@zachhh The specs on the camera are rarely the limiting factor for most folks who are looking to do calls via Zoom/Teams/Skype. Most of the 1080p30 cameras will vary only slightly in sensor sensitivity and visual noise in darker situations. Microphone sensitivity and tone will be the bigger differentiator for most people. Additionally, the video streams in work or other conference calls are the first thing to get hammered by aggressive compression, so increased resolution becomes far less beneficial than good audio, particularly as any call members have limited bandwidth that would trigger that compression.
If someone were up to a “bigger” game, and wanted something to stream for entertainment, like gamers on Twitch or similar, then better cameras could actually start to matter. But that also requires additional bandwidth, and on-the-fly video processing capability in addition to plentiful bandwidth on a platform that wouldn’t immediately just crush a stream. In those instances the common “specs” on paper will matter far less than the quality behind them, so the metrics of resolution and frame rates won’t contribute as much as sensor size, ISO, bit depth, bit rate, or other factors that would likely point to a much, MUCH more expensive camera.
For what this is intended to do, the specs are sufficient for video. But I have seen little about how the mic and sound hold up. Hope that helps
It does indeed help @arosiriak. These are the type of comments that I enjoy seeing here the most, and I appreciate the effort that you (and others like you) make in writing them.
@arosiriak@zachhh agreed, the biggest issue I have had with webcams is mic audio quality, almost never video quality. Great description as to why, thank you!
Conveniently enough, their SideDeal site is selling stand-alone microphones. As just a physically larger microphone, it’s going to be higher quality than whatever could be placed into pretty much any webcam.
Even if it had a good mic built into the webcam, if you’re using speakers, any mic (or streaming software) would have to use software to avoid feedback which is going to alter the sound.
For what it’s worth, I was speaking with a Court Reporter who works over Zoom, and she said that the best audio quality comes from people who wear headsets with boom mics
@Strannahans No, the best audio comes from people with standalone dynamic microphones. Lots of standalones get a bad rap because a lot of people have been sold condenser mics that do not benefit from the advantages of a condenser mic and instead play into the disadvantages of a condenser mic. 90% of people using microphones need a dynamic mic. Microphones integrated into headsets usually aren’t very good however they have gotten better over time and the sound is usually better than mics that are integrated into cameras simplu due to how close to the source they are.
@Maccaroney@Strannahans just pony up and buy an RE20 from me (the guy that fixes RE20s) ☺ sn SM7 and a cloudlifter will get it done for less money. But I’m going to suggest an RE20 into a Neve 1073 into a CL1B with maybe an 1176 and an LA2A into an RME or Aurora into your PC.
@LincolnMics@Maccaroney@Strannahans
You’re talking a foreign language with all your alpha/numerical terms there. You may be a geek, but not all of us are.
I have been looking for a webcam with zoom capability (not the session manager, the focal length changer) for under a hundred bucks for ages. (Not continuously, I probably missed a few) and hadn’t found one. And this one is fifteen bucks. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
@werehatrack it’s digital zoom, so… The specs don’t list the sensor resolution but my guess is it’s going to be 1080p and digital zoom will be upsampled. Not sure how one controls it as a webcam.
It’s probably still a pretty awesome webcam for $15. I’m tempted myself in case it is better than what I have.
@braveit1 It’s starting from 1080 with an 85 degree horizontal angle. 2X zoom will still keep useful resolution and get the angle down even more, which is what I was looking for.
@braveit1@erthian Given how even a two-person video conf can run into bandwidth issues at 1080p, I have no particular desire to look for a 4k webcam. I’m not trying to compose video for YouTube, and if I wanted to do that, I’d use the GoPro or the Nikon, depending on the situation.
@erthian I don’t see where it comes with a remote, though there must be some other control for the pan/tilt/zoom functions. It mentions compatibility with some Avaya apps, so are these controlled by a smartphone app? Ah, who cares… I am keeping my $15 this time.
@lichen Even digital zoom is OK for the use I’ll make of it. I don’t need hi-res; in fact, the session software is going to choke on it and downsample all to hell anyway.
@Johnestabe April 2022 or earlier; I haven’t found many sources of information with a date, and most of the sellers I found that carried it are showing it as “discontinued”.
With return-to-office mandates, I must open my laptop for meetings since half the office still wants to see faces. I hope this can fly under IT’s radar, and I can pop it on the external monitors to better hide that I am continuing to work during meetings that should be an email.
You get what you pay for. I’m in th business and you really should be getting 4K vs. 1080P preferably with a Sony sensor and glass lens. But that will put you back up around $100. Even though conferencing sofware will downgrade the video quality to 720P or so its still best to start out with a higher resolution image. FYI Avaya is a telco company so they are just putting there names on someone elses camera. FYI digital zoom is usually not very good
I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago. It works surprisingly well. No setup, no software install, I just plugged it in. fwiw I’m using a Mac Studio. Amazing computer, but no camera. This fixes that, for peanuts.
This camera has no optical zoom, or panning or tilting motors. Description here is very misleading, vs. the one on Amazon. No way its a $115 camera, that we are getting such a deal on. This is the $15-20 piece of plastic that will (if you’re lucky) crank out acceptable 1080p and audio, that we should expect it to be. The price, then so-called discount, zero reviews on Amazon… Meh it seems like you’re moving more and more into ‘dishonest’ territory!
Got mine in. It’s nice and weighty, definitely not a cheap piece of plastic. Video quality is very good with regular office lighting (overhead LED fixtures in the room, no special light on me), but that extra 7 degrees of view over the C920 shows a good bit more of my office/the stuff I have out of view of the normal camera.
The microphone is a bit less than sensitive, but I normally use a standalone (Neat Bumblebee II that Woot is currently selling for a steal at $20) so that’s not a problem. In the Windows microphone test, with the webcam atop my monitor and gain set to 100, the most it registers is 9%.
With about 10 minutes worth of playing with it, I’d say this is a very good webcam for $15. Much better than anything else around this price point. Combine it with a good mic or headset and you’re good to go.
Specs
Product: Avaya HC010 Webcam/Huddle Camera
Model: 700515581
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$112.37 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Tuesday, Sep 12 - Thursday, Sep 14
I imagine the specs on standalone webcams must be pretty high now.
@zachhh The specs on the camera are rarely the limiting factor for most folks who are looking to do calls via Zoom/Teams/Skype. Most of the 1080p30 cameras will vary only slightly in sensor sensitivity and visual noise in darker situations. Microphone sensitivity and tone will be the bigger differentiator for most people. Additionally, the video streams in work or other conference calls are the first thing to get hammered by aggressive compression, so increased resolution becomes far less beneficial than good audio, particularly as any call members have limited bandwidth that would trigger that compression.
If someone were up to a “bigger” game, and wanted something to stream for entertainment, like gamers on Twitch or similar, then better cameras could actually start to matter. But that also requires additional bandwidth, and on-the-fly video processing capability in addition to plentiful bandwidth on a platform that wouldn’t immediately just crush a stream. In those instances the common “specs” on paper will matter far less than the quality behind them, so the metrics of resolution and frame rates won’t contribute as much as sensor size, ISO, bit depth, bit rate, or other factors that would likely point to a much, MUCH more expensive camera.
For what this is intended to do, the specs are sufficient for video. But I have seen little about how the mic and sound hold up. Hope that helps
It does indeed help @arosiriak. These are the type of comments that I enjoy seeing here the most, and I appreciate the effort that you (and others like you) make in writing them.
@arosiriak @zachhh agreed, the biggest issue I have had with webcams is mic audio quality, almost never video quality. Great description as to why, thank you!
Conveniently enough, their SideDeal site is selling stand-alone microphones. As just a physically larger microphone, it’s going to be higher quality than whatever could be placed into pretty much any webcam.
Even if it had a good mic built into the webcam, if you’re using speakers, any mic (or streaming software) would have to use software to avoid feedback which is going to alter the sound.
For what it’s worth, I was speaking with a Court Reporter who works over Zoom, and she said that the best audio quality comes from people who wear headsets with boom mics
@Strannahans No, the best audio comes from people with standalone dynamic microphones. Lots of standalones get a bad rap because a lot of people have been sold condenser mics that do not benefit from the advantages of a condenser mic and instead play into the disadvantages of a condenser mic. 90% of people using microphones need a dynamic mic. Microphones integrated into headsets usually aren’t very good however they have gotten better over time and the sound is usually better than mics that are integrated into cameras simplu due to how close to the source they are.
@Maccaroney @Strannahans just pony up and buy an RE20 from me (the guy that fixes RE20s) ☺ sn SM7 and a cloudlifter will get it done for less money. But I’m going to suggest an RE20 into a Neve 1073 into a CL1B with maybe an 1176 and an LA2A into an RME or Aurora into your PC.
@LincolnMics @Maccaroney @Strannahans
You’re talking a foreign language with all your alpha/numerical terms there. You may be a geek, but not all of us are.
@arosiriak i just made an innocent observation and you really went hard on the consumer information. Thanks buddy.
I have been looking for a webcam with zoom capability (not the session manager, the focal length changer) for under a hundred bucks for ages. (Not continuously, I probably missed a few) and hadn’t found one. And this one is fifteen bucks. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
@werehatrack it’s digital zoom, so… The specs don’t list the sensor resolution but my guess is it’s going to be 1080p and digital zoom will be upsampled. Not sure how one controls it as a webcam.
It’s probably still a pretty awesome webcam for $15. I’m tempted myself in case it is better than what I have.
LEGOS! EGGOS! STRATEGO! AWESOME!
@werehatrack I feel so bad for you. Zoom is digital, not optical. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
@werehatrack its a digital zoom, not an optical. Just means it lowers the resolution to get a closer view.
@djslack @werehatrack it comes with a remote, apparently. It also looks yuge so maybe a chance it’s optical zoom.
@braveit1 It’s starting from 1080 with an 85 degree horizontal angle. 2X zoom will still keep useful resolution and get the angle down even more, which is what I was looking for.
@braveit1 @werehatrack ya I was wrong apparently its just digital. The next model up has 4k that punches in but this sensor is just 1080p.
https://www.avaya.com/en/documents/fs-huddle-cameras-dv8180en.pdf
@braveit1 @erthian Given how even a two-person video conf can run into bandwidth issues at 1080p, I have no particular desire to look for a 4k webcam. I’m not trying to compose video for YouTube, and if I wanted to do that, I’d use the GoPro or the Nikon, depending on the situation.
@erthian I don’t see where it comes with a remote, though there must be some other control for the pan/tilt/zoom functions. It mentions compatibility with some Avaya apps, so are these controlled by a smartphone app? Ah, who cares… I am keeping my $15 this time.
@braveit1 @werehatrack the 4k sensor is more useful as a zoom for a 1080p stream. I agree streaming in 4k is a bad idea.
@werehatrack IT’S NOT REAL ZOOM! IT’S FAKE!
@lichen Even digital zoom is OK for the use I’ll make of it. I don’t need hi-res; in fact, the session software is going to choke on it and downsample all to hell anyway.
I can’t find any other sites with reviews. Any idea what year this was released?
Only a guess - the spec brochure has a 2021 copyright…
@Johnestabe April 2022 or earlier; I haven’t found many sources of information with a date, and most of the sellers I found that carried it are showing it as “discontinued”.
@Johnestabe @werehatrack At $112, are we surprised?
/giphy startled baby
@Johnestabe @stinks
Nope.
@Johnestabe
Feb 2021 “update” per the setup page
https://documentation.avaya.com/en-US/bundle/UsingHC010_r11/page/Setting_up_Avaya_Huddle_Camera_HC010.html
[didn’t see a PDF version of the whole guide]
No one wants to see my face up close.
@hchavers I resemble that remark.
@hchavers Well, except maybe this guy.
/giphy permissive dirty addition
Zoiks!
I almost bought one until I read closer. I thought it said cuddle, but it says huddle. I’m a cuddler, but I’m not no Hudler.
No mention of a privacy cover. Pass.
@sjk3 But then what will you do with your Post-It note stash?
@sjk3 Uhh, did you even look at the photos?
@sjk3 It’s in the Quick Setup Guide. https://support.avaya.com/css/public/documents/101073476
/giphy tinfoil hat
@sjk3 It’s got a privacy cover
@sjk3 @troy Best of all, the privacy cover makes it look kind of HAL-ish, or maybe Evil Ood.
@sjk3
LOOK closer! It’s there right after
85° horizontal field of view
Built-in privacy cover
Any idea how it compares to the logitech C920?
@susanrm Only one way to find out…
With return-to-office mandates, I must open my laptop for meetings since half the office still wants to see faces. I hope this can fly under IT’s radar, and I can pop it on the external monitors to better hide that I am continuing to work during meetings that should be an email.
@TheMonkeyKing Yes I can.
Leave my family for 8 hours a day and let the government indoctrinate my kids. No thank you! WFH= give true father figure to your kids
You get what you pay for. I’m in th business and you really should be getting 4K vs. 1080P preferably with a Sony sensor and glass lens. But that will put you back up around $100. Even though conferencing sofware will downgrade the video quality to 720P or so its still best to start out with a higher resolution image. FYI Avaya is a telco company so they are just putting there names on someone elses camera. FYI digital zoom is usually not very good
if you have an old iPhone or Android phone with good camera, those make awesome webcams–much better than any dedicated webcam I’ve used
HIKING! VIKINGS! STRIKE KING [BRAND FISHING LURES]! AWESOME!
@mediocrebot ?
@dpease @mediocrebot loves to make fun of people who say awesome. He’s been doing that for nearly a decade and I’m still not sure why.
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
@mediocrebot @troy thanks. that feature is obnoxious.
@dpease @mediocrebot @troy
Because “awesome” is such an annoyingly over-used word.
OWLS! TOWELS! JOWLS! AWESOME!
@Kyeh @dpease And convincing the 'bot to ignore the word “awesome” isn’t impossible but it is sometimes annoying to need to do it.
@Kyeh @werehatrack 🅰🆆🅴🆂🅾🅼🅴 info, thanks for the replies
I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago. It works surprisingly well. No setup, no software install, I just plugged it in. fwiw I’m using a Mac Studio. Amazing computer, but no camera. This fixes that, for peanuts.
This camera has no optical zoom, or panning or tilting motors. Description here is very misleading, vs. the one on Amazon. No way its a $115 camera, that we are getting such a deal on. This is the $15-20 piece of plastic that will (if you’re lucky) crank out acceptable 1080p and audio, that we should expect it to be. The price, then so-called discount, zero reviews on Amazon… Meh it seems like you’re moving more and more into ‘dishonest’ territory!
Got mine in. It’s nice and weighty, definitely not a cheap piece of plastic. Video quality is very good with regular office lighting (overhead LED fixtures in the room, no special light on me), but that extra 7 degrees of view over the C920 shows a good bit more of my office/the stuff I have out of view of the normal camera.
The microphone is a bit less than sensitive, but I normally use a standalone (Neat Bumblebee II that Woot is currently selling for a steal at $20) so that’s not a problem. In the Windows microphone test, with the webcam atop my monitor and gain set to 100, the most it registers is 9%.
With about 10 minutes worth of playing with it, I’d say this is a very good webcam for $15. Much better than anything else around this price point. Combine it with a good mic or headset and you’re good to go.
For what I need it for it works fine. Occasional Teams/FaceTime. Nice picture quality, ez set up. I’m good with it.
Shipping errors on the address, package was never delivered. I’ll probably just reverse the charges.
@UnguidedSALT Before doing that, you might want to contact meh.com/support, it will ptobably be faster and easier.
would it work as a document camera?
Anyone that bought this last time know if it works in Linux? Care to post a dmesg log plugging it in?
Will this work with a smart TV ?