Bandwidth Requirements
PC Cameras popularly called webcams because of their widespread use with the internet in recent years are cameras that are connected to a computer to allow the capturing of images or videos directly. Webcams first saw use in the first half of the 90s mostly in test settings or for use by businesses that could afford the relatively high bandwidth the devices used. As the internet matured more and more consumers took to the devices to communicate with family or to start webcam sites such as JenniCam, one of the first and most popular of its kind getting as many as 4 million views per day.
PC Cameras vary in price, quality and design widely depending on intended function. Basic consumer webcams can be had for a few dollars from online retailers while business models can run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars for the high quality video needed for corporate conference calls.
The rise of the modern internet and cheap broadband internet access easily obtained has given nearly every average consumer the bandwidth needed for high quality video calls enabled over webcams. Low quality web cams with grainy though tolerable video can be used over 56k dial-up connections with modern video codecs giving acceptable performance. Higher quality PC Cameras usually list a modern 256kb/s minimal broadband for good performance if audio is also to be used.
As with most modern gadgets there are many webcam brands on the market. These range from extremely cheap to professional quality equipment. Some brands that tend to stick out for the average consumer in the price vs performance market include those made by Logitech, Creative Labs, D-Link, Trendware, and Polycom. All five companies produce low and high quality PC Cameras ment for the hobbyist as well as professional.
The PC Camera has come a long way since the first recorded instance of one put in use monitoring a coffee pot in 1991 with uses varying from the user who use post videos to Youtube to the soldier communicating with a family thousands of miles away while in a war zone. While there is no set rules on uses one thing is clear. The webcam will continue to evolve in what roles it will play in our lives far into the future.