How to choose the best camera for your video conferencing solution
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a video conferencing solution is the camera. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to make sure you get a camera that meets all your needs.
Choosing the right camera is crucial for effective video meetings. This is especially true if you want to maximize the participation of remote participants.
What is the size of the conference room?
The size of office rooms varies based on the needs of the meeting. Some are designed only for internal meetings of a small group of colleagues discussing a task plan or strategy. Others must accommodate an entire team, as well as remote guests, to discuss larger projects.
Imagine you are in a huddle room with several participants sharing ideas across a small table and others joining remotely. Depending on where people sit and where the camera is located, the camera may not be able to fit everyone in the frame. You could solve this by moving the camera farther away from the participants, but the room may not be large enough to do this. In a case like this, you would benefit from a wide-angle camera, which can capture a wider picture without needing a lot of space between the camera and the people. Huddly IQ is the perfect choice for such a situation. With its wide-angle lens and compact design, the camera is mountable everywhere and captures all participants at once in high definition.
Meetings in large rooms with many participants often pose unique challenges. Remote participants usually can't see everyone in the meeting – particularly if they are dialing in from home and watching on a small laptop screen. And you can forget about being able to pick up on facial expressions and other non-verbal cues, which is such a vital part of communication. The result? The whole team feels less connected, and remote participants cannot contribute effectively.
For those scenarios, we recommend the Huddly L1 camera. It captures everyone in the room in sharp 6K resolution, allowing remote participants to see people's faces, gestures, and reactions – just like when meeting face to face. The camera also provides additional features like Speaker Framing, which gives the meeting a natural feeling. Rather than focusing only on the speaker, it includes listening and overview shots. You don't have to worry about who is sitting where and placing the right people closest to the camera. Speaker Framing gives everyone their say – and enables far-end participants to experience it all up close.
Huddly L1
As well as choosing a camera with a wide-angle lens and high-quality video, it is a good idea to look for one that can compensate for poor lighting conditions. There is not always ideal lighting for video meetings – after all, most meeting rooms were designed for physical rather than digital meetings. This is a challenge for cameras. Zooming in on a person's face is not particularly helpful if the face is covered in shadows. Huddly cameras feature Portrait Lighting, which optimizes brightness so that everybody's micro and macro expressions are clearly visible.
How do you want to use the conference room?
Now, aside from the size and shape of the room itself, consider how your room is being used. Do you mainly use it for formal meetings? Presentations where one person speaks while the rest listen? Or is it for informal workshops or catch-ups where everyone speaks freely?
For workshops, it is common to use a whiteboard. It adds to the creative process and enhances collaboration. But it can be hard to combine whiteboard work with digital meetings. How are the people on the screen supposed to see what you are writing if the board is all across the other side of the room?
With Huddly Canvas, you can share an AI-enhanced, real-time stream of the board as you write. By simply installing the camera on the wall above the whiteboard, the audience will get a perfect view of everyone's thoughts and ideas. With additional features like removing gloss and shadows and boosting marker colors to make the writing stand out more, it gives remote participants a better view of the board than those who are physically in the room.
Huddly Canvas set up above a whiteboard
Are participants joining from their home office?
In addition to setting up your conferencing space, you also need to ensure that remote participants have the right equipment. As somebody joining from home, you want to be able to make yourself seen and heard. A blurry, over-exposed image with low-quality sound can make it harder for those in the meeting room to pick up on what you are saying or notice your reactions.
With Huddly ONE, you get a Full-HD camera that analyzes the lighting conditions and adjusts the image automatically to highlight your face. It is easy to use and is guaranteed to make your presence in digital meetings look crystal clear and professional.
Read more: Bringing professional video to home meetings
Portrait Lighting on the Huddly ONE camera for home offices
Flexible online conferencing solutions
Technology is constantly evolving, and your office's needs might change over time. Choosing Huddly means investing in solutions that will stand the test of time and evolve along with technology and your changing needs. Huddly cameras offer hardware and computing power that will last – while never falling behind on software. Our cameras are software-upgradable, so you always get access to the latest features without investing in a new or different camera.
Learn more about all of our products here. If you need help finding the perfect conferencing solution, we are always happy to help!
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