One Vsion

Introduction

Webcams are everywhere nowadays. There was a time when they were a rare thing, and generally of very poor quality. And most people didn't have enough connection speed to make them worthwhile.

Times have changed. Connection speeds are going up and up, so many laptops now come with them built in, and they are being put to so many good uses now. Things like Skype, MSN Messenger and Google Chat have brought video chat to the masses, and it's now a normal thing to do, rather than the preserve of IT folk and those in the know.

And with improved connection speeds, it's now possible to have an even better video chat experience, if you have an HD webcam. The FaceVsion (that's not a spelling mistake, they deliberately spell their name that way) N1 TouchCam is one such device, and it has dual microphones built in too.

Set Up

Take out of box. Plug in via USB and wait for it to install. You can install some optional software or add-ins if you like, but it will work perfectly out of the box. Line it up so you can see yourself and you're ready to go. It has a handy little stand to put it on any surface or you can clip/hook it over the top of a monitor. A little white LED indicates that you're live.

In Use

It works very nicely. Firing up Google Video chat was the quickest thing to do, and the video looked good. I also tried it out in Skype and Cisco WebEx with very good results. It focuses quickly, and keeps you in focus if you move around in its field of vision (which you can do as the lens has an angle of around 80 degrees). The dual microphones make for good sound quality too. The in-built chip takes care of encoding your outgoing video stream, and it certainly makes for some of the best and most detailed images I've seen from any webcam.

To see the benefit you will need a fast connection speed. It's no trouble over a LAN, but around 1 Mbit/s is recommended for home use.

Conclusion

Probably the best quality webcam you can buy right now. You'll have to pay for the privilege, but all of the people that you send video to will see the benefit. It's easy to set up, easy to use, well built and produces quality audio and video. That old adage that you get what you pay for is proved once more.

Recommended.