Just recently I had the privilege of receiving the new 720p webcam from Microsoft and I must say, it’s weird seeing myself in HD, at least through a webcam.
First Impressions
When I first unboxed the Lifecam, I was pretty stunned to find how tiny it is. All of the high resolution photos can really sway your perception of this device. The Lifecam itself is only 2″ tall and 1.81″ long making it a bite-sized camera that will sit quit nicely on your monitor. Despite the small stature, the device seems very sturdy to hold, unlike many cheap webcams that often feel like they can be snapped in two. The outer casing of the webcam itself is aluminum instead of plastic which makes the device very solid all round.
Appearance
The Lifecam resembles that of a miniature studio camera by appearance. The auto-focus lens is sheltered by the aluminum body and the microphone melds in with the top of the device. The stand can be bent forward and backward to grab onto just about anything without a problem. The camera itself can be rotated 360° around the stand so that you can capture everything around you.
Stills
The Lifecam Cinema allows the user to use all of the features of the phone how they want. If the user desires a still image, they got it. There are various still image options in the software that allow you to choose resolutions from 160×120 through a 5x HD resolution. I’ll let the following pictures do some talking:
Audio
The microphone on the Lifecam Cinema sits on top of the camera with a prominent silver appearance. I personally enjoy this because there is an object that you are talking to rather than that tiny dot found on other cheap webcams. After using the microphone while chatting to friends and in videos, the quality was satisfactory. While the microphone was easily able to pick up my voice (I actually had to turn the sensitivity of the microphone down), it also easily picked up noise around me. Some fans from my computer are noticeable on the audio despite the computer being relatively quiet and about 4 feet away from the device.
However, the device makes up for it by allowing your voice to be picked up more clearly than I have seen from many mics including my Creative Fatal1ty gaming headset.
Video
This, of course, is where the camera gets its name, and while it is by no means bad, it does not blow me away either. The video on the Lifecam Cinema does record everywhere from 160×120 to 720p HD at 30fps. But, of course, the quality could be better. A lot of times, the picture looks smooth, but vague and if you look closely there are some artifacts in the video. The software saves the camera by allowing the user to control almost every aspect that you would on a digital camera such as focus, brightness, exposure, etc. allowing you to find the best image that works for you.
Software
The software allows the device to shine. First let me say that this software was some of the easiest to install and use. In my time using the software it has not once crashed or hassled me.
There are an assortment of effects for you and your friends to mess around. For the video-philes out there, as I said before, you can adjust many video settings to optimize your video. Or, if you are not particularly tech-savvy, there areAuto options for all video settings that will have the software try and optimize the camera for your surroundings.
The one gripe I have had with the software is the default setting for focus. Out of the box, the focus is set to Auto and while this does set the focus great the first time you open the program, the setting makes the camera refresh every couple of minutes which can get very annoying. I recommend that you go ahead and manually set the focus to how you like and turn the setting off to save you the time.
Overall
The Microsoft Lifecam Cinema did do better than I expected. The strong, sturdy body shows that Microsoft put some thought into the design and performance of the device. It does not disappoint in any of the audio, still, and video areas and actually makes use very easy which was my selling point. My recommendation, if you are looking for a cheap way to shoot HD on your computer, this camera is right for you otherwise, check the prices of others and if you keep coming back to the Lifecam, go ahead and try it out.
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Thx For The information
I’m sure this technology will be explored as much as possible and what better way to explore it than by letting the people tell you exactly how they feel about it by testing driving it.