If you are planing on going live with a conference or a game, you need a special webcam for live streaming, your laptop’s tiny camera just won’t do. While you can find one for cheap, if you are looking for decent video quality and performance, you will have to pay a bit extra.
In this article we will review some of the best streaming webcams that will put your game on another level, impressing people on the other side of the line with pure quality.
How to Choose Webcam for Live Streaming
Here are a few criteria your live streaming webcam needs to meet:
- Resolution – the higher, the better. Lower resolutions will make the image look rough and grainy. For streaming purposes, you should at least go 720p, anything lower than that will not be good enough.
- Frame rate – is responsible for preventing stuttering. You need to make sure your camera can produce at least 30 frames per second (FPS).
- Lens quality – for quality streaming, avoid plastic lenses, they are subpar at least when compared to glass.
- Megapixels – also the more the merrier, but this one is less important than resolution.
- Additional features – if you are going to record in a dark room, your camera should have auto light adjustment capabilities. Auto-focus is also welcome. As for the microphone, it is a better idea to get a quality headset or a dedicated microphone, especially if you stream gaming. The recording quality will be much better. For people who are interested in surveillance, motion detection is a welcome feature.
Now let’s take a look at the list of best streaming webcams for gaming and business!
Logitech Brio
Logitech makes terrific webcams for live streaming, and in fact, we could make an entire list of just their products. Logitech Brio is a prime example of a quality streaming webcam.
This webcam will deliver breath-taking image quality, as it has 4K Ultra HD capabilities. Glass lens, amazing 2160p resolution combined with HDR will make sure you look your best when streaming. Also, this camera has a 5x zoom, while maintaining HD quality.
Brio will perform no matter the lighting as it has RightLight 3 technology that will adjust contrast and exposure even if you stream in a low-light or extreme glare and bright environment. Also, if you are worried about security, you will be glad to hear that Logitech Brio works with the Windows Hello service, which is a face recognition software.
Lastly, for added convenience, Brio has a neat tripod to make adjusting to the right height effortless. And, it has a built-in 2 omnidirectional microphones, for crystal-clear sound.
Logitech MeetUp
If you really mean business, then Logitech MeetUp is the cam for you. This awesome webcam will let you stream your whole conference room to your business partners, doing that with a supreme quality image.
MeetUp has Ultra 4K capabilities, and both 1080p and 720p. 4K video will stream at 30 FPS which is a lot at the resolution this high. It has a super wide 120-degree field of view that will guarantee to catch your whole huddle room, even your colleagues sitting close to the camera.
You can also get an expansion mic that has a huge range, 8-14 feet. It will catch everyone at the table, loud and clear. This camera has a good speaker, and you can expect to hear people on the other side without any difficulties.
You can also use it as a speaker phone, as it has Bluetooth so that you can connect it to your mobile phone. For connection, MeetUp has a 5m long cable, and you will not have problems connecting it to your PC, laptop, or TV. If you want to mount it on a TV set, you will need to purchase a TV mount. You should know that it requires its own power supply.
Microsoft LifeCam Studio for Business
Logitech MeetUp is excellent, but not if you are on a budget Microsoft LifeCam Studio for Business is an affordable alternative that will get the job done but at one-tenth of a price.
This camera has 1080p widescreen sensor, 16:9 aspect ratio for better image quality and outstanding sharpness. However, the camera is only capable of recording and broadcasting 720p video. The camera has a glass lens and a 75-degree field of view, and it rotates a complete 360 degrees. LifeCam uses TrueColor technology, that detects your face, and adjusts the exposure accordingly, making sure you look good.
The microphone on this camera is high-fidelity, and although it isn’t stereo, it will detect a good quality, warm sound.
This camera has Skype certification, and no wonder since the popular conferencing and video chatting tool is owned by Microsoft. Nevertheless, that will make sure you never get any issues if you use this platform for your online business meetings.
As for mounting – the camera is tripod-ready; and if you don’t own one, you can mount it on a regular LCD or laptop screen.
Razer Kiyo
No gaming-related gadget list would be complete without Razer, a giant in the gaming industry. Kiyo is Razer’s webcam that has only one purpose – streaming your gameplay. And it does that, perfectly.
What makes this camera stand out, even at first glance is its innovative light ring. This is really a fantastic feature, as you don’t have to think about lighting – it will always be perfect with Kiyo. The ring has a dial that lets you set its brightness An easy to use, two for one solution.
Kiyo has 4 MP, but a great 2688×1520 resolution, and captures an excellent image. It also has a very wide field of view at 81.6 degrees, which is convenient if you want to stream a friend that sits next to you.
What makes this camera unique is shooting at low or no light, made possible by the above-mentioned light ring. The camera streams at full 1080p, at 30 FPS, which is excellent. If you stream at 720p, you will get 60 FPS. Kiyo also has a microphone, a bit quiet, but you are more likely to use your gaming headset anyway.
Logitech C922x
Now back to Logitech, the king of webcams. C922x is its gaming model and a direct competitor to the above-mentioned Razer Kiyo.
This model is specifically designed with streaming in mind, mainly for Twitch and YouTube. Like Kiyo, it records 1080p at 30 FPS or 720p videos at 60 FPS. The video quality C922x offers is really something, as-is and true to life. Glass lens is full HD, and it has excellent autofocus and automatic light correction that will capture clear video even in bad lighting conditions. The camera is also equipped with two microphones that have excellent sound capturing quality.
Streamers will also like to hear that C922x includes six months of premium xSplit license, which is an application for mixing audio and video. With it, you will be able to post-process your videos, making sure your subscribers only get top-quality. This adds to the overall great value of Logitech C922x.
Logitech C922x has background replacement technology that allows you to broadcast your live image over any background you select. This opens up amazing options for streaming, making your channel much more interesting to its viewers.
The five webcams for streaming we mention in this article are all unique and will deliver terrific video quality, no matter if you need to stream your gaming or a business conference. Of course, you get what you pay for, but every model will get you really a lot for your money, we picked only the best.
So what are you waiting for? Get your live streaming webcam now!