Webcams

Webcams

A webcam is a low-resolution digital video camera especially designed for sending video over the internet.

The very first mainstream use of a webcam was the Trojan Room Coffee Pot Camera, which was pointed towards a coffee machine in the computer labs of Cambridge university. The web site ran for ten years until in 2001, the camera eventually gave up the ghost. It was susequently put up for auction by the German magazine 'Der Spiegel', selling for over three thousand pounds.

Now, with the increasing speeds and wide availability of broadband internet connections, webcams can be used by anyone with a computer to have a video conversation over the internet with members of their family, friends or anyone in the world with another webcam and the desire to talk.

Webcams are also put to use in other areas. Weather and tourist services use them to give prospective visitors an idea of a particular city or region. They can also be used for traffic reporting and even keeping an eye of animals in their natural habitats. These cameras are often higher quality and incorporate wireless or IP technology to allow them to send information and images to any computer on a local area network or even the whole internet.

A seedier, voyeuristic side to the the webcam has also developed over the past few years. Many people created their own website webistes giving 24 hour insight into their life and movements, often including erotic and sexual content for free or a fee. A practice that has recently become increasingly commercialised and legally grey with allegations of modern day slavery and exploitation surrounding many such sites.

Webcams are quite affordable, starting at around twenty pounds, with some models offering integrated microphones and even a selection of video games played not with the joystick or keyboard, but with the camera itself.

This category contains tests on Web Cam, IP Camera, Webcams, Web Cams, IP Cameras.