Creative Labs CT6840 USB Video Blaster WebCam III

by Creative

Product Details

Product Manual [723kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001RME8
• Item model number: CT6840
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With Creative Labs' new Video Blaster WebCam 3, you have the power to capture, create, and communicate in full-color, full-motion video directly from your PC. Everything from presentations and demonstrations to e-mail and Web pages can be jazzed up with snapshots or full-motion video clips. Creative's Video Blaster WebCam III connects to your PC via a USB connection or hub.

Features include a 640-by-480-pixel true-color CMOS sensor, focusable lens with a range of 3 inches to infinity, and live video capture up to 30 frames per second at resolutions of 352 by 288 and up to 15 frame per second at 640 by 480. This unit also supports still photography in 16.7 million colors at up to 640 by 480 resolution. Also included with the Video Blaster WebCam 3 is a software package with everything you need to get started.

From Winmag®

Creative Labs' Video Blaster WebCam II hooks up to your PC via the parallel port and draws power from an additional connection to the keyboard port. Although the keyboard connector has a pass-through unit so the keyboard can remain plugged in, the parallel-port connector doesn't have pass through; if your PC has only one parallel port, you'll need to invest in a switch box, or plug and unplug devices.

The camera, a neat black device that looks like an egg resting on a little box, swivels up and down on the base, but not side to side. Installation was easy: I simply plugged the device into the two ports, reconnected the keyboard cable and loaded the software.

Video images from the Video Blaster WebCam II were somewhat disappointing-a little fuzzy and a little slow, due to the slower parallel-port data-transfer rate. Nevertheless, I was able to make a videoconference call using Microsoft's NetMeeting within minutes of installing the camera, with good results.

Although video- and still-image quality was decent, it was not as good as that obtained with many other video cameras. In addition, video resolutions are limited in size to a maximum of 176x144 pixels at 30fps using 16-bit color. Still-image capture is better, going up to 352x288 pixels in 16-bit color or 740x576 pixels using software interpolation.

The Video Blaster WebCam II comes with a small but unusual software bundle. Ulead's MediaStudio is a powerful and rich video-editing program. WebNet's ISpy lets you set up your camera to shoot live video images and send them to a Web page at preprogrammed intervals. Creative Labs' own Video WebPhone is a neat little Intern et-based video and voice telephone program.

At only $99.99, it's hard to nitpick the Video Blaster WebCam II. It's easy to set up and use, but the quality of its images isn't as good as that of some competitive products, such as the Connectix QuickCam VC on our WinList. The Video Blaster WebCam II is worth considering if you're looking for an easy, quick, low-cost solution and don't need higher-quality video captures.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and cheap quality webcam, May 27, 2000

By 

A. Alkins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Labs CT6840 USB Video Blaster WebCam III (Personal Computers)

Initially, when I bought my Creative Labs Webcam 3, the button was stuck. But after replacing it, I have had no physical problems since.

This package includes a manual, the webcam, webcam software and some image editing software. I never used the Image software so cannot say much about it. The Webcam software is excellent, it includes the regular Video and Image capture software but also has a motion detector program. This allows you to capture images any time someone or anything passes the camera, great for detecting if people are using the computer when your out.

The quality of the camera is great. 640 x 480 video capture is quite jerky, at about 12 fps average but at 320 x 480, the image is quite smooth sometimes exceeding 30 fps. The focus is a little dial on the lens, easy to adjust (Autofocus would be nice though)

This camera works well on Netmeetings and Cuseeme, I have had no problems since. By the way, installing was quite easy, all the programs installed from the installer, I had absolutely no problems.

All in all, this is a very decent package. I only once had to talk to tech support and their service was prompt and helpful.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera at a great price!, December 5, 1999

By 

D.Phillips (Everett, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Labs CT6840 USB Video Blaster WebCam III (Personal Computers)

I chose the WebCam III because of the software included. You can take snap shots or create .avi movies with sound. It will allow you to capture images at a preselected interval or capture video using motion detection. In either case, you can have it upload an .jpg image to a web site or e-mail you the image or both. Video-conferencing via NetMeeting is easy and cool.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars hard to get going, August 13, 2000

By 

"robron" (whitesburg, ky United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Labs CT6840 USB Video Blaster WebCam III (Personal Computers)

I just got the webcam3. It was the hardest thing to hook up i have ever saw it took me 2 days to get it going. My problem was the drivers they are hard to find. After the cam is hooked up its wonderful. I really like the software it comes with. The picture is very clear. Its well worth the money. I did have a logtech webcam express i do not recommend that product. The picture on that is fuzzy. The webcam 3 is just hard to get going but is a wonderful product.