Part 2: “Better” Web Video-Conferencing in a Medium Conference Room – Video Quality and Field of View

This is a two part article, this one focuses on video field of view and quality. The previous part focuses on the problem and possible approaches to “better” quality.

Background

Since 2009 I’ve been looking for a “better” solution for hosting a web video conference in a small conference room. Each year I spend what seems like 4-6 hours looking for the state-of-the art to have a “better” experience. Each year I seem to come to the same conclusions…uh, I’m not sure. I keep looking for a better solution that’s low cost and easy to use while being “good” quality. The solution is a trade-off in cost, complexity, and quality (experience). Up until now, I haven’t been willing to recommend a solution, I’ve just lived with the best I could do.

Users, not unsurprisingly, believe that what works for one-to-one video conferencing on a computer is sufficient for larger group event, and want a corresponding level of “convenience” and “simplicity”. The question goes something like, “Why can’t we just use Skype?” The answer is, “It’s complicated.”

Comparing Video Field of View and Quality

After going through many of the options described in Part I, I chose to focus testing on an older consumer-level camcorder that passes through video, an external iSight camera, and a Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910.

It’s the video tests that really cemented for me a “solution”. And the video test really came down to field of view coupled with simplicity.

TL;DR: The Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 gave the best aggregate performance. It has a slightly wider field of view than either the DV camcorder or the external iSight. It’s also easy to use–just plug it in and it’s recognized by the computer and at worst install it’s software and you’re good to go.

Camcorder

I keep holding out hope that the video camcorder will be the best solution. It wasn’t until this year that I was able to test a camcorder with DV (Firewire) pass through.

I think a camcorder with video pass through can be a good solution if you need to zoom in on speakers and have a camera operator. But that the field of view (certainly of the camcorder I tested) makes it less ideal for group shots. Perhaps a camera with a wider angle lens would change my opinion, but the video quality would have to be pretty good to overcome the complexity of connecting the camera to a laptop (either Firewire/DV out of the camera or using a converter to either Firewire or USB).

For the test I used a Canon ZR800 DV camera that I borrowed. The camera had a DV output jack that passed through video live from the lens. (I assume the video out port also passed through video live.) I connected the camera using a 4pin-6pin-9pin Firewire cable (this was a unique cable when the camera was new, but even more rare now).

Here’s an example video captured through the FaceTime preview window on my MacBook Pro. The camera is setup at the end of a 10-foot conference table. And really you can only see me when I’m sitting in the far edge of the table.

As I mention above, this test might be different with a wide angle lens. Though the hassle of converting the video signal to something that can be plugged into a laptop is pretty big.

External iSight

My old (2003-2006-era) external iSight camera has been my go to camera over the last couple of years. It works, it’s not great. It shows the room full of people, but it’s hard to see which person is speaking. It

Here’s an example video captured through the FaceTime preview window on my MacBook Pro. The camera is setup at the end of a 10-foot conference table. It has a slightly wider field of view than the Canon ZR800 but it’s still pretty limited. It’s intended for a person sitting in front of a monitor or at a desk, and not for a small conference room.

Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910

The external webcam market for Apple computers is pretty limited since Apple has been building a camera into their laptops since 2003 and to their monitors and iMacs since 2006. Nevertheless the Mac operating system will recognize USB video class (UVC) cameras (though you will need to install Logitech’s software and it’s stupid nagware).

When reading up about “good” webcams for conference rooms for the Mac, the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 comes up quite a bit (and on Mashable. I read about the camera in 2011 but didn’t get one to test out. I finally bought one for testing and I haven’t been disappointed. (Please note that the newer model C920 will not work on a Mac, I’m guessing because it’s not UVC compliant.)

Here’s an example video captured through the FaceTime preview window on my MacBook Pro. The camera is setup at the end of a 10-foot conference table. It has a noticeably wider field of view than either the Canon ZR800 or the external iSight. Couple the field of view, with the reasonable video and audio performance, and throw in the fact that it’s plug and play, I’ve finally found a solution I can recommend.

One suggested upgrade, adding a tripod mount to the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910 through this DIY-hack.

Other Considerations

Streaming a Lecture

The solutions I was looking at was for a group meeting originating from a small conference room with a fixed camera. If I wanted to do video streaming of say a lecture where I wanted to zoom and pan the camera, and was on a budget, I would look at the Canon Vixia camcorder (say one of their $350-450 models). I’d connect the camera to my laptop over Firewire via a Canopus/Grass Valley ADVC 55 or ADVC 110. The upside of the Canon Vixia line is that they have an microphone input jack, such as the Sennheiser Lav mic that we have, for a lecture style-stream. This might be a DIY for me, and I’d only recommend it for tech-/computer-savvy folks.

I’m taking a guess that the Canon Vixia camcorders will work pass through video, mostly based on this video.

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