An office camera is a digital camera device that performs tasks in offices such as document scanning, physical object imaging, video presentation and

web conferencing Web conferencing is used as an umbrella term for various types of online conferencing and collaborative services including webinars (web seminars), webcasts, and web meetings. Sometimes it may be used also in the more narrow sense of the peer-l ...

.''Game Changer in Document Camera Industry'', retrieved October 6, 2010, http://allianceinternational.blogspot.com/2010/10/game-changer-in-document-camera.html It is similar to the

document camera Document cameras, also known as visual presenters, visualizers, digital overheads, or docucams, are real-time image capture devices for displaying an object to a large audience. Like an opaque projector, a document camera is able to magnify and p ...

, which is normally used on podiums in classrooms and meeting rooms for presentations. An office camera typically has a compact form factor in order to be a commonplace desktop item. Commercial products, such as the HoverCam, can fit into pockets or briefcases, which makes them ideal for use on desktops or on-the-go. Generally, office cameras have least one high-resolution camera, which can be used in an "aerial" position to shoot video or still image pictures of documents or objects. In order to capture images with enough clarity, such cameras are expected to have high resolution, normally more than 2

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

s at the minimum, and ideally produce distortion-free images for documents, even when the document contains fonts under 7-

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size. A secondary camera, which captures video horizontally to include the presenter(s) of the document or the audience of a presentation, can be beneficial to the device as well. Office cameras can be connected via

USB 2.0 Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

ports to a laptop or a desktop computer to function almost similarly as a

web camera A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral ...

. Once connected this way, software applications, such as

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

GoToMeeting GoTo Meeting (formerly GoToMeeting) is a web conferencing software by GoTo. It is an online meeting, desktop sharing, and video conferencing software package that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients, or colle ...

, interface with an office camera in the same fashion as connecting with any

Universal Virtual Computer UVC-based preservation is an archival strategy for handling the preservation of digital objects. It employs the use of a Universal Virtual Computer (UVC)—a virtual machine (VM) specifically designed for archival purposes, that allows both emula ...

device. At the same time, an office camera can have

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can no ...

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...

video output to a TV or video projector, so that it can serve as a video presentation tool. Capturing still images and recording video footage into a local storage on the device is also possible. Applications of office cameras can include quick "scanning" of documents (which is an alternative to flatbed scanners), showing real-time video of product demos, serving as a video input device for a multiple party video conference with shared

interactive whiteboard An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform task ...

, capturing images for manufacturing and

inventory management Field inventory management commonly known as inventory management is the function of understanding the stock mix of a company and the different demands on that stock. The demands are influenced by both external and internal factors and are balan ...

, a video testimony, form or invoice scanning and recognition, receipt capturing, expense and report generation.

References

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External links

* http://www.alliancewarehouse.com/officecam Digital cameras