QuickCam is a line of

webcam 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 periphera ...

video camera products by

Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe ...

. The original QuickCam was developed by

Connectix Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company, noted for having 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 ...

in 1994 for nationwide 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 The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

, then in its infancy.

Video conferencing Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Enc ...

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. It is now considered one of the top gadgets of all time.Connectix QuickCam - All-TIME 100 Gadgets - TIME
The initial model was available only for the

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software ...

, connecting to it via the serial port. It produced 16

shades of gray Variations of gray or grey include achromatic grayscale shades, which lie exactly between white and black, and nearby colors with low colorfulness. A selection of a number of these various colors is shown below. Chart of computer web color ...

at a resolution of 320×240

pixel 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 s ...

s, and could record video at about 15

frames A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

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 1998. The company has gradually decreased support for the Macintosh platform, with only one current model officially supporting Mac or including Mac drivers.Webcams
This could largely be the result of Apple building webcams into their laptop and desktop computers, negating the need for external third party devices . Many recent models implement the

USB video device class The USB video device class (also USB video class or UVC) is a USB device class that describes devices capable of streaming video like webcams, digital camcorders, transcoders, analog video converters and still-image cameras. The latest revis ...

standard and work under Mac OS without additional drivers. Today, Logitech QuickCam is one of the world's most recognized webcam brands. In October 2010, QuickCam was elected to Time Magazine's Top 100 Gadgets of all Time

Cameras

This list is non-exhaustive.

References

External links

Logitech's home page

Macam project at SourceForge.net

Steves Ant Farm Cam home page

Logitech product numbers and driver support
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quickcam Webcams Teleconferencing Videotelephony Products introduced in 1994 Logitech products

Cameras

See also

References

External links