What is this?
The Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe reviewed today is the company's mid-level entry into webcams geared towards laptop users. Right off the bat the feature-list is compelling with intelligent face tracking, 640x480 VGA resolution, automatic gain control, and a built in microphone, but let's see how these all hold up in the real world.
Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe Review May 31st, 2005
Pros: Compact; good quality images; built-in mic; face-tracking; able to adjust to several lighting conditions.
Cons: Doesn't fit as well on beveled LCDs; can't rotate horizontally; low framerates, USB 1.1, uses Indeo codec, Windows only.
Verdict: It's small, it's cheap, and the combination of quality hardware and software make it practical for just about anything.
The Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe reviewed today is the company's mid-level entry into webcams geared towards laptop users. Right off the bat the feature-list is compelling with intelligent face tracking, 640x480 VGA resolution, automatic gain control, and a built in microphone, but let's see how these all hold up in the real world.
System Requirements - 700MHz Pentium III or equivalent
- 1GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent required for face-tracking
- Windows 2000, XP
- USB port
- 64MB RAM
- 200MB free hard drive space
- LCD display 6-14mm thick
Package Content - Webcam with built-in microphone
- Carrying case
- Rubber "Clip adjustment pad" for thinner LCD screens
- Software CD
- Quick-start guide
Y Hello Thar, QuickCam! Logitech's QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe bears a simple, rectangular design with an arched top enclosed in the same silvery grey plastic that's found its way into many of Logitech's products. A silver ring encloses the extruding, easily-adjustable focus ring of the camera which lies right above the built-in microphone. To either side of the microphone are three smaller dots that follow the circular path, forming what resembles a subtle smile. Underneath the silver ring on either end is a green LED indicator that turns on when the camera is active, and a small button for manually taking pictures - which can be extremely handy for photographing items for an upcoming auction.
The unit is hinged to the clip at the center, allowing for a vertical tilt of 45°. Unfortunately, unlike the QuickCam for Notebooks the clip does not allow for horizontal rotation, so any angles of your friends will require taking the camera off the screen and pointing it manually. The clip itself is spring-loaded in order to fit a large variety of LCD displays, and can also be used in conjunction with a rubber padding for the ultra-thin screens. While it fits well on all our laptops, (and surprisingly well on our desk's horizontal brace for desktop usage), when we took it to the local computer store to test it on their laptops, we found that it had a problem staying put on LCDs that had beveled edges, leading us to believe that the backside of the clip could stand to be a little longer. Clever cable positioning or even silly putty makes for a good quick-fix. When not in use, the QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe can be placed out of harms way in the soft carrying pouch that was included.
Quick Setup, Quick Conference Setting up the QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe was a breeze with the printed setup guide. Install the drivers, connect the camera, and launch the software. With the exception of the warranty and a quick tip on lighting and updates, this is all the guide is good for. Any documentation for driver adjustments like white balance is found in the online help, which unfortunately is generic and not specific to this particular QuickCam. Still, the software is very easy to navigate through and offers plenty of features which we will go over.
Starting the QuickCam software will bring up a launcher for various instant messaging clients such as AIM, Yahoo and MSN, and provide links to download them if they are not already installed. We won't be going into any depth when it comes to the different clients, rather focusing on the camera's own software, but take my word as a dedicated AIM user that MSN 7.0 offers the best video conferencing with scalable, fullscreen video and excellent audio/video synchronization - which makes perfect sense since Logitech partnered with Microsoft to help develop the software.
On the right-hand side of the QuickCam launcher are shortcuts for QuickCapture, Video Email, My Logitech Pictures, and the Logitech Control Panel. QuickCapture is a small, easy-to-use application for taking still photos and motion videos to save to the Logitech photo album. Here you can also select what resolution you wish to capture at, with options ranging from 160x120 to 640x480, as well as 1.3 megapixel although this involves software interpolation and can either help or hurt your pictures. Videos recorded to the hard drive are encoded as Indeo Video 5.1 AVIs, which is probably why the camera is not available on the Macintosh platform and why it's incompatible with VLC's DirectShow capture.
Once a still photo or video is taken, it's automatically entered into the Logitech Photo Album on your computer for quick viewing via an Explorer add-on. Here you can select photos to send to a printer, display in a slide show, or send to Logitech for them to print professionally and mail to you. You can also email photos and videos directly from here. When sending video via email, it will automatically compress the video into WMV and add it as an attachment to an email with the subject line "Logitech Email". This works with both Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird.
Driver Goodies By default, when launching QuickCapture or any other program that utilizes the QuickCam, a small window will pop-up giving control of the camera's beloved face tracking abilities. When enabled, the camera will do it's best to digitally zoom in and center on your head. We found that for the most part this was on-track, especially at greater distances, although occasionally the QuickCam would decide to zoom in and out without much movement on my behalf, and even more embarrassing is it would occasionally neglect my face entirely and zoom in on the poster of John Belushi from Animal House behind me as you can see below. Just remember that if you pace about the room too quickly, it may not be able to keep up. If you disable face tracking, a new set of controls becomes available including digital pan and zoom.
Clicking more options in the QuickCam window will bring up the Logitech Control Panel for adjusting brightness and contrast, enabling low light and color boost modes, selecting the audio source, and flipping the picture horizontally and vertically. Clicking Driver Settings will bring up even more options for controlling hue, saturation, gamma, sharpness, and white balance - the latter of which can be done manually, although it will often overcompensate and introduce some blue overtones. What's more, you can set anti-flicker modes for use with fluorescent lighting, and control the exposure and gain to make the most of your lighting environment.
FPS, CPU & Image Performance CPU utilization was pleasantly low at 11-24% on our Athlon 64 3800+. As noted by Logitech, face tracking does require more CPU time to identify movement on the screen, and we noticed a small jump to 21-33% with face-tracking enabled.
Video framerates were disappointing, about 15fps across the board from what we can tell. We attributed the low framerates to the camera's CMOS senor, which couldn't keep up with fast motion, and to full-speed USB interface (12Mbps). Beware that, even though there's a nice USB 2.0 logo (unofficial) on Logitech's website, the QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe is only USB 2.0 compatible - like all USB 1.1 products are. If you look at the Windows Device Manager, you'll see that the webcam shows up under Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller and not the Enhanced (USB 2.0) controller. In any case despite the lower framerates, the video stream was indeed tolerable for use in online conferencing, and synched up well to whatever it was we were rambling about.
Image quality is superb for such a tiny CMOS sensor, as you can see in the below close-up of a peanut butter cookie.
So long as lighting is decent, the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe will take some wonderful photos even at a distance. However, don't try getting any pics of the outdoors with it, the backlight compensation is weak and almost everything will be washed out by the sun. Here is a snapshot of my desk under normal lighting from a distance of about 5 feet away. We threw in some different soda cans to give a better idea of color quality.
By applying the low-light filters and enabling automatic gain control, the camera will also do fairly well in low lighting. Behold, in the first pic below you can see me in normal lighting. In the second picture we blocked out every source of light except my monitor, and all you can see is my silhouette. In the third picture low-light mode is enabled and although grainy, you can make out my mug in full detail. Beware, this will kill framerates with the increased exposure time. With all the grain and slow framerates, some may say that this particular QuickCam stinks for low-lighting. It's far better than what a low-end HP camera can do in the dark. Kudos to Logitech for this.
Built-in Mic - Extra USB Device One thing that we particularly like about the QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe is its built-in microphone. While it may not have noise reduction and thus has a hissing background, the mic is very sensitive and able to pick up all speech. Recorded samples were clearly audible and not garbled. The fact it's built in means that if your laptop doesn't have its own microphone, you don't have to look goofy wearing a cheapo headset that some of the competitors include instead of a built-in mic. Because the mic shows up as a USB microphone, you can also use it in any application as well including Skype and Sound Recorder.
Final Thoughts Logitech's QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe is indeed a quality webcam, able to take clear pictures in VGA resolution, with excellent support for low-lighted environments. Intelligent face tracking can be a fun addition, if not break the chains that hold you to your chair. The bundled software makes it easy to start a video conversation with someone, email pictures and videos to friends, and send photos straight to the printer. The only drawbacks are its automatic white balance, lack of rotation, codec of choice, and USB 1.1 connection. At $60, this particular QuickCam is a good value, but for $20 less you could get a practically identical webcam from Logitech if you're willing to drop the face-tracking. We happen to like it however, and that's why the QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe is recommended.
Scott Clark, Consumer Technology Editor
Where to buy Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe?
User Review(s)
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe Specs
On the right-hand side of the QuickCam launcher are shortcuts for QuickCapture, Video Email, My Logitech Pictures, and the Logitech Control Panel. QuickCapture is a small, easy-to-use application for taking still photos and motion videos to save to the Logitech photo album. Here you can also select what resolution you wish to capture at, with options ranging from 160x120 to 640x480, as well as 1.3 megapixel although this involves software interpolation and can either help or hurt your pictures. Videos recorded to the hard drive are encoded as Indeo Video 5.1 AVIs, which is probably why the camera is not available on the Macintosh platform and why it's incompatible with VLC's DirectShow capture.
By default, when launching QuickCapture or any other program that utilizes the QuickCam, a small window will pop-up giving control of the camera's beloved face tracking abilities. When enabled, the camera will do it's best to digitally zoom in and center on your head. We found that for the most part this was on-track, especially at greater distances, although occasionally the QuickCam would decide to zoom in and out without much movement on my behalf, and even more embarrassing is it would occasionally neglect my face entirely and zoom in on the poster of John Belushi from Animal House behind me as you can see below. Just remember that if you pace about the room too quickly, it may not be able to keep up. If you disable face tracking, a new set of controls becomes available including digital pan and zoom.
