As the world gets more and more connected remotely, the importance of having a good USB webcam is increasingly important for your home office. A high-quality webcam will allow you to better communicate and connect with your team. There are a lot of different options. This guide will help you understand what to look for in a home office webcam.
Resolution
The first thing you should be looking for in a webcam is the resolution. The resolution is essentially how detailed the image will be. Typical resolutions are 720p, 1080p, and 4k. 720p is a very pixelated image with poor quality. 1080p is a good industry standard that most high-end laptops have and should be the baseline to go for. Below is an example of the difference between 720p and 1080p.
Webcams that do 4k and much more expensive and are overkill for most setups. Adding more detail, like jumping from 1080p to 4k isn’t as impactful as good lighting. Oftentimes, lighting is the most effective way to improve the quality of your video. Another reason why jumping from 4k to 1080p will not result in a much better image is because most applications like Microsoft Teams and Zoom will compress the image to a lower quality to save users on bandwidth.
Low Light Performance
Different web cameras have different abilities to show you in low-light situations. For example, if you are in your office without any lights on, the low light environment will make it challenging for your web camera to receive enough light to create a quality video. Web cameras typically do a poor job compared to traditional cameras because web cameras are so much smaller and cannot take in the same level of light as a photography camera. Ideally, you would focus on improving the lighting in your office to not be too dark or too bright, but there is often a limit to what light control you have, especially if your setup is in front of a window.
FPS
FPS stands for frames per second. It is the number of frames or images that are captured by your USB webcam every second. Most video content that people consume is 60 fps. The number of frames a USB webcam can do is also related to the resolution. Some cameras only have an option to output a set amount of frames and a single resolution option, while other cameras have the ability to choose different frames per second options based on the resolution. For example, a web camera might have the ability to do 60 fps at 720p, be can only do 30 fps at 4k. The sweet spot for USB webcam frame rates is typically 30 fps. 30 fps is often the highest many good cameras get. Typically during a video call, there isn’t much movement so 30 FPS should show plenty of detail.
Mounting Options
Most USB cams will be able to mount directly onto your monitor, even if your monitor is thin or thick. Once placed on your monitor screen, you will likely be limited in the amount of adjustment you can make towards yourself. Ideally, your webcam should sit above eye level. If you cannot do that by placing the webcam on your monitor, then you should consider getting a webcam that can have a mounting thread for a stand. That way you use whatever stand that meets your needs and you can mount your web camera exactly where you need it to be.
Software
Most USB cams are plug and play without any software and some offer software to give you control over your picture. Inside the software for USB cams, you can often enable or disable autofocus, change camera brightness, and make changes to the resolution and FPS. The software isn’t too impactful unless you need the software to disable autofocus for proctored exams.
Autofocus
Autofocus is a key feature to look for in your USB cam. Without it, if you move closer or further away from your camera, you will get out of focus. Some testing centers for online proctored exams require this feature to be disabled. But for almost any other use case, you will want to be in focus and clearly the focus of your video output.
Connection type
USB cameras almost always have one of two connection types. Either USB-A, which is the most common connector type, or USB-C. Make sure that your computer has an open port for the connection type for your computer. If you do not have an open port, you can get a dongle to help provide additional ports.
Webcam Recommendation
The go-to webcam that I recommend for anyone looking to balance performance with a great value is the Logitech C920 webcam. The video it produces captures the target at 1080p at 30 FPS. That means you will be clear in your calls and your movement will be smooth because of the good frame rate. In the Logitech software, you can turn on and off the auto focus along with adjusting the brightness of the image. The webcam uses a USB-A connector so it will work with almost any computer. This webcam is tried and true that was released back in 2012.
