What kind of video capture is best for netmeeting?

[TH]

I've been doing alot of Video Conferencing using Netmeeting.

I have a video card that supports video capture, ASUS V6800 Deluxe, and a Sony Hi8 camera. the video is excellent and real-time, but the setup is cumbersome. When I want to video conference, I have to (1) turn the charger to VTR, (2) turn the record switch to standby and then (3) set the power switch to Camera.

I set up my brother-in-law in Canada with the 3Com Home Connect USB. It was highly rated. It works, its simple to use, but the video is slow (when watching youself using netmeeting) and much lower quality than my setup.

How about firewire, like iBot, video capture and camera?

I recently ordered a PC for my father in Canada and will get him a high speed connection. I want to know if there is a better cost effective solution than USB, i.e. video capture card and webcam? Dell didn't offer a video card with video capture. Also, I want it to be simple to use. A push of a button.

Any ideas? thanks

 

[jmcoreymv]

You dont need a video capture card to do web conferencing, those usb web cams work perfect for that.

 

[Stringy]

Okies.. I've used just about every VideoConferencing App. out there and they all pretty much
stink for "quality"... ICU2 has Excellent video but lacks the finish of a MS-NM... NM can be
a pain to work with too... it just doesn't like some systems... but anyways I digress..

You need atleast 100k Upload and Download streaming capability to get any sort of Quality on
the recieving end... Even if it looks Great on your end, if you aren't uploading [or he isn't
DL'ing] fast enough it will still look like crap-o-la....

The USB devices are nice, easy, but don't have the Quality of dedicated HW... as you have seen...
The 3Com is pretty much the best looking, as far as webcams...
Firewire would work great, so would and type of HW video capture... because it usually handles
a higher bandwidth....
As far as which has the best cost effective solution, it's Definitely the USB... no contest.. unless
of course he upgrades like you did to a Vid Card that includes it... like your Asus, or some ATi's..

My poor Intel is getting long in the tooth... thing is like 2 yrs or more old... looks pretty bad
compared to the newer webCams...




Craig

 

[wonder mike]

for video conferencing your vid is not gonna matter much, spend the extra money on a nice cam