General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

4

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

SYNTHETIC, METAL & CLASS COMPONENTS.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

11.0 cm

Width

9.5 cm

Height

10.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Television

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Logitech

Country

United States of America

State/Province

California

City

Fremont

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

THIS WEBCAM USED 1998-2002.

Canada

THIS WEBCAM WAS ONE OF TWO USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH TELEPHONES TO DEMONSTRATE VIDEOCONFERENCING VIA THE INTERNET IN THE CANADA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM'S EXHIBIT ON COMMUNICATIONS, 'CONNEXIONS'. SUCH SIMPLE DIGITAL CAMERAS BECAME INCREASINGLY POPULAR ACCESSORIES ON PERSONAL COMPUTERS IN THE LATE 1990S. IN ADDITION TO LIVE VIDEO "CHAT" APPLICATIONS, THEY WERE USED TO CREATE STILL AND MOVING IMAGES THAT COULD BE STORED ON A COMPUTER, E-MAILED, POSTED ON A WEBSITE, OR FED INTO LIVE "WEBCASTS".

Function

USES A CHARGE COUPLED DEVICE (CCD) TO CONVERT LIGHT ENERGY PASSING THROUGH THE LENS INTO DIGITAL, ELECTRICAL SIGNALS. THESE ARE PROCESSED INTO MOVING OR STILL IMAGES BY SOFTWARE IN A PERSONAL COMPUTER.

Technical

TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A DIGITAL WEBCAM THAT WAS CONNECTED BY CABLE TO THE PARALLEL PORT OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER. THE CAMERA ITSELF CONSISTS OF LITTLE MORE THAN A LENS, AN IMAGE SENSOR CHIP (CHARGE COUPLED DEVICE) AND A CABLE TO TRANSFER DATA TO THE COMPUTER. IMAGE PROCESSING WAS PERFORMED BY SOFTWARE ON THE COMPUTER. A KEYBOARD ADAPTER BRANCHING FROM THE PARALLEL CONNECTOR ALLOWED THE CAMERA TO DRAW POWER FROM THE KEYBOARD SUPPLY.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

No markings on camera body. connecting cable marked "5U AWM E89980-A SUNF PU STYLE 2725 80 [degrees]C 30V VW-1 26AWG" at regular intervals along entire length. Largest round connector marked "TOP".

Missing

NONE.

Finish

OFF-WHITE MOULDED SYNTHETIC CASING OF WEBCAM HAS FINE WRINKLE-TEXTURED FINISH; BLACK TRIM AROUND CAMERA LENS & THREADED MOUNTING POINT.

Decoration

N/A