Microsoft Lifecam

By Author: Lawrence Korbus
Total Articles: 159
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The Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 was built by Microsoft in response to other high end Webcams, including the Logitech Quickcam Fusion and the Creative Live Cam Voice. The new LifeCam comes with features that have never been seen before on a Webcam. Among these features is the call button, set up to work together with Windows Live Messenger. It also comes with an option that allows you to blog easily through the Windows Live Space blogging tool. This Webcam is ideal for people who want to use it for instant messaging, and at only $99.00 it is an inexpensive choice that offers great quality compared to other cameras in the same class.

The LifeCam features a small base with a ring shape that can be adapted to set up in many different situations. It is designed to be easily set up on a desk or right on top of a laptop screen or liquid crystal display. It can also be adjusted to hook to the top of an older cathode ray tube monitor. It is much more flexible and sturdy than most of the other Webcams and is easy to adjust, with the ability to rotate the head of the camera around a full three hundred and sixty degrees. It can also ...
... be adjusted to point anywhere from forty degrees downward to directly upward. An easily accessed button on the camera works through Windows Live Messenger to bring up a list of people to connect with right away.

The camera comes with everything you need in order to get it up and running, including all the drivers it needs to run on your computer, as well as Windows Live Messenger. The software bundle is not overloaded with bloatware you don't need. Instead it offers everything you need to take pictures and capture video. You can edit these in Microsoft Paint and Windows Movie Maker.

The Webcam software, called Microsoft LifeCam suite, is very easy to use. Three buttons on the top of the screen allow you to choose between taking photos, recording video, and recording sound. A button on the left allows you to choose the resolution of the video. In this way you can increase the sharpness of the image for clarity or lower it in order to preserve memory on your computer's hard drive. You can also set it up to take photos with the same or a different clarity than the video. Cartoon characters and backgrounds can easily be added to the image using the software's dashboard as well. The dashboard also has controls allowing you to navigate your images and video by panning from side to side, up and down, and zooming in and out. A button on the bottom of the screen automatically launches the Windows Live Space blogging tool, allowing you to post photos directly to your blog. This feature is not available in any other Webcam.

The LifeCam is designed to handle photography in a variety of lighting situations. Images are sharp, and relatively low in noise for the price of the camera. Video is also very smooth, recording as high as thirty frames per second with an image sharpness of one 1.3 megapixels. It can also take 5 megapixel still shots.

Learn about Microsoft lifecam, Wireless mouse, gaming keyboard, webcams, media centre peripherals, keyboard mouse, microsoft keyboard and Microsoft accessories.
http://www.microsoft.com/australia/hardware/