Get Real with Web Cams

Articles on Web | Topics: web, internet

by Jeffery Vincent

With the internet, there has come ease of connection to those from whom you live far away. You can email, instant message, or talk over a voice connection for only the price of your internet service. However, you can make it more real. Web cams are becoming a bigger and bigger craze on the internet, and if you are willing to get one hooked up and running, you can add more realism and a better connection with your distant loved ones. There are two fairly simple steps in making it all happen for you.

First of all, you will need to get a web cam. Pretty much any web cam will work, and there are a ton of brands and types out there. Just find the one that is right for you. A lot of them can be bought for under $50, which is a reasonable price for what you will get out of the experience. If, though, you are seeking a better image quality you may have to spend a little more. It's up to you and your own standards.

With a video camera, you can use it instead with the proper connection to your computer. It is a much more complicated and difficult process if you don't know what you are doing or already have web cam experience, so you will probably be better off buying a standard computer web cam right off the bat.

Once you have purchased the camera, you will need to install whatever software came with it. Once you have done that, you are ready to move on. Make sure, though, that you do read over the directions first. There are some web cams that require that you install the drivers first, but there are others that require that you plug in the camera before installing the drivers. Doing it in the wrong order can result in you not being able to get your new web cam up and working at all.

Second, you will need to choose a delivery system for your images. There are really three basic ways to get your images out there. You will need to do some research on your own to figure out which is best for you, but it is important that you know what your options are.

Historical Quote

Being so wrong about her makes me wonder now how often I am utterly wrong about myself. And how wrong she might have been about her mother, how wrong he might have been about his father, how much of family life is a vast web of misunderstandings, a tinted and touched-up family portrait, an accurate representation of fact that leaves out only the essential truth.

—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)

You could use a web cam service offered by many free email and search engine providers on the internet. This way is probably the simplest for someone that has not had a lot of experience with web cams. However, using this method will require that the person to whom you are sending your images install the same service. It is also the method that often gives the poorest image quality. If you do some research, you will find there are also a lot of pay web cam services out there, but cost versus what you get is something you will need to figure out for yourself.

Another option is to FTP to your website. You can use web cam software that uploads pictures to websites via File Transfer Protocol, or FTP. Using this method is more complicated than a free service and you will need to have a website that is FTP accessible. This is likely the best way to go if you are using a dial up internet connection and anticipate a lot of people uploading simultaneously.

The third option for getting your images out there is using an in house server. For this method you will use web cam software that uses your computer like a web server. This is probably not a good method to go with if you are a complete beginner because the setup is complicated and there are security issues with an in house server of any type. On the other hand, this is certainly the method that can, in most cases, deliver the best image quality. It can also offer a much quicker refresh rate for your images than the free service of the FTP method. This all, however, is dependent on you having a high speed internet connection of some sort.

As you can see, getting your web cam and getting it hooked up is not a difficult process. For just a few dollars and a little bit of your time, you can add a certain realism and excitement to your email or IM experience. So what are you waiting for, get real with your web cam and step into something exciting.

We strive to provide only top rate articles on our website. If there is a specific web-related topic that you do not see but would like us to cover, please contact us here.

Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Get Real with Web Cams" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by WebDesignConferencing.com.

SEO Tips for Dynamic Websites
By Santiago Richardson
SEO Tips for Dynamic Websites. Is your website is dynamic? You need to be careful, or you might not do well in the search engines....

Dealing with Security Threats: Wireless Encryption
By Yvette Lynn
Dealing with Security Threats: Wireless Encryption. If you don't want your network to fall victim to snooping or people 'borrowing' your bandwidth, then you're going to need to lock down your network....

How Do Wireless Networks Work?
By Wendy Fields
How Do Wireless Networks Work? Wireless networks work using radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. That's the simple version....

The Basic SEO Rules for All Websites
By Kathryn Clemons
The Basic SEO Rules for All Websites. Search engine optimization isn't rocket science, but it can feel complicated at times....

Shopping Carts and Credit Cards- How These Play into Choosing the Right Web Host
By Kameron P. Kramer
A shopping cart at your website is not a necessity if you have a minority of items to sell (for example one or two items). However with a majority of products to sell and a great deal of variety a shopping cart system provides the highest levels of convenience for the shopping needs of your customers....