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Creative Labs WebCam 5

Let’s See Who is Out There

I don’t know what it is about the lighting in my office but pretty much every WebCam I have looked at struggles to see me. That is probably a Good Thing but it does mean that to use a WebCam I usually end up with enough lamps pointing at me to begin an interrogation session.

Creative Labs’ new WebCam 5 promises improved low light performance but given its low price point, I wasn’t expecting too much. As it turns out I was pleasantly surprised.

Installation

Due to the low price the WebCam 5 is a fairly minimalist affair. The box contains the camera with a captive USB lead and the software CD. Being a USB device, the drivers and software need to be installed first before plugging in the WebCam. The main program on the CD is the Creative Video Blaster WebCam Control which allows you to set up the camera settings to suit your environment. The software is quite flexible here with lots to twiddle including various white balance settings, resolutions, frame rates, colour models and so on. The defaults were fine for me though.

Windows immediately recognised the camera which draws its power from the PC and upon firing up the software I was treated(?) to the image of myself onscreen. A quick twiddle of the focussing ring and set up was done.

In Use

The WebCam Control program allows you to take snapshots at any of the supported resolutions up to 640x480. The highest resolution did result in rather grainy pictures. 320x240 looked far better. You can also grab bits of video and if you have a microphone you can grab the audio too.

Given the low price, you’ll need to supply your own microphone if you want to use the WebCam for video conferencing as unlike more expensive WebCams, one isn’t included in the bundle. It supports both Video for Windows (VFW) as well as WDM making it compatible with a variety of third party programs. Accordingly, the software bundle includes Microsoft NetMeeting for ‘proper’ video conferencing.

The CD also contains Ulead Photo Express 4 for editing stills you have grabbed plus a selection of other tools of varying usefulness such as PixMaker, PixScreen (Creative Edition) plus Creative’s own MediaRing Talk which allows ‘free’ local and international phone calls using the internet. I didn’t test this feature so I can’t say how well it works if at all in the UK.

Quality

Given the low price, the quality of the image is very good indeed. The stills are obviously nowhere near what you’d get with a proper digital camera but still usable for quick snaps and recording any events happening near the PC. A nice touch was a small button on the WebCam that tells the software to grab a still. The video quality was fine, especially the performance in low light conditions and the frame rates stayed high which was no real surprise given the USB interface.

Focussing was good and it was easy to get a nice clear image. Being so small, you can easily mount the camera anywhere you wish. This was helped by the USB lead being a generous six feet long.

Conclusion

Having tried a few WebCams in the past, I’ve never found one I really liked and for the few times I needed one, I have used a full sized camcorder connected via a TV capture card. The small but perfectly formed WebCam 5 has been a pleasant surprise and has proved more than adequate for normal WebCam duties. If you’re looking to buy a WebCam, this little bargain really ought to be on your shortlist.

Iain Laskey

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