Hercules Dualpix HD webcam

Hercules' new high end webcam is called Dualpix HD. The addition HD is Hercules' way of describing the cam as suitable for recording in high definition resolutions. The lowest resolution that can be called 'high definition' is 1280x720 pixels. As we will see, the camera's 1.3 megapixel sensor is capable of recording still images as well as video in resolutions up to 1280x1024 pixels. The major question of course is not just what quality the result will be, but moreover: how useful is this?

The Dualpix HD looks pleasing, with a well thought out design. The camera can turn around 360 degrees horizontally, as well as 60 degrees vertically. This enables the user to position it pretty much anywhere near the computer, be it on top of the screen or on the desk next to the keyboard. The included software has some clever tricks to make positioning even less critical, more on that later on in the review.

The software doesn't work right out of the box with Windows Vista, but at least it automatically detects Microsoft's latest operating system. On detection the installation routine points the user to Hercules' official website, where the needed drivers for Vista can be obtained. After downloading and installation of these, the webcam can be connected to the PC.

Using the webcam

As a webcam, the Dualpix HD does about exactly what you can expect of such a product: a nice smoothly moving picture at a low resolution of 320x240 pixels. All of the well known instant messenger programs are supported. It is a downright shame that neither MSN Messenger nor Skype, which were the programs we tested with, were able to use the higher resolutions this camera should be capable of. However the product can't be blamed for this, rather the conservative settings and limited options of these programmes are at fault here. Of course this is only all the more painful for a webcam model with the promise of 'HD' so prominent in its name. Thankfully Hercules does include a separate application (Webcam Station Evolution) to access the high quality options of the camera, even if for any purpose but the main webcam function. The other bundled application, Hercules Zoom Controller, does work when the camera is used as a webcam. This particular tool enables you to zoom in on a part of the image, up to 300 percent. Actually this is more of a crop than a zoom, but seeing how the camera's sensor is capable of a much higher resolution than the messenger programs supprot, at least zooming doesn't mean losing any quality. The ‘Travelling Zoom' function is mildly entertaining, it attempts to zoom in on that part of the image where a face is detected, in order to follow it. It works surprisingly well.

Considering the aforementioned limited resolution, the webcam's images are quite good. Our testing location has yet to know anything other than artificial light, but the camera produced clear images with good contrast and most importantly, above average colour balance. Especially after manual adjustment of the settings does the images generated by this webcam can be qualified as better than we're used to for this type of product. None of the too dark, greenish output we see so often from webcams.

High Definition?

So, a pretty good webcam, but how about that HD? As stated, the higher resolutions appear to be only accessible from the Webcam Station Evolution application. Hercules clearly views this program as the way to unlock the added value of this webcam, with clever functions to record with a mere one click for quite a few different purposes, ranging from email to weblog, from iPod or PSP compatible recordings to even animated GIF files.

Recording can be made either as still photograph, video, burst mode photographs or through a self timer. Videos can be recorded in resolutions up to 1280x1024, still images even up to 2560x2048, or 5 megapixels. As the sensor doesn't contain more than 1.3 million actual pixels, the latter is pure interpolation.

As you would expect there is no significant difference between 1.3 MP and 5 MP pictures made with the Dualpix HD. While recording video in the highest possible resolution, we can state both that the product does as it claims to, but also that the use is extremely limited. Firstly, it is clearly impossible to record sufficient images per second at this setting: any fast movement will show visible slowmotion effects. In all likelihood the USB connection is the main limitation here, as the camera doesn't contain any hardware for the needed advanced video compression to produce smooth images. Worse still, the quality at this resolution simply isn't good enough to justify using it (and the corresponding amounts of storage space). Recordings suffer from large quantities of noise, while the lens clearly doesn't resolve the required detail for the sensor. Combined, these factors rather reduce the high definition recording option to little more than a gimmick.

What's inside?

Hardware.Info would not be Hardware.Info if we had passed up the chance to have a look at the innards of this camera. A mere three philips head screws are all that stands between us and satisfying our curiousity, an obstacle that lasts no time at all.

Once field stripped, the camera turns out to consist mostly of ... air. It is nothing more than a lens in front of a CCD fixed to a small circuit board. The only other components worthy of note are a tiny controller chip and a OV0534-LB10 chip made by OmniVision Technoligies (OVT). This confirms our suspicion that the camera doesn't have any compression hardware: this chip only converts RGB to YUV420, which is a somewhat more efficient way to encode visual information but no real compression algorythm.

Conclusion

In summary we can state that Hercules has a fine webcam in their product range with the Dualpix HD, which stands out in particular thanks to it good image quality when used as a webcam. The bundled software is nice as well, especially for those that seek such features. The ‘high definition' nomer should be viewed without any serious expectations, while the manufacturer really should have omitted the so-called 5 megapixel photography as an option. Leaving aside that last bit, while not cheap at ¤ 49,90 this webcam won't disappoint either.

Hercules Dualpix HD Webcam
Price ¤ 49,40
www.hercules.com