Logitech and Carl Zeiss Collaborate For Improved Webcam Images.

Posted by: dgoldring on Jun 29 2007

 

Logitech, one of the world’s leading manufacturer of webcams, and Carl Zeiss, one of the world’s leading optics companies, announced an exclusive collaboration to deliver unparalleled image quality for video calling and sharing.

Carl Zeiss’s exclusive relationship with Logitech marks a significant step in the development of webcam optics. Carl Zeiss has been driving opticalinnovation since the earliest days of photography. Logitech released itsfirst webcam in 1995 and has been a major force in the development ofwebcam technology since the inception of video communication over the Internet.

The first webcams designed in collaboration with Carl Zeiss – the LogitechQuickCam Pro 9000 and the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks – are expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in July for a suggested retail price of $99.99 (U.S.).

Logitech did not stop with Carl Zeiss optics, however. The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks webcams also use a premium autofocus system for fast, fluid focusing that eliminates the inconvenience of manual focusing. With Logitech’s autofocus system, the webcams compensate for changes in image-edge sharpness. Logitech’s autofocus system refocuses images in less than three seconds and helps ensure that images remain crisp even in extreme close-ups (up to 10 cm from the camera lens).

Both webcams will also work effortlessly with most popular video messaging applications,including Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AIM.

For high-definition video capture, the QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Profor Notebooks records video at up to 30 frames per second. And because both webcams support the 720p high-definition (HD) video format, recording to disc at a resolution of 960 by 720 pixels, you can capture and viewincredibly sharp video clips.  The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks webcams even feature an unheard of  true two-megapixel sensor than can capture up to eight-megapixel photos (with software interpolation), as well as RightSound and RightLight2 Technology – all working together to enhance the video calling experience.

RightLight 2 Technology automatically adjusts for low and uneven lighting environments, such as when a window creates harsh backlighting. Logitech’s improved RightSound Technology significantly reduces background noise, with new noise suppression, in addition to virtually eliminating echo and feedback.

Keep watching this space in the coming weeks for my review of the Quickcam Pro for Notebooks webcam.

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