Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam (Gray)
Product Features
- 1080p HD widescreen sensor - for superior sharpness and 16:9 image quality
- Auto Focus and Advanced high-precision glass lens optics
- TrueColor Technology - automatically delivers bright and colorful video, in virtually all lighting conditions
- ClearFrame Technology - for smooth, detailed video
- High-fidelity microphone - For more natural, detailed audio
Technical Details
- Brand Name: Microsoft
- Model: Q2F-00001
- Item Package Quantity: 1
- Hardware Platform: PC
- Minimum system requirements: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 or later, Microsoft Windows XP
- Width: 1.6 inches
- Height: 4.4 inches
- Weight: 1.16 pounds
- Warranty: 3 years warranty
HD Done Right:
An HD webcam can mean the difference between a good experience and a great one. With cinematic 16:9 widescreen 1080p video, crystal-clear images with Auto Focus, bright and colorful video with TrueColor Technolog and smooth and clear video with ClearFrame Technology, you won’t find another High Definition video experience like LifeCam Studio.
1080p HD Widescreen Video
With virtually all new computer displays shipping in widescreen and social networking sites now accepting uploaded widescreen video, LifeCam Studio offers true 1080p widescreen video capture at up to 30 frames per second. Which means you'll be able to create higher quality widescreen webcam videos without having to worry about jerky frame speeds.
Sharp Close-ups
The auto-focus feature on the LifeCam Studio works just like the auto-focus feature on your digital camera to keep your video sharp no matter how close an object is to the LifeCam. Perfect for showing small objects—such as a ring or a business card—up close. And Auto Focus is built right into the camera, so there’s never a need to adjust the focus by hand.
Smooth Video
ClearFrame is an innovative technology that provides smooth, detailed video at any resolution— even in low-light conditions. ClearFrame improves video quality in two ways:
- ClearFrame features an image processing technology that helps to efficiently send the information from the webcam to your computer, reducing the “ghosting” effect.
- Video noise reduction software reduces image graininess—especially in low light—to keep your video sharp and clear.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
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I have been using a Microsoft Lifecam Cinema for several months now, with good results. The "Cinema" is quite similar to this "Studio" webcam, except that its highest resolution is 720P rather than the 1080P offered by the "Studio" webcam.
First disappointment: the "Studio" webcam does not really provide 1080P video. A footnote on the box reads "1080P HD recording requires: commercial video software (not included); (...) Enclosed software supports 720P HD recording."
In other words, you have to buy more software before you can capture 1080P video. I am unable to extract details of this software from the Microsoft support representatives. I must say, I find it rather puzzling that Microsoft did not include software that exploits the full resolution of their hardware.
The "Studio" webcam has a problem with autofocus that is not present in the older "Cinema" webcam. It will hunt for the right focus, resulting in a hopelessly blurry appearance for about two seconds. Irritating.
I have gone back to using my old "Studio" webcam. Because of the autofocus issue, it is a better product.
I have attempted to attach a video clip which demonstrates some fun features of this webcam. Unfortunately, I was obliged to transcode this video to a lower resolution. I did this in order to get the video uploaded to Amazon.com.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I'll start by saying that this is a very capable web camera. For standard web cam communication through services such as Skype or Yahoo, this camera will do everything you need it to and more. And the picture is great quality. As noted in some of the other reviews, there is more to be desired by the camera's low-light functionality. In low light, it tends to go into a full length focus at random intervals. So you'll have to wait a second or two for it to grab focus. Since this is not so much an issue if you have a light near by or in the background, keep one nearby. And the microphone is very worthy - clear, crisp sound. The camera certainly looks cool and is sturdy in structure - especially compared to some of the flimsy plastic competitors. I'm not a huge fan of the prop stand - it is not a clamp or stand. It is designed to just rest on top of an item of your choice, and also has a tripod bolt hole. It takes a bit of adjusting and it certainly won't hold onto the top of a laptop if you want to walk around. At the price, maybe they could have thrown in a nylon bolt, suction cup, or a true stand to make it more versatile.
The software is very clean and organized, and simple to use. After a quick install, you are good to go. It even coordinates well with 3rd party apps such as Skype. You can take full advantage of the special effects (which are cool, but there could be more) and the different resolutions (low res to 720p). Full 1080p requires special software (not included) and is pretty resource intensive, so you'll have to have a pretty powerful system to keep up in regards to frame rates. 720 is crisp and smooth for me though.
Lastly, the 3 year warranty is nice peace of mind.
All in all, this is a great little camera, that may need to drop in price a bit before it finds a place in more homes, but I would recommend putting it into the side by side comparison for those looking for a high-quality web cam.
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