I’ve been a long time Sony fan, when it comes to camcorders (especially HD ones). So I’m pretty excited about this news bit from Sony!

David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said, “PLAYSTATION Eye is a great example of how we have moved forward so significantly with our technology. PLAYSTATION Eye has four times the resolution, twice the framerate and double the sensitivity of its predecessor EyeToy USB Camera. With the technology that we now have at our disposal we will be able to dramatically improve the communications experience enjoyed on PS3”.

Here’s the tech specs!

• 4 channel audio input:16 bits/channel, 48kHz, SNR 90db
• 56º to 75º Field of View zoom lens
• 2.1 F-stop, <1% distortion, fixed focus (25cm to 8 at 75º FOV)
• 640 x 480 at 60 frames/second
• 320 x 240 at 120 frames/second
• USB2 high-speed data transfer
• Uncompressed video or optional JPEG compression

The resolution and the frame rate are nothing short of groundbreaking. I’m not sure it will only work with PS3 though, USB 2 makes it PC-ready as well.

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

My webcam is a Logitech Communicate STX (admittedly an USB 1.1 cam). I’ve tested its throughput and the stream hits about 300Kbps on my FMS console at its highest resolution. Is this bad? Or rather, how bad is it?

Low-budget filmmakers’ favorite cam right now is the Panasonic HVX200. Two reasons for this warmth and affection: 1) support for variable frame rates; and 2) ignoring HDV standard and hitting a higher note with DVCPRO HD (100Mbps).

Hmm, comparing 300Kbps to 100Mbps seems insane. Yet, one look at Youtube and you’ll probably see that the next generation of filmmakers will probably go as low as it’s economically possible. When you consider the distribution channel (be it youtube or google video), it’s obvious it doesn’t matter what you shoot with.

Just as a reference though, you need to look at a Canon’s security camera – I’m sure it will work out as a “webcam” as well (above).

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube

Shopping for a webcam

Webcams are much simpler really. Their lenses are so small, it seems it ALL boils down to USB speed. At the same time, Logitech is known to play tricks on users, putting the USB 2.0 logo on USB 1.1 webcams. So I had to become an “expert” on the subject. Here’s what I found out:

Is USB faster? The truth is that USB 2.0 is not necesarily faster because USB 2.0 is simply a standard. It’s not a benchmark. Currently, there are three speeds for transfering data via an USB interface:

• USB High-Speed – transfer speed of 480 MBits/second
• USB Full-Speed – transfer speed of 12 MBits/second
• USB Low-Speed – transfer speed of 1.5 MBits/second

The USB 1.1 specifications cover the full-speed and the low-speed transfer rates. So if your webcam (or any other device) is USB 1.1, it is using low or full speed.

USB 2.0 added the specification for a high-speed data transfer (480 MBits/second). There are MANY webcams out there, however, which boldly sport the USB 2.0 logo but transfer at speeds of 12 MBits/second or even lower. The fact that they’re USB 2.0 compliant doesn’t automatically mean they are high-speed.

To put this into perspective, HDV transfers at 25 Mbps; Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD supports speeds up to 100 Mbps. The end-users’ experience will also depend on broadband penetration.

For the record, I bought a Logitech Communicate™ STX today – a USB 1.1 webcam for test purposes. User-generated content – here I come.

Update: I was wondering what will happen if you hook a Panasonic HVX200 to a capture card and compare the stream to the one coming from a High-Speed USB webcam.

Tags: bandwidth, camera, logitech, standards, usb, webcam

bandwidth, camera, logitech, standards, usb, webcam