Practicality Still Lacking in Videophones’ Updated Image

Ever since the videophone was first demonstrated at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, communications companies have tried, without success, to convince people of the merits of having pictures accompany their telephone calls. Most people, and I count myself among them, just don’t want to worry about how they look when they’re on the phone.

Of course, price and picture quality have always been obstacles too, and those barriers at least are starting to come down. Today, there are a number of companies that make video cameras for your personal computer that allow you to participate in a one-on-one or group “conversation”--and prices start at just $200.

PC-based videoconferencing systems have been in use in the business world for several years now and have proven to be a good substitute for the $50,000 rooms and special satellite connections that videoconferencing once required. But even these new PC systems cost more than $1,000 per workstation and, most importantly, require a local area network or a dedicated high-speed telephone line.

The new generation of consumer videoconferencing products, by contrast, allow you to connect via the Internet or a standard telephone line.

I looked at two relatively low-cost video kits: the $229 Color QuickCam (Windows and Mac) from Connectix (https://www.connectix.com/) and the $399 EasyCam (Windows) from Philips (https://pps.philips.com/products/). Both products can be used for one-on-one video communications via a standard phone line or the Internet. With the right software, they can also be used for group conferences.

Although the cameras themselves are capable of recording relatively good-quality video, the transmission-speed limitations of the basic telephone network still limit the quality of the audio and video. Nevertheless, the technology does make it possible for families and friends to have affordable face-to-face meetings over long distances, albeit with rather jerky moving images and less-than-perfect sound.

The QuickCam is both inexpensive and easy to install. You don’t have to take your PC apart: Both the Mac and Windows versions plug into the printer port and the keyboard socket. Windows users have to unplug their printer or buy an external printer switch, but there is a pass-through port for the keyboard.

The little camera, which is shaped like an oversized golf ball, can sit on top of your monitor. The unit comes with software that lets you snap a still picture or capture a video. America Online users can use the image-capture software to automatically add a photo to e-mail, and other Internet users can send photos as e-mail attachments. The camera doesn’t have a built-in microphone, but you can capture audio with your PC’s sound card and microphone.

The QuickCam doesn’t come with software that will allow you to set up a videoconference. However, as I’ll cover later, there are several videoconferencing programs, including one from Connectix, that you can purchase or download.

Philips EasyCam is a more sophisticated solution. Before you connect the camera, you install a PC adapter board in an available 16-bit (ISA) slot. Blessedly, you don’t have to worry about IRQ assignments or other computer gobbledygook. The card is self-configuring. In addition to a socket for the camera, the EasyCam board has inputs for other video and audio sources, including camcorders and VCRs.

Although it doesn’t provide all the features of a regular sound card, the adapter does record and play back standard audio (wave) files. You can plug in an external microphone or use the excellent microphone that’s built into the camera. The Philips camera comes with software to capture still and video images, and it comes with Enhanced CU-SeeMe that lets you carry on group or one-on-one videoconferences over the Internet.

Philips just announced that the camera will soon also be bundled with VDOPhone from Palo Alto-based VDONet Corp. Users of any type of camera can download a free trial copy of VDONet or purchase a commercial version from VDO’s Web site (https://www.vdo.net).

VDOPhone enables you to set up a one-on-one video conversation over the Internet. If you’re looking for someone to talk to, you can click on a button in the software that takes you the company’s Web site, where you can select from a list of people who are currently online. Listings are rated X, G and R. This technology has obvious applications for those seeking more than casual conversation.

There are a number of other programs you can use in a similar way. Connectix VideoPhone software ($60) automatically enters your name into an online directory as soon as you sign on. I became aware of that when I ran the software late one night. On my screen was a picture of a scantily clad young woman who wanted to know if I wanted to “chat.” I didn’t stay on long enough to find out exactly what she had in mind, but I suspect that some type of payment would have been required had I continued the video “conversation.”

The beta version of Microsoft NetMeeting 2.0, which you can download from Microsoft’s Web site (https://www.microsoft.com), lets two or more people on the Internet share voice, video and a whiteboard, which two people work on a drawing at the same time. If there are more than two people, you can’t use audio, but it does allow participants to “chat” by typing at their keyboards.

AudioVision ($99) from Smith Micro ([800] 964-7674) also has a whiteboard, but it allows you to make point-to-point calls via a modem or via the Internet.

CU-SeeMe, which comes with the EasyCam and works with other cameras too, can be both fun and frustrating. The software lets you join ongoing video party lines with several people at once.

I wound up chatting with people in Japan, England, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, the United States and several other countries. Language differences weren’t a problem, but I was very frustrated by the quality of the audio. At best, there’s a five- to 10-second delay between when you say something and when others hear it, and there’s no synchronization with the video. You can download a trial copy of the product at https://www.cuseeme.com

I had fun playing with these products much as some people enjoy speaking over CB or ham radio, and some families might find it amusing to buy a pair of them to keep in touch with Grandma on the other coast. But at the end of the day, when communications count, the plain old telephone is your best bet.

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Lawrence J. Magid can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. His World Wide Web page is at https://www.larrysworld.com