Creative Live! Cam Connect HD

The Creative Live! Cam Connect HD ($69.99 direct) webcam attempts to strike a balance between high-end models like the Logitech c920 ($99.99, 4 stars) and Creative's own inPerson HD ($149.99, 3 stars), and budget webcams like the Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000 ($39.99, 3.5 stars). The Connect HD is a good choice for Skype HD and other video chats, but its overall middling video quality and mono audio limit its appeal otherwise.

Design and Software Bundle
Measuring 0.8 by 2.6 inches (HW), the Connect HD is made entirely of glossy black plastic. The webcam looks sharp, with prominent, protruding optics, and a smooth, sleek look when clipped to the top of a monitor. You get a simple, two-stage clip-on mount with an extra pivot point for the main camera body. That means you can clip it on a desktop LCD or a thin laptop lid, and then adjust the vertical tilt of the camera body to aim at your position. The hard plastic isn't as flexible as some rubberized versions we've seen, but the extra tilt adjustment is certainly helpful.

On the software side, the Connect HD is Skype HD certified at 720p, and works with PCs, Macs, and Linux machines. It's plug-and-play compatible; plug it into a free USB port on Windows 7, and it will automatically install itself and become the default webcam. For PCs, Creative includes its Live! Central 3 software bundle. There's also a simple movie editor, plus a pair of tools for sharing your desktop and for remote monitoring from a different PC or smartphone. For this review, I stuck with the bundled software, although the Connect HD also works with other chat software like Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger (albeit not in HD resolution).

The Live! Central 3 interface is simple to get around. Two main tabs at the top handle snapping photos and recording videos. To the right are two panels, for Effects and Settings. The Effects panel contains the typical array of avatars and other visual effects, as well as access to the desktop sharing modes. The Settings tab lets you adjust picture controls, face tracking, digital zoom, a face brightener and skin softener that really just brighten the picture and blur it a little, and a toggle for the integrated microphone's noise cancellation circuitry.

Video, Audio, and Conclusions
The 720p HD sensor and auto-focus lens record video at up to 30 frames per second. Built-in H.264 hardware video processing usually helps here. Alas, video quality was still a disappointment in my tests. Recorded 1280-by-720-pixel footage in H.264 mode obscured details, and lent a modicum of noise around the edges of my face. At just 2,113 Kbps for the data rate, with no way to adjust recording compression, it's not surprising the videos looked mediocre. Frame rates were smooth, though, averaging 29 frames per second. Stepping down to VGA (640-by-480) mode helped considerably with detail and clarity, though color vibrancy was a little pale and cold here as well.

I wasn't necessarily expecting great things from a single mono microphone on the audio side. The Connect HD did fine, though. With noise cancellation turned on, my voice came through relatively clear and natural sounding, and a tiny desk fan in the background wasn't audible. When I turned off the noise suppression, the desk fan revealed itself loud and clear.

Overall, if you just need a webcam for basic Skype chats, where Internet bandwidth is the limiting factor, and not the webcam itself, the Connect HD will do fine. Our Editors' Choice webcam remains the HP Webcam HD 5210 ($99.99, 4 stars), which delivers much clearer 1080p video recording and more impressive detail levels. The Logitech c920 also offers superior stereo audio recording, 1080p video recording, and a more flexible mount. Both are $30 more expensive than the Connect HD, though; while we feel they're both worth the extra cash, we can see saving money and buying the Connect HD if you don't require the absolute best video and audio quality available. Even then, we'd steer you toward the Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000, which is $30 less than the Creative Live Cam Connect HD, and delivers roughly equivalent video and audio quality, even though it's not Skype HD-certified.

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