 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2024) |
QuickCam is a line of webcam video camera products originally produced by Connectix in 1994 and acquired by Logitech in 1998. Although its picture quality would today be considered primitive, it was the first widespread used webcam-like device.
The original QuickCam was developed by Connectix in 1994 for US-wide commercial sale and was the first widely marketed webcam-like device, although its original advertising did not use the term "webcam" or refer to the World Wide Web, then in its infancy. Video conferencing via computers already existed at the time, and client-server based video conferencing software such as CU-SeeMe was gaining popularity. Eventually, it evolved from an RS-422 connector to a parallel connector then eventually to a USB connection.
The initial model was available only for the Apple Macintosh, connecting to it via the serial port. It produced 16 shades of gray at a resolution of 320×240 pixels, and could record video at about 15 frames per second; it cost $100.
The software that originally shipped with the camera included QuickMovie for recording motion pictures and QuickPICT for capturing still images.
The QuickCam product line was acquired by Logitech in August 1998. [1] The company has gradually decreased support for the Macintosh platform, with only one model as of 2010 officially supporting Mac or including Mac drivers. [2] This could largely be the result of Apple building webcams into their laptop and desktop computers, negating the need for external third party devices [ dubious – discuss ]. Many recent models implement the USB video device class standard and work under Mac OS without additional drivers.
In October 2010, QuickCam was elected to Time Magazine's Top 100 Gadgets of all Time. [3]
This list is non-exhaustive.
| Camera | Model # | Part # | Image | Year | Category | Sensor resolution | Focus | RRP (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connectix QuickCam | 1994 | General | 320 × 240 4bpp Greyscale | $100 | Sold over 500,000 units from 1994 to 1997. [4] Serial model with built-in microphone and Parallel model. [5] | ||||
| Connectix Color QuickCam | 1996 | General | 320 × 240 24bpp | $199 | Serial model with built-in microphone and Parallel model. [5] | ||||
| Connectix Color QuickCam 2 | 1997 | General | 320 × 240 24bpp | $199 | Improved sensor and optical system, optimised for indoor use [4] Parallel model only. [5] | ||||
| Connectix QuickCam VC |  | 1998 | General | 320 × 240 | $99 – $129 | VC for "Video Conferencing". First USB QuickCam; also supports parallel ports. [6] | |||
| Connectix QuickCam Home | 1998 | General | 320 × 240 [7] | $130 | Only USB. [8] | ||||
| Connectix QuickCam Pro | 1998 | High-End | 640 × 480 | $150 | USB and Parallel. [8] | ||||
| Logitech USB QuickCam Home |  | 1998 | General | 352x288 [9] | |||||
| Logitech QuickCam Express |  | 1999 | General | 320 × 240 @ 30 frame/s, [10] 640 × 480 @ 15 frame/s | $49 | . [8] | |||
| Logitech QuickCam Web | 1999 | High-End | 640 × 480 @ 30 frame/s [11] | Only USB. [12] With built-in microphone. [13] | |||||
| Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000 | 2000 | High-End | 640 × 480 | ||||||
| Logitech QuickCam 3000 | 2001 | Business | 640 × 480 | [14] | |||||
| Logitech QuickCam Traveler |  | 2001 | Notebook | 640 × 480 @ 30 frame/s [15] | $99 – $149 | First "laptop" QuickCam. [16] | |||
| Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks | 961404-0403 | 2001 | Notebook | 640 × 480 video, 640 × 480 still photo | Manual | ||||
| Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro | 961398-0403 | 2001 | Notebook | 1.3 Mpixel resolution | RealLight lighting correction. f=3.85 mm | ||||
| Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 |  | 2002 | High-End | 640 × 480 @ 15 frame/s [17] | Can take interpolated 1280 × 960 stills. | ||||
| Logitech QuickCam Zoom | 2002 | General | 640 × 480 | $99 | Features a digital zoom that focuses on the user's face. Re-released as "QuickCam Zoom Silver" in 2003, then "QuickCam Zoom Refresh" in 2004. | ||||
| Logitech QuickCam Sphere |  | 2003 | Flagship | 640 × 480 | First motorised pan/tilt QuickCam. Known as "QuickCam Orbit" in North America | ||||
| Logitech QuickCam Messenger | 2004 | General | |||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Express 2 | 2004 | General | |||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Communicate MP | 997-000078 960-000240 | 2004 | General | 960 × 720 video, 4.0 Mpixel still photo | Fixed | 183 cm USB cord. Adjusts lighting in dim light. | |||
| Logitech QuickCam Cordless | 2004 | Speciality | |||||||
| Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe | V-UBU49 | 860-000070 960-000095 |  | 2005 | Notebook | 640 × 480 video, 1.3 Mpixel still photo | Manual | 78 cm USB cord | |
| Logitech QuickCam Chat | 2005 | General | Manual | ||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Fusion | 2005 | General | |||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 | 2005 | High-End | |||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Sphere MP | 2005 | Flagship | 640 × 480 | Motorized pan/tilt. Known as the "QuickCam Orbit MP" in North America | |||||
| Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision | 2005 | High-End | 640 × 480 @ 30 frame/s | ||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Connect | 2006 | General | 640 × 480 [18] video, 640 × 480 still photo | ||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX | V-UBK45 V-UAM14A | 961410-0403 961443-0403 961464-0403 961687-0403 | 2006 | General | 640 × 480 @ 30 frame/s, 1.3 Mpixel still photo | Fixed | |||
| Logitech 720p Webcam C905 | V-UBU48 | 860-000108 |  | 2007 | Notebook/General | 1600 × 1200 video, 8.0 Mpixel still photo | Auto | 78 cm USB cord. Comes with 30 weighted base and mounting stalk. RightLight2 lighting correction. | |
| Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 | V-UBM46 | 860-000109 960-000313 |  | 2007 | High-End | 1600 × 1200 @ 30 frame/s video, 8.0 Mpixel still photo | Auto | 210 cm cord | |
| Logitech QuickCam IM | 2007 | General | 640 × 480 | ||||||
| Logitech QuickCam Sphere AF | 2007 | Flagship | 1600 × 1200 | Known as "QuickCam Orbit AF" in North America. | |||||
| Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro | 960-000254 | 2008 | Macintosh | 1600 × 1200 | Auto |
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in video telephony, live streaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral devices, and are commonly connected to a device using USB or wireless protocols.
GeoPort is a serial data system used on some models of the Apple Macintosh that could be externally clocked to run at a 2 megabit per second data rate. GeoPort slightly modified the existing Mac serial port pins to allow the computer's internal DSP hardware or software to send data that, when passed to a digital-to-analog converter, emulated various devices such as modems and fax machines. GeoPort could be found on late-model 68K-based machines as well as many pre-USB Power Macintosh models and PiPPiN. Some later Macintosh models also included an internal GeoPort via an internal connector on the Communications Slot. Apple GeoPort technology is now obsolete, and modem support is typically offered through USB.
Logitech International S.A. is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and San Jose, California, the company has offices throughout Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of input and interface devices for personal computers (PCs) and other digital products. It is a component of the flagship Swiss Market Index, and listed on the Nasdaq.
Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company that released innovative products that were either made obsolete as Apple Computer incorporated the ideas into system software, or were sold to other companies once they became popular. It was formed in October 1988 by Jon Garber; the dominant board members and co-founders were Garber, Bonnie Fought, and close friend Roy McDonald. McDonald was still Chief Executive Officer and president when Connectix finally closed in August 2003.
Amiga software is computer software engineered to run on the Amiga personal computer. Amiga software covers many applications, including productivity, digital art, games, commercial, freeware and hobbyist products. The market was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s but then dwindled. Most Amiga products were originally created directly for the Amiga computer, and were not ported from other platforms.
The Fujifilm FinePix A345 and A350 are entry-level digital point-and-shoot cameras. They feature 3x optical zoom, a resolution of 4.1 and 5.2 megapixels respectively, and 320x240 movie recording with sound capabilities.
Xbox Live Vision is a webcam accessory that was developed as an accessory for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was announced at E3 2006 and was released in North America on September 19, 2006, Europe and Asia on October 2, 2006, and Japan on November 2, 2006.
Various accessories for the PlayStation 3 video game console have been produced by Sony and third-party companies. These include controllers, audio and video input devices like microphones, video cameras, and cables for better sound and picture quality.
The USB video device class is a USB device class that describes devices capable of streaming video like webcams, digital camcorders, transcoders, analog video converters and still-image cameras.
Eye-Fi was a company based in Mountain View, California, that produced SD memory cards with Wi-Fi capabilities. Using an Eye-Fi card inside a digital camera, one could wirelessly and automatically upload digital photos to a local computer or a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet computer. The company ceased business in 2016.
The Archos Generation 6 (Gen6) product series is represented by misc "Internet Media Tablets" or "IMT", e.g. the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet This series of tablet computers developed by the French company Archos that features a resistive touchscreen for video, photo, audio, internet browsing and other multimedia applications. The individual numbering of the distinct models seems up to now to roughly resemble the length of the display diagonal in inches.
IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony and Panasonic. It is most commonly known by the name FireWire (Apple), though other brand names exist such as i.LINK (Sony), and Lynx.
The Nokia N8 is a touchscreen-based smartphone developed by Nokia. Announced on 27 April 2010, the Nokia N8 was the first device to run on the Symbian^3 mobile operating system and it was the company's flagship device for the year. It was released on 30 September 2010 at the Nokia Online Store before being released in markets around the world on 1 October 2010. There were two versions made, the N8 and the N8-00. The N8 was made for Vodafone and locked to its networks, and the N8-00 was made by Microsoft and open network.
The Logitech Unifying Receiver is a small dedicated USB wireless receiver, based on the nRF24L-family of RF devices, that allows up to six compatible Logitech human interface devices to be linked to the same computer using 2.4 GHz band radio communication. Receivers that are bundled with a Logitech product are paired with the device at the factory. When purchasing a replacement receiver or connecting multiple devices to one receiver, pairing requires the free-of-charge Logitech Unifying software, available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. On Linux the Solaar software can be used to adjust the configurations. Although not compatible with Bluetooth, devices pair to Unifying Receivers in a similar way. Peripherals remain paired, and can then be used on systems not supporting the software. Logitech receivers compatible with the Unifying protocol can be identified by the orange Unifying logo, which distinguishes them from Logitech Nano receivers of similar appearance, which pair in a similar manner but only with a single device, without using the Unifying protocol.
The Apple QuickTake is one of the first consumer digital camera lines. It was launched in 1994 by Apple Computer and was marketed for three years before being discontinued in 1997. Three models of the product were built including the 100 and 150, both built by Chinon; and the 200, built by Fujifilm. The QuickTake cameras had a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels maximum.
Guvcview is a webcam application, i.e. software to handle UVC streams, for the Linux desktop, started by Paulo Assis in 2008. The application is written in C and is free and open-source software released under GPL-2.0-or-later.
Logitech Harmony is a line of remote controls and home automation products produced by Logitech. The line includes universal remote products designed for controlling the components of home theater systems and other devices that can be controlled via infrared, as well as newer smart home hub products that can be used to additionally control supported Internet of things (IoT) and Smart home products, and allow the use of mobile apps to control devices. On April 10, 2021, Logitech announced that they would discontinue Harmony Remote manufacturing.
FogCam is the longest-running webcam in the world, barring maintenance breaks and camera replacements. In 1994, two students Jeff Schwartz and Dan Wong set up the webcam at San Francisco State University. It was nearly shut down in 2019 as the creators said they faced difficulties in maintaining the webcam. Following public outcry, the university agreed to take over ownership and continue its maintenance.
| Products |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subsidiaries |
| |||||
| Related | ||||||
