Linear Versus Circular Polarization: Making the Right Choice - circular polarization

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The Facecam MK.2 is an amazing webcam for game streamers — packing a 1080p picture with up to 120 FPS fluidity, a comprehensive editing suite with built-in storage to save your settings directly to the camera, and a versatile hardware construction to be fitted into your setup.

👍 Top audio quality: Built-in webcam mics can be a mixed bag, but the AI-infused dual beamforming mics on here do a great job of cancelling out any atmosphere and highlighting your voice without any of that artificial compression.

And those needs span all over the place. Maybe you're giving a lot of Google Meet presentations and want to add to that professionalism with something quick and easy to set up. Or maybe you're a streamer looking for a high quality cam with a high refresh rate. We've done the rigorous testing, and can safely tell you the best webcams to invest in.

👎 No built-in microphone: As a streamer, I know you're going to be bringing your own microphone to the party anyway. But for those clutch moments where you need to take a quick call, there's no built-in mic on the FaceCam.

If you're in serious need of upgrading your picture quality without breaking the bank, this is one of the best value 4K webcams you can get — perfect for streamers and professionals alike.

Audio is just as important, so we test the camera's microphone by talking with others while we have background noise - be it a TV or music.

Find Diamond Paned Windows stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection.

👍 Impressive 4K picture: Thanks to the Sony 4K UHD sensor and a lens with f/1.8 aperture, the Tadpole creates a gorgeous picture with a nice, soft bokeh around the subject.

When used to correct aspheric aberration, the aspherical lens element is usually placed close to the lens’ aperture. Aspherical elements can also be used to correct distortion in wide-angle lenses, too. In this case, you will see a second aspherical element placed near the front of the lens. Again, this can be see in the example lens design for the Sony 35mm GM lens posted earlier in this post.

LogitechWebcam

Logitech C920S Pro HD (★★★★☆)Though it's getting a little long in the tooth, the Logitech C920s remains decent value for money. It's a strong performer considering its $70 price tag, and its privacy shutter and auto light correction are nice features.

With a sleek, durable and extra-portable build holding the best image quality we've ever seen in a webcam, it's no wonder than Insta360 Link 2C tops our list as the best overall webcam. It's an amazing option whatever your demands are.

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Many Logitech webcams hit certain audiences hard and aren't that adaptable to other groups. The MX Brio 4K can be all things to all people with a gorgeous picture and a super adjustable stand. Just watch out for that price.

👎 Pricey: $199 is not the most expensive 4K webcam we've seen on here, but without any of the tracking bells and whistles, it is a steep investment to make.

If you only need a webcam to stream video of yourself, then you can get away with a webcam that has a fairly narrow field of view; most models have about an 80-degree FOV. If you need a webcam for a group setting, you'll want one with a wider FOV, such as the Anker PowerConf 300, which has a 115-degree FOV. Some of the better webcams will even let you adjust the field of view.

One Pair Wide Field Stereo Microscope Eyepiece High Eye-point Fully Coated Optical Ocular Lens WF10X WF15X WF20X 30mm 30.5mm. Magnification: WF10X, or WF15X, or ...

Next, we evaluate the performance of their cameras in varying lighting conditions; after all, not everyone has the best ring lights in their home office. We look to see how well the camera captures our face, how detailed the image is, and how it reacts if we move around the room.

👍 Integrated privacy shutter: With some websites and apps having odd approaches to privacy settings in terms of when it will and will not use your webcam, an integrated shutter is important. Anker delivers on this in the PowerConf C200.

👎 Limited audio: Sound-wise, the Tadpole features a directional microphone tailored to capturing sound from within the camera’s 70 degree field of view. I couldn’t really hear much difference between the Opal’s mic and laptop mics.

For enthusiasts and pros alike, the Elgato FaceCam MK.2 is a seriously impressive piece of kit for upgrading how you look on stream — fluid enough to keep up in real-time with 60 FPS gameplay with plenty of customization.

This is the best webcam in Logitech's range — provided you've got the cash for it. Provided you're conscious of that little niggle with home lighting if you're in the UK, this is a slam dunk purchase.

Touted by Opal as the "first portable webcam", the teeny Tadpole is a terrific 4K cam. It's laptop-only, though, as it doesn't come with a stand and its clip is narrow.

👍 DSLR levels of customization: Provided you know what you're doing, and you know your apertures from your f-stops, you can use the super in-depth settings to really boost that image quality based on your surroundings and lighting.

👎 Use an external microphone: Whether it's a solid external mic for streaming or the mic in your AirPods, the built-in one on here isn't the greatest. It can pick up your voice well, but it can sound a little too compressed.

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There are several, quite frankly. As you can plainly see from the way the list above has been compiled, Logitech is on fire when it comes to consistently producing some of the very best webcams around. That doesn't mean you have to go the Logi route, though. Insta360, Anker and Dell all make excellent webcams that are well worth considering, too.

Aspherical lens elements are tricky to make, but if done well, they can reduce the overall number of lens elements that are required in a lens design. This leads to a lighter and more compact lens, but not necessarily a cheaper one. The manufacturing complexity of an aspherical lens means that they are most commonly found in higher-end lenses such as a Sony G Master or a Canon L Series lenses.

WirelessWebcam

Elgato Facecam Pro (★★★★☆)Despite not being a brilliant low-light performer and lacking a mic, this 4K/60 fps cam still impressed during our testing thanks to the superb image quality it delivers and its top notch face tracking. The Facecam Pro's detailed companion software is also commendable.

👍 Great picture (even in low light): That sensor is a mini miracle — a sexy 4K 30 FPS picture even in low light. Colors are well maintained, and graininess is incredibly minimal in challenging dark areas.

Elgato's latest Facecam gives you a lot for its $149 price tag, including amazing image quality (even in low light), DSLR-level customization controls, and a HDR picture at up to 60 FPS.

👍 Great included software: Bringing AI enhancements, the ability to hot switch between traditional widescreen and TikTok-ratio 9:16 on the fly, and plenty of customization, Instalink's camera app gives you an easy UI to do a lot.

👎 HDR limitations: If you want that extra boost in brightness and contrast that comes with HDR, you're limited to just 720p or 1080p. 4K does not support HDR.

When a camera lens is referred to as an aspherical lens, what is actually meant is that the lens contains one or more aspherical lens elements. As you can see in the example lens design below, sometimes a so-called aspherical lens contains just one or two aspherical lens elements within a much more complex design.

For an easy way to save on your webcam purchase, check out our guides to the best Anker discount codes, Logitech promo codes, and Elgato coupon codes.

At $149, the Obsbot Meet 4K is a great choice with adaptability and a solid picture quality. With customization deep in its software, a magnetic attachment that makes it very versatile and FPS settings to alter it just right, you can get a lot done here.

👍 In-depth control: Plug and play is a cinch on this camera, but for those who want to make some additional adjustments, the controller software is easy to use with plenty of in-depth options. Plus being able to control the webcam with hand gestures is a nice addition.

Insta360 Link 2 (★★★★☆)With strong head tracking and a wide variety of different modes, the Insta360 Link 2 is a great choice for professionals, educators, streamers, and content creators. It's a pity body tracking isn't better, though.

May 7, 2013 — The quality measurements obtained are then plotted on the MTF graph, showing you how far from the center they're taken from as you look from ...

👎 Watch out for that 50Hz lighting: This is a bit geeky, but let me explain. Your standard lighting in the UK runs at a power frequency equivalent to 50Hz. It's not something you notice in person, but on a 30 FPS webcam, you will see a flicker. If you're using lighting, make sure you grab some smoother LED light bars or something!

The light from all the slits is reinforced in the same way to produce "diffracted light." Fig. 2.1 The Principle of Transmission Gratings. Fig. 1-1 The ...

Our favorite sub-$100 webcam is Anker's excellent Powerconf C200. For around $60, you're getting a 2K cam that delivers brilliant video quality, no matter what your lighting setup is.

You sure can, my friend. There are multiple ways to use your phone as a webcam, thanks to third-party software that syncs your smartphone to your PC. Here's how to use your phone as a webcam when you're really in a pinch.

With a dedicated piece of hardware, webcams benefit greatly from larger sensors and better lenses, which help drastically improve image quality and performance in low light. But we get one question a lot here at Tom's Guide: which one should I buy? Well, after reviewing over a hundred over the past few years, we're in a good place to point you in the right direction based on your needs.

Cheaper webcams will typically have just one microphone, which is fine for plenty of situations. However, if you work in a noisier environment, you'll want a webcam with two or more microphones, as well as software that can help isolate your voice from the sounds all around you. Another alternative — which will deliver even better audio — is to invest in one of the best microphones.

Whether you're a Zoom call regular or a committed streamer, it's essential to buy the best webcam — be it to connect to your desktop PC or to spruce up the picture beyond that built-in snapper on any of the best laptops.

Poly Studio P5 (★★★★☆)This 1080p webcam has an impressive 4x digital zoom that adjusts well to low-light conditions. Compellingly priced, we also appreciate its privacy shutter. If you regularly stream or take calls in a dim room, the Poly Studio P5 is easy to recommend.

I am using an 8x10 view camera with a 210mm lens. The formula for hypperfocal distance H =f^2/Nc, assuming N=22 and c=0.01, predicts a hyperfocal distance of 66 ...

There are cheaper webcams that are pretty bad! But the Anker PowerConf C200 gives you an impressive feature set at a super cheap price — a 2K picture quality with great low light performance, an integrated privacy shutter and a tiny design. And even better, it all comes in at just shy of $60.

With years of experience in Twitch streaming and taking many Zoom meetings during the pandemic, I know a lot about what makes a good webcam great. It's not just about the build quality and sensor specs, it's about what the company does with the hardware and how you can tune the picture to perfection.

👍 Crispy and smooth picture quality: 1080p may sound lower in quality than the other options above, but its what Elgato does with this that matters. A wide open 1/ 2.5" Sony STARVIS CMOS sensor with Elgato's Prime Lens optics makes for an impeccable crispiness and color — even in low light. And on top of that, you can get up to 120 FPS for some slow motion fun.

This is for the laptop users who want to beef up the webcam quality beyond the (usually) potato that is built into your system.

BenQ ideaCam S1 Plus (★★★★☆)With a versatile design to help online teachers and content creators, the BenQ ideaCam S1 Plus is a high-end webcam for desktop owners. It also sports detailed companion software that you can use on video calls.

👍 Solid 4K picture quality: When you're giving presentations to a large audience, picture quality is critical. The Insta360 Link absolutely delivers on this with a sharp 4K picture with impressive color balance.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a webcam with a resolution of less than 720p; most budget webcams, like the Logitech C270 (which costs less than $30) can stream at this resolution.

Webcamfor Laptop

Currently, the best webcam I'd recommend to most people is the peerless Insta360 Link 2C. This 4K cam delivers unbelievable image quality, and it has the honor of being the only webcam we've ever given a perfect 5/5 review to. As for streaming, there are some expensive choices out there, but I'd go for the $150 Elgato FaceCam Mk. 2 for it's impressive sensor, DSLR-esque levels of customization and that 60 FPS frame rate with HDR.

It’s also worth considering any special features a webcam has. The Razer Kiyo has a built-in ring light, making it ideal for folks who are recording in low-light rooms and don’t have one of the best ring lights handy. Logitech cameras generally have robust software options for customizing your shots, and the StreamCam can shoot in both landscape and portrait modes, which is worth considering if you’re shooting video for mobile consumption.

If you're a serious multi-purpose streamer, from just chatting and make-up tutorials to gaming, the Logitech Streamcam is adaptable around you.

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This is for the streaming enthusiasts. As an all-in-one suite for providing a crispy and smooth picture, this is a great option for boosting your stream quality.

Boasting excellent tracking features and pristine 4K image quality, this is the premium webcam. At $299, the Tiny 2 ain't cheap, yet it’s so high-tech and incredibly well-made.

The highest rated webcam in Tom's Guide history. Its 4K images are sublime, build quality exudes class, autofocus and tracking features excel, and its software is terrific. The king of cams.

The short answer? Probably not. 4K webcams are generally a lot more expensive than their 1080p equivalents and unless you find yourself in scenarios where you regularly need to view yourself in 4K, you're better off saving your money and going with a lower resolution cam. Of course, if you're a content creator on YouTube or Twitch and regularly stream the best PS5 games that often output at 2160p their Quality modes, then a 4K cam could be worth considering.

Simple spherical lenses do not refract the light at the same angle across the entire curvature of the lens surface. The result is a slight misalignment of light rays once the image projection reaches the camera’s sensor, particularly at wider apertures. This is known as spherical aberration and can be seen in the final image as a loss of fine detail, lack of contrast and even a hazy “ghosting” effect. If you have ever seen ghosting and lack of contrast in your images when shot at maximum aperture, this is spherical aberration at work. Aspherical lens elements work to correct this.

👎 Expensive: At $299, this is a beefy investment for the sake of a gimbal to follow you around. Many conferencing pros out there may consider going for a cheaper model and adapting their presentation style to it.

Aspherical lens elements are most common in lenses with extremely wide apertures, such as a 24mm f/1.4, a 35mm f/1.4 or a 50mm f/1.2. These are often flagship lenses in a manufacturer’s lens lineup and as such, lenses with aspherical lens elements are usually associated with extremely high image quality and high price tags.

This is the cam who finds themselves taking more work meetings in a day than actually doing work (I feel your pain). If you're giving plenty of presentations and need something that works around your remote working space, this is the one to get.

👍 Excellent value for money: And even better is that you get all of this capability for $149! It's a compact, lightweight camera you can take anywhere with you — sporting 4K HDR picture quality and plenty of smart capabilities — and it costs a lot less than you'd expect.

No frills and no gimmicks, the Obsbot Meet 4K webcam is a stellar option for seriously upping your image quality during meetings. With compatibility in OBS and video call apps, a versatile magnet attachment and head tracking, this brings a lot to the table.

That $299 price looks steep, but the Obsbot Tiny 2 makes it worthwhile with a mind-blowingly good 4K picture and outstanding smarts in a tiny construction. With all of this and a great software suite, you get a lot of mileage for your money.

At $129, the Tadpole isn’t going to break the bank, and it’ll make a really good replacement for your current built-in webcam. It’ll also be great if you simply want to up the quality of your video calls or live streams with as small a footprint as possible

If you're a passionate content creator, this is the webcam for you. Not only does it sport an attractive design, it can also be mounted in both landscape and portrait modes.

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

The term Aspherical Lens is slightly misleading, although it one that is often used in the camera industry. As you probably know, camera lenses are comprised of several different lens elements. Each lens element serves a specific purpose, such as correcting chromatic aberration or field curvature. An aspherical lens element is commonly used to correct spherical aberration, though it is usually only one or two elements within a more complex lens design.

The Anker PowerConf C200 is for those who need to improve their camera quality on a shoestring budget. Usually retailing at around $60, this is quite the bargain when you take into account what it can do!

If your setup surrounds Logitech peripherals, and you want the option that plugs in the nicest with everything you have (and the software), the MX Brio 4K is the choice for you.

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👎 No swiveling: When it comes to angling your webcam correctly, it's good to have a swivel integrated on the mount. The PowerConf C200 doesn't have this, so it can be a little awkward to find the right framing.

A 4K webcam at $150 would have just been a bit of a joke not that long ago. But here we are in 2024, with incredible picture quality at a supremely good price. Pair that with in depth companion software to tweak that image, and you've got a winner.

We also look at the software that comes with the camera (if any). How intuitive is it, and what sort of things does it let us do with the camera?

👍 The best picture quality in a webcam: Whether in challenging lighting conditions or not, the 4K images the Obsbot Tiny 2 produces are outstanding. The color balance is near-perfect and the app features allow you to tune this to your liking too.

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If you need the ultimate picture quality, Obsbot Tiny 2 is the way to go. This is a phenomenal webcam, with amazing picture quality and incredible smart tech features. It just might be overkill for the average person.

The webcams above represent the cream of the crop in their respective categories, but they're far from the only snappers we've tested here at Tom's Guide. There are many quality cams we've reviewed that are still well worth considering, and below I'll quickly run you through some of my favorites that only just missed the cut against the best webcams on the market.

For conferencing power users, though, there's no question this is the webcam to get. And that's no mean feat considering how many amazing cams that are all currently vying for your hard-earned money on the market right now. Quite simply, this is a completely classy cam I find easy to recommend.

A truly elite webcam from perhaps the most respected peripheral maker in the world. $200 isn't chump change, but the 4K image quality the MX Brio puts out is simply sublime.

A quick rule of thumb is that blue signifies a faster connection than black. But to fully understand the significance of the colors (you may also run into white ...

👍 Magnetic attachment brings a lot to the table: The magnetic attachment clip means that rather than being limited to just a clip fixed to the frame, you can pop it off and stick it on the quarter-inch tripod attachment with ease.

Webcamfor PC

👍 That gimbal is *chef kiss*: With a webcam being a stationary item, you'd think a gimbal is a bit of an odd addition. But when you see what it does with the software, including being able to track you around a room, it's a freeing experience for your presentation style.

If the highest-quality video is required — and you're not using your camera as a webcam — then you'll want a webcam that can stream at 4K, like the Logitech Brio. However, almost every webcam that can stream at 4K will cost more than $100.

Enhance your photography with the LGT075T Diffusion Film, a customizable light guide acrylic sheet designed for uniform LED light diffusion on flat panel ...

👎 Expensive: There are now two ways around this. This camera is $299 — that is a hefty price to pay for a webcam, when you can find similar smart features and a picture quality that's close to this at a cheaper price.

👍 Solid 2K picture with adjustability: This resolution may not be 4K, but it's still impressively crispy on Zoom calls. Combine that with the adjustable field of view and excellent low-light performance, and you'll see the PowerConf C200 is adaptable to any circumstances.

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👍 Incredible 4K picture: If clarity is the name of the game, than the 4k 30 FPS picture the Insta360 Link 2C produces tops the charts. It's phenomenally clear with great color reproduction and solid low light performance too.

Dirt cheap, but not bad because of it. The Anker PowerConf C200 is an impressive webcam with strong 2K picture quality and a sleek construction — all at an impressively low price. This is the best cheap webcam for your money.

👎 AI features can be gimmicky: AI in cameras can either be quietly useful in the background, or loud and a little gimmicky. In here, we're not entirely sure what the AI is doing with head-tracking, but it can sometimes be slow on the tracking.

👎 Pricey: $199 is not the most expensive 4K webcam we've seen on here, but without any of the tracking bells and whistles, it is a steep investment to make.

The Opal Tadpole does a lot in its tiny frame — a fantastic 4K picture, plug and play is a cinch, and this is all in a 1.37 x 1.57-inch frame with a wrist strap on the USB-C cable. For those who are always on the go, this is a stellar option.

The Insta360 Link is a stellar webcam for web conferencing because of three key things: the 4K picture is crispy clear, the gimbal mount allows it to automatically track you around a room if you walk while you talk, and the Whiteboard mode is fantastic for presentations.

If your primary concern is a 4K picture, this is the webcam to get — a tiny product with big implications on crispy, smooth imagery.

Despite all lens elements being crucial to a design, the inclusion of an aspherical lens element is often underlined by manufacturers, or even included in the name of the lens. For example, Leica lenses with an aspherical element have the letters ASPH appended to the official lens name: Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH or Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. Due to their complexity, having an aspherical element or two in your lens is somewhat like a badge of honour.

There are a number of quality 4K cams out there now, and the Meet 4K is one of our faves. Not only is image quality drool-worthy, its head tracking app is fab, while its magnet attachment is also superb.

Webcamtest

To find out which are the best webcams, we put them through a series of tests in our home office. First, we see how easy they are to set up, and how well they sit on top of our laptop and monitors.

A spherical lens has a constant curvature to its surface. If you could extrapolate that curve, it would eventually come back around to create a perfect sphere. An aspherical lens on the other hand, has a deliberately varied curvature to create a lens that manipulates its refractive index across the lens surface, to correct the inherent misalignment of simple spherical lenses. This manipulation is done by extremely precise glass polishing, and often requires minuscule adjustments that are measured in mere microns.

👍 Integrated privacy shutter: Once again, for those conscious about privacy, the FaceCam has a privacy shutter. Instead of it being a simple detachable cover you'd probably lose, this one is integrated into the sleek design.

Optical lenses are components that focus or disperse a light beam toward or away from specific targets. Lenses are made from materials that are transparent ...

👍 Amazing picture in a small package: At just 2 x 1 inches in size, you'd be surprised at the gorgeous 4K picture this can produce. It's crystal clear, can do auto framing via the gimbal, and you can do some touching up including custom backgrounds.

Sep 13, 2016 — Optics as a Career Field. Those who pursue optical engineering as a vocation have the chance to be involved with exciting technologies that can ...

Thorlabs' Pyroelectric Energy Meter Sensors can be used to detect pulsed sources with energies from 10 µJ to 15 J. All of these sensors provide a flat response ...

The next step up — and the most common resolution — are 1080p cameras like our favorite, the Logitech C920s. Cameras at the resolution typically cost $50 to $100, and are best for most consumers.

👍 A smart marvel: On that rotating rock, the Obsbot Tiny 2 can automatically pan and tilt to follow you around as you speak. On top of that, the omni-directional microphone can adjust itself intelligently to minimize ambient noise and highlight your voice.

One of the most clever cam ever and one that is perfect for video conferencing. Boasting innovative software and a gimbal-mounted camera, the auto tracking of the Insta360 is classy.

👍 Small and sleek: At 1.37 x 1.57 inches in size, this is a tiny camera that can be easily stashes in your bag. And hell, if you just wanted to be a dork and wear your webcam as a clothing accessory, the USB-C cable doubles up as a wrist strap.