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Skype, Logitech Team For VGA Quality Video Calling

By John Laposky -- TWICE, 10/30/2007

Fremont, Calif. — Skype and Logitech today announced a collaboration to deliver free VGA-quality, 30 fps video calls on the Internet, dubbed High Quality Video on Skype.

Callers need a broadband connection, a PC with a dual-core processor, a free Skype 3.6 for Windows download and one of three Logitech QuickCam Web cam models. The cams come with a redesigned set of drivers in the QuickCam software optimized to bring VGA-quality video calls (640 by 480 pixels) at up to 30 fps to users with a 384kbps connection or higher. The result, the companies said, are significantly sharper, smoother video calls in full-screen mode.

Skype to Skype video calls are free.

High Quality Video on Skype is available with the following Logitech Web cams: the QuickCam Pro 9000, the QuickCam Pro for notebooks and the QuickCam Orbit AF.

All three cams offer a Carl Zeiss lens and an autofocus system that refocuses images in less than three seconds and allows for extreme close-ups, down to 4 inches from the camera lens.

“This is a major leap in the clarity and smoothness of free video calls over the Internet,” said Gareth O‘Loughlin, Skype’s mobile and hardware devices general manager. “One in four Skype calls already involve video, so we know our users love to show and not just tell. In the past, only big businesses could afford this kind of video quality. It’s now time to take it to everyone else.”

Skype 3.6 for Windows is expected to be available as a free download at www.skype.com in early November and will support 28 languages. For those who one of the Logitech cams already, QuickCam Software version 11.5 is available now for free download at www.logitech.com/downloads.

The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks Web cams are available now worldwide for a suggested retail of $99.99. The QuickCam Orbit AF is $129. The cams are also available for purchase at www.skype.com/shop.

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  Why the unnecessary restriction?
  
  In the Skype 3.6 beta releases, it was possible to manually activate the higher resolution video with cameras other than the three Logitech cameras mentioned in this article. It was proven in the Skype User Forums that a variety of other webcams were capable of 640x480 resolution video, both from Logitech and from other manufacturers. With the 3.6 production release, this manual activation capability has been removed, so only users with one of the three specific Logitech cameras will be able to benefit from higher resolution video. It is surprising that Skype has decided to relegate the majority of their existing users who own webcams to "second class status", apparently only because of a marketing agreement with Logitech. If the Skype/Logitech "High Quality Video" is truly superior, as they say, then why not let it stand on its own merits, and allow users with other webcams to benefit from the improved resolution? One would think that this would encourage more webcam owners to start using Skype for video calls, and probably encourage more users to buy the "better" Logitech cameras, when they see how good High Quality Video can be.

  
  

  
  J.A. Watson - 2007-16-11 07:19:00 EST
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