with friends and family you don't get to see often, so I would say, 'get this one' so you can stay in touch.
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