Creative Labs Live! Cam Optia Pro

We already tested the two last Optias, the first version receiving a good deal of criticism.  The second added its share of improvements and it would seem difficult for the Optia Pro to do better.

This webcam still has the same elegant design, face tracking, automatic focus, microphones that are supposed to eliminate background noise, etc. With a resolution of 1.3 MPixels, the  quality of the sensor is somewhere between that of the Optia and Optia AF.

Only the color changes
 
The three webcams have exactly the same look but differ in color.  And you will want to be careful because the difference in quality is radical between the mediocre Optia (white) and Optia AF (black).  For the Optia Pro, the manufacturer chose gray in order to symbolize the mid-range.

Light and compact, the LiveCam Optia Pro features rather nice ergonomics.  Its gray glossy body and almost transparent base give it a "light" compact look.  Otherwise, the entirely plastic finish could have made this product look "cheap" but it’s not the case here.

Another very positive point is the fixation system.  It’s rare to find a webcam that is well suited for all types of screens even when this characteristic is touted by the manufacturer.  Here we didn’t have any problem.  Not only is the system well conceived, it functions perfectly.
 
One last point in ergonomics is that the webcam pivots horizontally up to 270° which can be quite practical in some situations.
 
Image quality at night should be reviewed
 
During the day, the Optia Pro has no problems.  The image is very reactive and doesn’t lack detail.  Also, colors are well rendered.  Our second area of evaluation is based on how the webcam does in a poorly lit environment and here the Optia Pro has trouble.  With automatic settings, the image is very dark as it was with the first version of this webcam. And when we move into manual mode to increase gain and exposure, the image rate falls.  At this point, we couldn’t move too much otherwise the entire screen was covered with afterglow as you can see below:


Good sound quality

The Optia Pro has two microphones supposedly optimized for the reduction of ambient noise.   We wanted to verify this and the voice of the speaker is indeed recognizable.   There wasn’t the impression that someone was speaking from the back of a cave (sound reproduction that is often encountered in the microphone part of tests) and there was no saturation.  As for background noise, we could slightly hear the PC and its fan but there was no blowing or shrill sounds.

Finally, for your webcam chats there is the choice of a microphone integrated to the camera or an attachable microphone with earphones.