Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)When marketing for a web cam, one of the things that you want to consider are the conditions that you will be using it for. Straight up video conferencing, Lifecasting on a streaming video site, recording your daily class without the use of taking notes and will there be a lot of movement, indoor or outdoor.
For those who want quality, you would want to go 2.0MP or higher but for those who just need the basics, then the Creative Labs Live! Cam Video IM Ultra 1.3MP Webcam does the job but at its price range, compared to other 1.3MP, how well does it perform.
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION: Installation of the software was easy. Install from the CD and it has an automatic update. Installation of the Webcam was ok.
HARDWARE INSTALLATION: Connect it to your USB port and hang it on your laptop behind the screen. I like webcams that have a good grip on your laptop/notebook but it was OK. Not a strong grip but it held on tight, especially when I took it outdoors for lifecasting tests and walked with it attached to my notebook. All in all, it didn't fall off and stayed on without moving.
LOW-LIGHT ROOM: The first test is with little light inside the room. The picture quality was nowhere as clear as 2.0MP camera (ie. Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000) but I was able to myself clearly with your occasional noise and what looked as if there was little artifacting and blurriness.
FULL-SCREEN: Full screen was blocky. Movement was great but picture quality was a bit blocky.
INSTANT MESSAGING: Instant messaging. On the Receiving end was fine, as your picture-in-picture was small and when small, things look much better. But tested things on the opposite end and the Cam Video Ultra again, looked slightly blurry and a bit noisy during low-light and even lit conditions. Background past the person's focal point is very blurry. So, closeup shots of the person in front of the camera works good but not the type of web camera if you are trying to show the background your office or room or outdoors behind you.
LIGHT-IN THE ROOM: This test definitely made the picture quality much better. But the sunlight really looked very bright and made the artifacting much more evident. As long as the camera and person is the focal point, again the camera does its job well. But picture quality was slightly better.
LIFECASTING: For those who intend to use this via the various lifecasting networks, the camera does give out quite a bit of noise. But yet, its comparable with a lot of 1.3MP cameras via lifecasting. It depends on how clear you want things to be. Many people tend to lifecast in lowlight conditions in their room, and thus you will have noise (graininess) to the picture quality.
The camera does come with a long cord and when holding the camera (if your laptop is in a bag), it's convenient that way but not exactly for putting it your shirt pocket and when I was walking, the video kept smooth, no jumping around.
SECURITY WEB CAMERA: The next test was placement of the camera from indoor looking outdoor. Slight blurriness but for anything coming within ten feet, the camera does well in picking up the movement and anything within that distance.
SOFTWARE: Software is easy to use and to adjust your settings for brightness and the accompanying filters are OK but the good thing is you can downlaod a lot more from the Creative Live! Website. Overall, snapshots and video capturing is easy to use. With your camera on, you will see a black bar which you click on to access the camera, settings or filters. Very easy to use.
SCREEN and VIDEO CAPTURES: Just like the picture quality, average with some noise.
So, how does the Creative Live! Cam Video IM Ultra 1.3MP Webcam stack up? Well, compared to my Apple iSight which is around the same or even less MP, the Ultra looked blurry and blocky at full or half screen. When the window was smaller, things looked much better.
Granted, the tests I put this camera through are tests typically done on higher end webcams but with today's technology, people wanting to go on YouTube, lifecast on streaming video sites to basic instant messaging via video should know what types of uses they will want to use their webcam.
The Creative Labs Live! Cam Video does the job in normal everyday, simple function of interaction. It also passes the test if you are using it as a web security camera and even passed the test of lifecasting outdoors while I walked with the camera in hand or camera on the laptop.
This camera is easy to use and it performs its job well. But it all comes down to clarity. Do you want your surroundings to be as clear as you? How is your room situation (very dark, adequate light source?).
I will be truthful, for its price point, $20-25 more will give you much better quality and clarity. But depending on your uses, if you want the simplest form of usage for similar clarity, you can even go a step down to another Creative Labs or similar 1.3MP and get satisfactory results as well. Otherwise, for what it does, its easy of use and what I was able to put this camera through in testing, it passed the test. Picture quality wise, it gets an average score.
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