BIOS: Technology Means Business

Logitech today unveiled its flagship QuickCam Ultra Vision Web camera, promising a ‘true-to-life’ video calling experience by delivering twice the image clarity as that offered by typical Web cameras.

Available in the US and Europe beginning in August, the QuickCam Ultra Vision Web camera has a suggested retail price of £99.99.

The new PC device for Internet communications apparently outclasses other Web cameras by combining an extra-large, precision-engineered glass lens with a low f-stop setting, increasing the amount of light entering the Web camera and precisely focusing that light to create sharp, vivid images.

With the QuickCam Ultra Vision, people can share the important little things in life - from that sparkling new engagement ring to the toddler’s first tooth - with breakthrough clarity as they make video calls to friends and family around the world. Adult film makers will also be in their element!

Even in difficult lighting conditions - such as low lighting, or intense back- or side-lighting - QuickCam Ultra Vision claims premium performance, thanks to the new Logitech RightLight 2 Technology, which intelligently adapts the camera’s video settings based on the environment in which the camera is used. Logitech’s new Web camera also features a ‘premium’ 1.3-Megapixel sensor and supports the High-Definition (HD) video format, allowing people to create video clips and watch them in a wide-screen format.

Logitech also has upgraded other members of its Web camera line-up, adding new technologies and features that make the experience of video communications easier and more natural than ever before. Logitech’s performance Web cameras - the QuickCam Fusion, QuickCam Sphere and QuickCam Pro 5000 products - now include Logitech RightLight 2 Technology and the ability to record HD video.

The redesigned mid-range QuickCam Communicate STX Web camera features an innovative privacy shade that, when flipped open, can launch the video IM application of choice (Windows Live Messenger, Skype Video, Yahoo! Messenger, or AOL Instant Messenger) and mute a video stream when closed. And Logitech’s redesigned QuickCam software is included in all the new Web camera, complete with a new icon-based interface that makes it easier than ever to access all of the camera’s settings and features, including the popular Logitech Video Effects software.

“Our 2006 Web camera line-up is loaded with innovations that address consumer needs and that could come only from a company such as Logitech, which has more than a decade of experience making Web camera,” said Gina Clark, Logitech vice president of product marketing for Internet communications. “We’ve redefined performance at the high end by combining the most premium lens on any Web camera with the new RightLight 2 Technology. You have to see it to believe the video quality - it is true to life.”

Logitech RightLight 2 Technology is a system of hardware and software technologies that intelligently optimises video settings in low-light and uneven lighting environments, such as when a window creates harsh back- or side-lighting. The breakthrough technology automatically adjusts for these conditions, helping to improve the overall video experience. The technology is an enhancement of Logitech’s first-generation RightLight Technology, which corrects for dim lighting conditions.

The camera lens system comprises five extra-large lenses, several of which are made with glass, promising exceptionally sharp and clear video. Most Web cameras on the market are made up of only plastic lenses, producing images that seem distant and are often distorted. Also, by featuring an f-stop setting of 1.6 - most Web camera on the market have an f-stop setting of 2 or greater - the QuickCam Ultra Vision Web camera is able to capture more light, producing greater image detail in dimly lighted, or back- or side-lighted conditions.

The Web camera design incorporates the most premium materials Logitech has ever assembled into a Web camera. In addition to the glass lens, chrome details draw attention to the Web camera’s built-in microphone, lens housing and the edges of the cylinder-shaped webcam. Each edge features a button - one that launches a mirror video window so that people can check their image before they engage in a video call, and the other to take quick snapshots. The Web camera also features a soft-blue back-lighted ring, surrounding a Logitech logo, which illuminates when the camera is active.

As with Logitech’s other performance cameras, the QuickCam Ultra Vision includes Logitech RightSound Technology and Logitech Video Effects software. Logitech RightSound Technology combines a Web camera’s microphone with acoustic echo-cancellation software, offering the flexibility of conducting video calls without wearing a headset. Integrated with the Web camera’s software drivers, Logitech’s advanced software algorithms eliminate echoes created by a webcam microphone and speakers in close proximity.

The Logitech Video Effects software, which works with popular Web camera applications, allows people to completely transform themselves into three-dimensional animated characters (avatars) that precisely mimic facial movements, or to add accessories to their on-screen image, such as glasses, a beard or a crown.

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