Latest webcams give good HD images

Updated: 2010-02-05
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Read more on: webcams   HD images   Hercules Dualpix  
The $ 59.99 (list) Hercules Dualpix HD720p features a one-megapixel camera sensor, an auto-focus lens, and the ability to record smooth 720p video at 30 frames per second. Unfortunately, several software snafus and so-so video quality detract from this budget-priced webcam's overall appeal.

 

 
 
Design, Installation, and Software Bundle

The Dualpix HD720p is made of black glossy plastic. Make no mistake: this is a laptop-only webcam. The three-foot USB cable is permanently attached and too short for desktop use. The mount consists of a thumbscrew and rubber nub that moves on a single axis, plus two joints that rotate 90 degrees. The whole contraption lets you mount the cam on the top or side of a laptop lid, and then twist it so that the cam itself doesn't block part of the laptop display. When mounted to the side, you can rotate the camera to look straight at you. It's a little fiddly, but the result is very secure; I had no problem picking up an 18.4-inch Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q850 gaming laptop and moving it around the house with the Dualpix HD720p attached.
 
To use the Dualpix HD720p, you'll need a Windows XP, Vista, or 7 PC with a 1.5GHz single-core Pentium IV processor, 512MB RAM, 300MB of free hard disk space, and a free USB 2.0 port. The Dualpix HD720p also requires Apple QuickTime 7 or greater. The webcam comes with its own software, but it also works with AIM, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Google Gmail Voice and Video Chat, and Windows Live Messenger for online video chats.
 
Software setup is a little clunky, and requires several separate client installations in addition to connecting the Dualpix HD720p to a USB port. Each installation requires re-accepting Hercules' software license, choosing the appropriate folders, and so on—and that's not counting installing QuickTime 7 if you don't already have it. Hercules should wrap everything into a single setup program with one set of dialogs (or, preferably, none at all).
 
The bundled Webcam Station Evolution app snaps photos and records video. Its interface is a mess of hidden windows, tabs, and file browse windows that throws away Windows 7 UI conventions. It can record videos in native YouTube, PSP, and iPod formats, and offers MPEG-4 and DV Video Encoder codecs in addition to uncompressed recording. There are no real-time video effects, though—if you want those, pick up a Logitech or Microsoft webcam instead. Hercules also throws in a copy of Xtra Controller Pro, which offers its own real-time chat facility.
 
Performance and Conclusions

Photos look relatively natural, but a little flat and with blown out highlights. They are about on par with a good 1.3-megapixel cell-phone camera, but nowhere near dedicated-digital-camera quality. Recorded videos look better; they are ultra smooth at 1280-by-720-pixels and 30 frames per second (except for audio sync; more on that in a second). Here, the overly white highlights are blown out enough to drop detail in facial features. The look reminds me of older VGA webcams—not a good thing.
 
The auto-focus is average; images aren't blurry but never look tack-sharp either. The Dualpix HD720p also has some trouble with exposure. If I shifted in my chair to reveal part of a desk lamp in the background, the camera spent a few seconds overcompensating, changing the brightness and contrast considerably, and often throwing my own face into shadows in the process. This same test didn't affect the $80 Logitech Webcam C600 or the $80 Microsoft LifeCam Cinema's image quality as strongly. Plus, I couldn't get the Dualpix HD720p to work at all in Pinnacle Studio 14, though it worked fine with Skype 4.
 
Recorded voices sound natural and distinct. But the Dualpix HD720p's lack of noise cancellation means that fans, HVAC systems, and the like also come through loud and clear. Worse, all 720p recorded videos have syncing issues at 30 frames per second; audio runs several seconds ahead of the video feed, which renders them almost useless. This problem doesn't crop up with QVGA (320-by-240) and VGA (640-by-480) videos, and in my tests, a reboot didn't fix the problem. Normally I'd chalk it up to needing faster hardware. But that $ 1,900 Core i7-powered Toshiba laptop with 6GB of RAM, a 400GB hard disk, an NVIDIA GTS 250M video card, and Windows 7 should be plenty.
 
There's no shortage of webcam alternatives, many of which work with both desktops and laptops. Our Editors' Choice, the Logitech Webcam C600 offers superior audio and video quality, along with a 2-megapixel sensor, at the expense of a larger size and choppier 15-frames-per-second video in 720p mode. The 2-megapixel Microsoft LifeCam Cinema has the best-looking design of the bunch and exhibits sharper video than the Hercules Dualpix HD720p. But it shares the C600's frame rate limitation and offers poor sound quality. On the other hand, the Microsoft and the Logitech cameras will each cost you $ 20 more, and neither is as secure as the Dualpix HD720p when mounted to a laptop screen.
 
 
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