Monitor: A monitor is needed in order to be able to view the person/people whom you are conferencing with. Videoconferencing software generally opens smaller viewer windows within your screen, allowing for multiple windows to be opened during multiple person conference calls. (For large-scale videoconferencing, more than 1 monitor is often employed)

Camera: The camera is the most obvious piece of equipment that is needed to run a video conferencing system; without a camera, video cannot be captured. The quality of camera used is not of great importance depending on its use. If it is for personal use, then a standard desktop web camera is more than adequate, and highly affordable. If it is for business or professional purposes, then a more expensive model should be used.

Controls: You need some form of control over your video camera and its internal settings. With desktop video conferencing systems, the controls are generally found through software that is installed onto the system. With some of the higher-end models used for professional/business purposes, the controls tend to part of the hardware and located on the camera itself. Most of the expensive models had controls, to allow the user to control the settings without having to touch the camera itself.

Codecs: Simply stated, a codec is a device (software or hardware) used to compress/decompress data for better delivery. The codec is responsible for taking captured analog-video signals and compressing it into a digitized form before being sent out. On the flipside, the codec is also responsible for decompressing and un-digitizing captured video before the user can view it. If you have a poor quality codec, then it will be highly noticeable based on poor audio/video signals.

Audio: The audio component of a video conferencing system includes speakers through which to receive audio, and a microphone through which to transmit audio. As is the case with all videoconferencing equipment, there is a sliding scale of quality when it comes to audio components. It will generally follow suit with the rest of your system, meaning that an inexpensive system will offer lesser quality audio, whilst a more expensive system will offer higher quality audio. Expensive systems will generally offer more than one microphone so as to better capture multiple users during videoconferencing.

The bottom line when it comes to videoconferencing systems is that you get what you pay for.

===========================================================

Check out our   VIDEO CONFERENCING SOFTWARE   page for more info

===========================================================