What to look for when you buy a webcam, that is claimed to be 4.1, 4.0 or a 1.3 mega pixels webcam
Video rate / resolution is the maximum size you will see when you run the webcam to record video
Picture size is the maximum size of a still picture you can take with the webcam
1. The first thing to note is that NO webcam Run's at a video Rate of 4.1 or 4.0 mega pixels. The maximum screen resolution for video is 1280 x 960 or 1.3 mega pixels. Some sellers will tell you that the chip in the webcam is 4.1 or 4.0 mega pixels this is NOT TRUE, as the maximum in production is a 1.3 mega pixels CMOS chip .The reason we know this is that we have purchased and tested these webcams,. and found that these sellers print their own manuals. Consequently, you have been furnished with information that is purposely misleading !
2. Then, you have the 1.3 mega Pixel webcams for sale. These are normal 480k webcams that produce a picture of 1.3 mega pixels but only have a maximum video frame size of 800 x 600. .Some 480k can produce a bigger picture in video format but need to use software enhancement to be able to do this. Whereas the 4 mega pixels webcams above do not. This means you get a lot better picture quality with the newer 4.0 million webcams.
Below is a guide to Video and picture size for webcams
Type/claim to be Picture size / number of pixels Video size What chip is in it
4.0/4.1 million 2304 x 1728 = 3981312 pixels 1280 x 960 = 1.3m 1.3 mega pixel
2.0 mega pixel takes picture up to 2.0 mega pixels 1.3mega pixels by software 0.48 mega pixel
1.3 mega pixel 1280 x 960 = 1228800 pixels 800 x 600 = 480k 0.48 mega pixel
0.48 mega pixel 800 x 600 = 480000 pixels 800 x 600 by software 0.3 or 0.1 mega pixels
0.3 mega pixels 640 x 480 = 307200 pixels 640 x 480 = 300k 300k pixel
0.1 mega pixels 352 x 288 = 101376 pixels 352 x 288 = 100k 100k
Please note: some of the webcams for sale will have, or claim, to produce bigger picture or video size but will use a software enhancement which will produce a very poor quality picture.
We have found a number of sellers are selling webcams of a high specification description, for a price that we can not even buy them for. Which is the reason our curiousity was aroused, and we started to investigate them ! This is the main reason for writing this guide, as a way of warning people that a number of people selling webcams are fake's and have been misdescribed. Unfortunately ebay can not check out these sellers, only you as the buyer can.!
Things to look out for before buying or biding.
Read The auction notes.
Please please read the auction note's about what you are buying, as i just looked at an auction that says 1.3 mega pixel webcam. At best its a 0.3 mega pixel webcam or less because as soon as you check the frame rates out it does not come out to 1.3 mega pixels size, it is only 320 x 240 for video size, and as soon as the buyer complains, the seller will say well it says maximum 320x240 in the auction notes.
Postage Postage and Postage.
This is one of the main things to look at before bidding. If the postage price is above the norm for most people selling webcams, then the seller does not normally sell many, or he has moved the cost from the item to the postage, or he is outside the U.K.. Examples are 99p start price and 8.99 postage ! One person is charging 13.00 postage for item that we ship for 4.49 why? Because it's a way of making out the product is better than it actually is, as the over all cost is higher so you naturally assume it to be of better quality !
Start Price auctions.
Most people think a start price of 99p is good, but if the above is true then you are paying more on postage than other purchases,. which means not many people are buying them as the seller cannot afford the ebay fees, if he put them on at the correct price. Normally, these people multi- list items which means that they put 30 or more of the same item listings on, so you think they are selling a lot, which is, breaking ebays ruling of a maximum of 15 auctions per specific item !
Feedback Feedback and again Feedback
Please read feedback before buying, it will save you a lot of time and heartache. If, he's a power seller with a lot of negatives as a percentage. Why ? Yes, we all get bad feedback at some point, but what was it for ? Always read the last few negative feedbacks, also check the positives for unhappy people.
The last thing to beware of is Private auctions.
Why would a sell of webcams or electrical goods only do private auctions, so that other people can not see what they are selling? Or to hide the fact that they don't sell many of anything, or on the chance that you will buy one thinking others have got one. This again, is done by people who over charge on postage, hoping, that you will not notice, the lack of sales or cost. How can you check what other buyer have said about what you may be buying ?
If you need Help please contact me and i will do my best to explain anything you want about webcams. We have been selling webcams for nearly 2 years on ebay, and have sold in excess of 20,000 plus items !
We do know what we are talking about when it comes to webcams !
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