Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

I just installed the Sony CMU-BR200 video camera on my Sony KDL-47W802A LCD and I can say that I am extremely pleased. My Skype callers say the image is excellent and I am most impressed by the microphone. Even though I am 8 feet away from the mike, there is almost no room echo. It sounds as though I am speaking on a headset or using a lavalier mike. I was previously using a laptop through my LCD TV and it took multiple remote clicks and mouse clicks to get to incoming Skype calls. Now there’s just one click and I’m on the call. Well Done, SONY!

I installed this camera on my new Sony BDP-S790 3D Blu-Ray player by simply plugging it in to the USB port in back and running the built-in Skype app. I had to provide only my Skype name, password (twice), and associated email address. It came right up! With the very long USB cable, it was easy to move around and try it from different locations using the option to view what the camera saw without making a Skype call. I placed it on top of my TV, on top of the player, and in front of the player, and it worked well everywhere. I tried a short Skype call with a friend, who immediately commented on how very clear both the picture and sound were. I later tried plugging the camera into my Windows 8.1 desktop, and it also came right up here – the drivers were installed automatically, and the camera app on the Metro interface had the option to change cameras, which worked perfectly, allowing me to switch easily between this new camera and the built-in webcam on my PC. I’m extremely pleased with this camera. Power is derived from the USB connection, so no extra power cable is needed, which is yet another plus. The long USB cable is a plus. I plugged it into my older Surface RT (Surface 1, not Surface 2), but it was not recognized – this is the only negative I can report. A high-quality device overall!

The overall design is quite good, very compact. I have 70" Sony Bravia, so the size of the camera is almost not noticeable when compared with the size of the screen. My only purpose of getting this camera is to use with Skype. I have tested many times with different contacts and the feedbacks are the same. The picture quality is far behind the front facing camera on my tablet. This is a 720p and slightly below 1MP (Mega Pixel) camera. The front facing camera on the tablet this day is at least 1.2MP. I could not find this camera resolution information on Amazon product description, but found out later after getting feedbacks from all the friends. Another setback is that the camera lens does not give enough wide angle view. I have to move my couch further away in order to keep our family of 3 in one frame. The longer the distance, the worse resolution. Thus, there is no zoom and pan capability. One last issue with the base. I have no idea which Sony TV model was this camera designed to use with. The base does not sit well on top of my 70" Bravia. Most of the LCD/LED TV now a day only have 2" max on the top. So you need a 2 sided adhesive tape to hold it. Oh, few of my friends also mentioned that the voice is not loud enough. The voice quality is clear thought, but it isn’t just loud enough. I guess the sensitivity of the microphone is good (since my couch is further away ~ 7 ft.), but it is not amplified enough.
In summary, it is not a bad product if you can live with 0.9MP resolution and wanted to watch your TV while talking to your friend without holding a tablet on another hand. I am a type of person that wanted to utilize the feature of my TV that I paid for. So I would probably ended up keeping it.