Low-cost webcam review - MSI StarCam 370i

[Bob Crabtree]

Can any webcam costing little more than a couple of pints and a pie be anything other than pants? We check out MSI's oh-so-affordable StarCam 370i to find out.

Check out this HEXUS.review and share your thoughts here about this ultra-low-cost webcam.

[xbo]

Looks good for the price!

Is the IR able to be turned on/off automatically by the camera when it gets dark/light, or is it just either 'on' or 'off'? If the IR is left on during the day (when in security mode) is there any negative impact on the picture quality?

[Bob Crabtree]

Looks good for the price!

Is the IR able to be turned on/off automatically by the camera when it gets dark/light, or is it just either 'on' or 'off'? If the IR is left on during the day (when in security mode) is there any negative impact on the picture quality?

There are three settings for the IR LEDs - on, off, auto - and these are only accessible from the AMCap software, not the security program (which is a bit limp considering that Skype software, for instance, can access the control panel directly).

It probably wouldn't matter if you left the IR permanently on if the camera is setup to carry out a security role but it is the case that the IR slightly whites-out anything that comes near the camera.

However, the IR has no impact at all during the day on anything that's further than a metre or two away.

One further thing - and it's something I'll try to make time over the weekend to investigate - I've noticed since putting up the review that the Auto IR setting has disappeared from the control panel.

That means I may not have fully answered your query, cos I've been unable to check out the impact of using that auto setting.

I uninstalled Noel's version of AMCap but that hasn't made any difference and I've not been in a position where I can restart the PC to see if things are returned to normal by a reboot.

If they're not, then I'll have to do an uninstall of MSI's software then do a reinstall from the MSI-supplied CD (well, my 12cm version of it) and see if that brings back the auto option.

Oh, and I'm still perplexed by the way in which the camera fails to properly capture the colour of the clothing you wear when sat in front of it - if that clothing is of one uniform colour.

Currently, I'm wearing an all-black T-shirt and this is appearing purple - yet the colours of other objects seen around me are pretty realistic.

Weird.

Time, I think, that I consulted a camera expert and I am hoping that someone I know who only recently retired from BBC R&D will be able to tell me what's going on.