DVdriver is a software tool that lets you use your digital camcorder with any software that works with Web cameras. It works by fooling Windows into thinking that your camcorder is just an ordinary USB Web camera, thereby allowing you to use your high-resolution camcorder for VoIP communications instead of a low-cost Web camera.

According to the product's literature, you just plug your camcorder into your PC's FireWire port, run DVdriver and start the software you want to use. As well as working with all the popular IM applications, including Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger, you'll be able to take advantage of your digital camcorder's crisp video quality in webconferencing software, such as NetMeeting, as well as video surveillance software to keep an eye on your home or business.

An important feature of DVdriver is that it can feed your camcorder's video to several applications at the same time. You can, for example, use your camcorder's video in Yahoo's instant messaging service and in MSN Messenger's chat at the same time. Simultaneously, you could be using a third program to capture the video to disk. DVdriver takes care of duplicating the video stream from your camcorder and sending it to all the programs you're using.

DVdriver can also control the optical zoom of several camcorder models from your PC. This unique feature requires no external hardware. It also offers Pan/Tilt/Zoom control, digital zoom in and out, and you can shift the field of view in any direction. You can control the optical zoom of Canon ZR and compatible cameras, and with a PowerPod robotic camcorder base, control pan (160 degrees) and tilt (110 degrees) from DVdriver.

BIOS, 30.09.05