HP Webcam HD-3110-720P Autofocus Widescreen Webcam with TrueVision

Bought this as an open box purchase, so that involved a nice discount from the usual price, but for the quality of the video, the built-in microphone and the software included, this would have been a great buy at the normal price! It gives you a lot of functionality that you can enable or disable, has a zoom feature and works great with Skype, which was the main reason why we bought it for family and friends around the world. Installation was simple and quick. Highly recommended, unless you absolutely have to have 1080P.

Provides a nice clear 1280 x 720 pixel picture (nominal 720p) at a capture rate of 30 frames per second (fps, which I measured with Fraps), if you have adequate light. To get a bright enough picture with less light, webcams generally automatically lower the capture rate. To get 30 fps at 1280 x 720 you won't need daylight, or a level of light typical of a bright office, or retail store, but subdued living-room light or subdued restaurant light won't be enough. At a lower resolution (such as 640 x 480) you can get 30 fps in light that is somewhat subdued. Why do you want the full 30 fps? At frame rates of less than 25 fps, moving objects that are slow enough not to create motion blur when viewed using direct vision, create motion blur when captured by the camera.Windows comes with sufficient drivers to enable you to use the camera's basic features, including capture video and take snap shots, without installing any software. You can view live video and capture stills in Windows Explorer. You can capture, record, and edit video with Windows Movie Maker. But the ArcSoft software that comes with the camera makes less demands on your computer's cpu. It also allows you to take manual control of various camera settings, including exposure, focus, and white-balance, upload video to youtube, use the camera with instant messaging sites, record video, use the camera as a motion-detecting security monitor, record snapshots, do fairly advanced video editing, and more. Oddly, you cannot download or update this software from HP's web site; what HP does if, say you lost the CD that came with the camera, or bought a used camera without the CD, is offer to send you a new CD. You Can download the software directly from ArcSoft, but it will cost you about $30 or $40. If you download enough freeware programs, that should enable you to do most of what you can do with the included software.The automatic exposure works pretty well. The automatic white balance does not work awfully fast, or always work well. You can adjust it manually with the software. To get it to work faster, and produce a better white-balance, I hold a sheet of white paper, with black lettering on it, in front of the camera, covering the whole field of view. I wait for the exposure and white-balance to adjust, and then when I take the paper away, the exposure and white-balance continues to look good. While the automatic focus works nicely, it can often be a bit slow. There is no manual focus ring on the camera but you can focus manually using the ArcSoft software. While I did not actually compare aperture sizes, I know that cameras that have an adjustable focus generally are able to be made with a larger aperture than fixed-focus cameras. A larger aperture enables detailed pictures, and faster frame rates, with less light. The presence of a focus adjustment is one reason why I chose the HP HD-3110, instead of the fixed-focus HP HD-3100. The advantage of a small aperature is that less movement of the lens position is needed to produce an image that looks sharply focused; with a small aperture, a lens fixed in one position will produce a sharp image over a greater depth of field. The disadvantage of a small aperture is that it needs more light, or longer exposure time for each frame - which translates to less fps.Another advantage of the variable focus in this particular camera is that it will focus, automatically or manually, on items just an inch away from the lens, enabling you to magnify small objects quite nicely (as with a magnifying glass), and see amazing detail. You can use the camera to enlarge and photograph very small print. You generally wouldn't be able to do this with the typical fixed-focus camera, that is designed to capture images of obejcts that are at intermediate or far distances.All in all, a pretty good camera. It seems that it is frequently being sold for significantly less than the competitor's 720p autofocus camera. $30 as compared to $45. I've heard that the competitor's 720p auto-focus camera will render a smooth 30 fps with slightly less light, and has a slightly clearer picture, but I haven't confirmed this, and I am pretty happy with my HP cam.

I was a little worried that for the price, it wouldn't actually meet the "HD" standard that the camera claimed it did, but I'm thoroughly surprised by it. The mic quality is also really good if you don't have a set of stereo speakers running at the same time behind it (feedback loop) and are using a set of headphones without a mic, otherwise even a cheap turtle beach headset or anything besides dirt cheap headsets will suit you better. I'd say that the only annoying thing is the included software that installs with the drivers on the disk since the Arcsoft video effects setting pops up in the corner ever time you start the camera up, but otherwise, it's sometimes nice to mess with the effects if you're looking for a certain type of picture for various things.Overall a really great webcam, that tracks the face really well, has a good image, and is great for general webcam use.

For the price the camera performs OK but not quite what I would call true HD. However, folks on the receiving side tell me that it is better than the on-board laptop camers on my Lenove T410.

For a webcam that's supposed to be HD, I'm not very impressed with the quality of the video. I find it to be grainy. It handles lighting a lot better than the built-in webcam on my laptop, so I guess that's a plus.It has a small flexible stand that also functions as a clip, but the cord pulls it to the side and it's a pain in the *** to position and keep in the same position.I hate this webcam and sometimes it seems like it hates me. I'll be replacing it as soon as I can afford to.

This cam is supposed to be HD and too have auto focus well I will tell you that it was somewhat blurry and it does not do well in low light. Also the auto focus function did not work it was fixed focus. I compare this camera to a Logitech C920 and to the integrated camera on my laptop and it was the same awful quality as the one that comes integrated and it didn't come nowhere near close to the awesome quality of my c920 not worth it if you are looking for a HD cam.

This webcam is awesome!A great adquisition for your computer laptop and desktop. It has easy to use automatic installation, does not require to insert the dvd that comes with it. It has a menu option for background scenes, drawing, funny faces, zoom, great quality picture, etc. Oh! almost forgot!.... You can take pictures and record videos!I bought it, cuz the brand sells itself, but I am positive this has been one of the best purchases I have done so far.Compared to my old "ice age" Phillips webcam that used to freeze; the HP is wonderful, just perfect. I would recommended to everyone that wants to upgrade or just add some webcam action to live chat, etc.I hope this review really helps you make up your mind about a great product!