FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 HD Webcam Review
Online video chat is rapidly becoming a standard form of communication. Corporations frequently hold webinars as the most cost efficient form of long-distance communication. Every platform is supporting video chat, from in-browser chat programs like Gmail Chat to the well-known Skype. Webcams are slowly turning into required accessories like keyboard and mice. However, most webcams are cheap and produce horrible image quality. Realizing this many companies have started offering HD webcams. Benchmark Reviews checks out FaceVsion's new TouchCam-N1 HD webcam to see if its 720p video support can offer a new refreshing experience with video chat.
FaceVsion's TouchCam-N1 offers many features right out of the box. It is Skype certified, so you can be sure that this webcam is compatible and works well with the world's most popular video conference software. The FV TouchCam has duo-mics, wide-angle lens, and most interesting of all, a built in H.264 encoder. This built-in encoder ensures even low-end computers and netbooks can use the webcam to output 720p video smoothly. Standard webcams fail at any type of movement due to slow frame rates, but FaceVsion promises the TouchCam-N1 will have no such problems.
On paper, the FV TouchCam-N1 will blow any standard webcam out of the water, and the built-in H.264 encoder makes it a strong competitor against any HD webcam. Benchmark Reviews checks out the FV TouchCam-N1 to see if it really is capable of delivering true HD video chat. The webcam will evaluated for its compatibility, usability, and quality.
About FaceVsion
FaceVsion Technology (FVT) is the global leader in pioneering solutions that empower consumers and SMEs with true-to-life HD video communications experience over public and private internet. Armed with HD codec know-how and embedded systems design expertise, FaceVsion offers a full range HD solutions including VideoCams, universal video processing units (FVexpress), and full function set-top phones (FVfone). Together with its partners around the world, FaceVsion delivers and enhances video communications for users worldwide.
FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 Features
- HD VideoCam supporting Skype high definition video calls
- Adaptive H.264 encoder for superb video experience
- Autofocus wide angle lens with 78 degree at 720p ensures that no one gets left out
- Unidirectional dual microphones support beamforming technology for excellent audio
- USB plug & play experience (no driver needed)
The FV TouchCam-N1, a HD VideoCam with embedded H.264 encoder chip and dual microphones supporting beamforming technology, offers synchronized, crystal clear HD video (720p, 3X DVD resolution) and superior audio quality. Now, with FV TouchCam-N1, Skype users worldwide can enjoy HD-quality video calling, stay even more closely with friends and family or effectively discuss business partnerships across time zones.
FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 Specifications
| Physical |
Dimension |
100(W)x45(D)x60(H)mm |
| Weight |
90g |
White LED
|
ON: Camera power on
OFF: Camera power off |
| Interface |
USB 2.0 High Speed |
| Cable |
150cm |
Power supply
|
5V (USB bus power) |
Core / Lens
|
Basic |
1G4P+IR, VCM Auto-focus |
| Depth of Focus |
10cm ~ infinity |
| Aperture |
F/2.0 |
| FOV |
78.1° |
| Video |
Effective Pixel |
1280 x 800 (MAX) |
| Output Image Size |
HD, WVGA, VGA, CIF, QVGA, QCIF |
| Video format |
720P, H.264, 22fps
WVGA, YUV, 30fps |
| Frame rate |
22fps at HD (1280x720) with H.264
30fps at WVGA (768x 480) with YUV
|
| Audio |
Microphone type |
Unidirectional dual microphones |
| Frequency |
100-12000Hz |
| Sensitivity |
-47dB+/-4dB |
| SNR |
>60dB |
| Environment, Safety |
Compliance |
FCC/CE/BSMI, others (upon request) |
Included in the package:
- FV TouchCam-N1
- FV TouchCam-N1 hardware guide
- FQuick Start Guide
- FCamera USB cable
System requirements to support Skype HD video calls
- Intel Core2Duo 2.0 GHz or AMD equivalent CPU processor, with 1GB RAM and 200MB hard disk space, on both sides
- 1.2Mbps upload and download internet bandwidth on both sides
- USB2.0 ports for FV TouchCam-N1 on both sides (one-way HD video calling experience can still be achieved at receiver side in case only caller has FV TouchCam-N1)
- Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP (SP2), VistaTM and Windows 7
- Skype for Windows 4.2 beta or later downloadable at https://www.skype.com
- Video call quality may vary depending on end users internet bandwidth, lighting and CPU processing conditions
Closer Look: FaceVsion TouchCam-N1
Most webcams have some sort of circular or spherical components to them, but the FV TouchCam-N1 looks nothing like an ordinary webcams. The design is clean, and quite small. It seems like FaceVsion made such a large box for the sake of making a large box. Skype branding covers nearly every side of the box, clearly outlining that this is considered one of those official Skype certified products. While clearly stereotyping here, but Skype-certified products are usually high in quality, plays extremely well with Skype, but tends to cost a fortune. In this case owning a FV TouchCam-N1 will set you back $119. The price is up there in the high zone, all that's left is to see if the quality and performance is up there as well.
Many of the TouchCam-N1's details are printed on the box. On the side it lists the main features, including Skype-certified, 720p HD, H.264 encoder, dual mics, wide angle, and auto-focus. The built in H.264 encoder is a big surprise as there really aren't many webcams with that built in. By including it the goal is to offload the encoding process from the CPU and ensuring smooth video streaming. The H.264 encoder is a nice feature but FaceVsion will make you pay the extra cash for it.
The back of the box outlines the FV TouchCam-N1's main features again. Most notably the ease for use with Skype. Their description is completely accurate and not at all exaggerated: You install Skype 4.2+, plug in the webcam, and you're ready for an HD conference.
Unboxed, the two main components are the webcam and a USB cable. The connector on the back of the TouchCam-N1 is a mini-USB port. The cord measures 1.5 meters from tip to tip, but unfortunately it wasn't long enough to reach from the top of my monitor to the USB ports on my computer on the ground. An extra thirty centimetres probably would've fixed the problem. The included quick start guide simply directs you to Skype's website.
The presentation of the FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 is decent and the list of features is impressive. For those looking for a webcam that has a design suitable for office settings, the TouchCam-N1 will work very well. The webcam seems very promising so far. Continue on as Benchmark Reviews takes a more thorough look at the details.
Detailed Features: FaceVsion TouchCam-N1
The FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 offers an elegant appearance with the use of a glossy checkerboard front and metallic exterior. It comes equipped with auto-focus wide-angle lens, capable of delivering 720p HD video. Unfortunately it's only able to do so at most 22 frames per second. The transparent FaceVsion logo is a nice touch and it doubles up as a clip for holding the webcam in place on top of monitors and laptop. When in use a white LED indicator will light up to show the camera is powered on.
By design the FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 is incapable of doing any horizontal adjustments. The head of the webcam cannot twist and turn like most of the other "spherical" webcams. This is a serious drawback if you like placing your webcam in a certain location and need the ability to freely adjust the direction of the webcam. However the range of the TouchCam-N1's vertical movement slightly compensates the situation. Together with its wide-angle lens, the webcam is still fairly usable. One neat thing is that when upright on a surface, the webcam can be adjusted to face in almost any vertical direction, a 270 degree coverage from facing straight down to facing backwards upside-down.
The FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 has two pivot points where the webcam can rotate vertically. Both points are tight but easily adjustable. To ensure the ability to grip onto any surface, all three gripping surfaces are covered with a layer of rubber. The FCC logo and the FV TouchCam specifications are etched to the white rubber right under the head of the webcam.
The bottom of the FV TouchCam-N1 also has a rubber coating. It allows a strong grip to any surface when placed upright on a desk. The overall attention to detail here is impressive, and as personal preference, rubber does much better for grip and protection than plastic.
While the fully stretched TouchCam-N1 sits nicely on your palm, a folded up TouchCam will be the size about 2-3 fingers bundled up. It can be folded so that the camera is facing almost straight down. The back of the two unidirectional mics and mini-USB port is all located here.
The FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 seems to be a great webcam on the outside and on paper, with only a couple of shortcomings. Benchmark Reviews will now be putting this HD webcam to test and see if its performance can match its price tag.
FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 Testing and Results
Testing Methodology
Testing System:
- Windows Vista 64-bit
- Intel i7-920 processor
- Nvidia GTX 285 graphics card
- 12 GB ddr3 RAM
Testing Environment and Conditions:
- 100Mb/s optical fiber AND 10Mb/s business internet
Software Used:
- FRAPS
- Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Gmail chat
The FV TouchCam-N1's setup is simple, as it requires no software and is completely plug-and-play. The only software you need for HD video chat is Skype. For those that use webcams for video blogging or YouTube, you will need to download or buy additional software. The FV TouchCam is made specifically for Skype so the first wave of tests will focus on that.
For FV TouchCam to function properly you will need Skype 4.2 or higher. Picture quality is great at 720p, though still incomparable to a decent 720p camcorder. The details and edges are a little rough and auto-adjustments happen way slower, but this is a webcam here. Below are two photos taken with different webcams. The first one uses a standard non-HD webcam and the second one is taken using Skype's snapshot capability with the FV TouchCam-N1. We can see the quality of an HD webcam is significantly better.
The colors and details are preserved accurately and there is very little noise. The light glow behind my right shoulder is probably caused by my second monitor (on the right side) glowing in a relatively dark room.
Below is another picture that captures a portion of a room. Again we can see the details for even small objects far away. The video is essentially wide-screen thanks to the wide-angle lens. Motion is also mostly fluid, huge improvement over the choppy movements captured by a common VGA (or worse) webcam, but still a tiny bit choppy and laggy at times. The 22 FPS maximum seems a little low. Due to fluctuations in the Internet the average FPS is only around 20, sometimes dropping to 18, and this is the same whether I'm using 100Mb/s fiber optics line or 10Mb/s business Internet line. While this 18-22FPS is by not that low there are many competitors offering 30FPS HD webcams that, even with network fluctuation, will deliver video with fluent movement. Note that the minimum requirement for HD video is 1.2Mb/s upload and download. Anything lower and Skype will automatically lower image quality.
Used together with Skype the software component of the FV TouchCam-N1 is near flawless. I tested out auto-focus by moving an iphone from several meters away right up in front of the webcam. It took about a second to auto-focus and adjust colors correctly. Even up close the app icons are clearly visible and legible. Skype will automatically adjust the image quality sent depending on your Internet speed. The built-in mic is also an important feature as buying a separate Skype-certified speaker/mic will cost another $100. The result is accurate and like video quality, very little noise. Voices can be heard very clearly and accurately. However, partially because the FV TouchCam-N1 comes with no proprietary software, there are some problems setting up the mic. Sometimes there will be ear-piercing ringing, but more commonly there are constant echoing. The only way to get the mic to work perfectly is to mute and un-mute until the echo effects are gone. In order to get the mic working becomes a task that takes longer than setting up the video part.
Together the FV TouchCam-N1 and Skype are a nice bundle. We're talking about excellent quality, HD video chat that requires no setup, and completely automated adjustments that provide great looking video on whatever Internet you have (greater than 1.2Mb/s of course). The only real quirk is the mic, but maybe with a firmware update from FaceVsion or software update from Skype will fix it. The slightly lower FPS is more of their design choice. Because of the built in H.264 encoder, video is generated at a constant pace while taking up about 6% CPU load. Twenty-two FPS gets pretty close to being completely fluid but for $119 I'd expect it to be capable of >24 FPS.
While the FV TouchCam-N1 does not formally support other chat platforms, I decided to try it out anyway. The results were less impressive. It simply didn't work with Windows Live Messenger as no video was getting through, and in Gmail chat only the lowest quality was being displayed. If you're looking for an all-around webcam that can work well across different chat programs then the FV TouchCam isn't the best choice currently. Then again the FV TouchCam does seem to target corporate settings more whether it's the appearance or the design choices.
FaceVsion Final Thoughts
Accessories built for Skype are in general very interesting because they are expensive and many of them are useless without Skype. The FV TouchCam-N1 happens to be the second Skype-certified item I have used, the first one being a Polycom Communicator (essentially speaker + mic) which is $120. How well did it work with Skype? Very. The same goes with the FV TouchCam-N1. It works great with Skype, and costs about $120. I have no doubts that this product would be popular for enterprise level video conferencing, but for personal use I find these products, which are all specifically built for Skype, just simply lack in value.
One thing in question is the value of having the H.264 encoder built-int. Encoding video is CPU intensive, and for weak netbooks HD video encoding may cause lag and introduce stutters. Thanks to the encoder the CPU has to do very little work, and your computer would run better. If the encoder is what you want then there is no competition, just buy the webcam and start your HD video chat. However the encoder increases the cost for producing the webcam, meaning other areas have to be weaker. The similarly priced Logitech Quickcam Orbit and the $60 Microsoft LifeCam Cinema 720p can both reach 30 FPS. They come with software (requires installation) and have a wider range of support for chat programs. The Logitech Orbit in particular has a max resolution of up to 1600 x 1200 pixels for taking snapshots. I like the unique (non-spherical) design of the FV TouchCam-N1, the build is excellent, and performance using Skype is impressive, but at $120 and limited software capabilities the FV TouchCam lacks a little something to put itself as a winner. Even if the H.264 encoder put it ahead of other webcams, it's only a marginal lead in performance.
TouchCam-N1 Conclusion
The FaceVsion TouchCam-N1's performs great with Skype. There's not much that comes in the box but the small webcam sure packs a punch. The people at FaceVsion made the TouchCam-N1 work perfectly with Skype and everything is automated. If your company needs a webcam for each employee then the plug-and-play TouchCam-N1 will save a lot of money for you on tech support and setup. The resulting 720p video is clear and movement is fluid. Unfortunately it needs an Internet connection >1.2Mb/s. Even then it maxes out at 22FPS, not low at all, but still beat by many HD webcams that are cheaper. The biggest advantage for the FV TouchCam-N1 is its built-in H.264 encoder, which entirely removes the strain on your CPU. Running HD video chat on Skype took merely 6% CPU load. This is great if your multitasking as your computer won't lag and become unresponsive, and it will also help provide smoother video streaming.
As a solution for enterprise level video conferencing, the design avoids the cliché shapes and figures of standard webcams and takes on a unique form. The design is beautiful and practical. Unfortunately FaceVsion couldn't figure out an elegant solution for free-form angle rotation. The FV TouchCam has a compact design and can be placed on a the desk or rested and clipped onto your monitor. Numerous rubber grips help prevent slipping and sliding. When rested on a monitor you see only the thin rectangular head, very unobtrusive compared to the spherical webcams that stand up about 10 centimetres above the monitor.
The construction is well done, and pivoting points that should be tight are tight. It was able to be clipped upside down on a thick chair handle without any indication that it would fall. All parts inside seem tightly screwed as shaking it makes no sounds. The FV TouchCam-N1 is sturdy and will heavy daily usage just fine.
The only part I find the FV TouchCam lacking is in functionality. It's hard to get over the fact that this awesome webcam's can only be used properly with Skype. The lack of any sort of software is also a surprise. Other competitors often supply software that allows tuning and adjusting settings. It's great that most of this is automated but the built-in microphone had some problems, and the only adjustments I had to my disposal was muting and un-muting. Also, a free rotating camera is more of a standard now than it is a choice, and I was surprised to find the FV TouchCam supporting only vertical adjustments.
In the end I find the FV TouchCam pricing a little too expensive. Priced at $120 I'm looking for something fancy. The design, the built-in H.264 encoder, and the performance (using Skype) gets the TouchCam-N1 fairly close, but the lack of certain features bring down the value. Even the raw performance seems to lose-out to a few $60 HD webcams that also support 720p video up to 30FPS.
Overall the webcam can be summed up in one sentence: the FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 offers outstanding performance and several features that no competitor can compete with; but then completely flops in other areas.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The faceVsion TouchCam-N1 is only Skype-certified webcam that can transmit streaming 720p HD video over the Internet. Other "HD" webcams from Microsoft & Logitech can record 720p video to the hard drive or within a local network, but they cannpt stream it over the Internet. Skype and faceVsion partnered to make this feature possible, and that's what separates this particular camera from others. If the N1 was in the same class of webcams as Microsoft or Logitech, it would be expensive at $119. However, it's the hardware H.264 video encoder chip and the CODEC that faceVsion developed that account for the added price.
Pros:
+ 720p HD webcam
+ Built-in H.264 encoder (Only 6% CPU load at 720p)
+ Camera's auto-focus (and other auto-adjustments) works well
+ Motion capture is fluid
+ Excellent build quality
+ Unique appearance, suitable for professional environments
+ Works well with Skype's built in functionality
Cons:
- Does not come with any type of software
- Short USB cable
- Limited camera direction adjustment
- Limited program compatibility (Such as Live Messenger)
- Expensive webcam product
- Limited to around 20 FPS for 720p video
- Mic has constant ringing problem that needs several resets to work
Ratings:
-
Performance: 9.00
-
Appearance: 9.50
-
Construction: 9.25
-
Functionality: 7.50
-
Value: 7.00
Final Score: 8.45 out of 10.
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