Working from home - video conferencing monitor/setup

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Elwood

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#271892 31-May-2020 10:19

Hi all

Interested in thoughts on how to set up a great video conferencing setup for working from home. To date, I've simply sued my work laptop - but am keen to upgrade to a decent-sized (say, 24") monitor, and have good video conferencing ability (rather than 'looking off to the side' at my laptop while using the main monitor).

Monitors with webcams seem pretty rare these days - why it that? This one from Dell is the only option I can find. Interested to hear what others do - and whether this might be a good option.

Thanks!

CrashAndBurn

654 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2495540 31-May-2020 10:23

Honestly I feel you will be better off with a standard monitor plus a USB webcam.

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Elwood

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#2495541 31-May-2020 10:25

Thanks for your response. Why do you think a standard USB webcam is better than an inbuilt one?

SATTV

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#2495542 31-May-2020 10:25

I did not think such a thing existed but come across this the other day, there is also a 27" version if I recall.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONHDT4356680/HP-EliteDisplay-E243d-24-USB-C-Docking-Monitor--Wi?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9aSk9Dc6QIVkn4rCh0eEQhnEAAYASAAEgKo5_D_BwE

Has a built in dock so makes life real easy.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

CrashAndBurn

654 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2495543 31-May-2020 10:29

Elwood:

Thanks for your response. Why do you think a standard USB webcam is better than an inbuilt one?

Easier to upgrade in the future whether its for the monitor or webcam. Also highly likely that you will get a better spec one for the same price. Not sure if you added the link to the Dell that you saw but what model is it?

Elwood

14 posts

Geek

#2495544 31-May-2020 10:30

Apologies - this is the link to the Dell one:

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/dell-24-monitor-for-video-conferencing-p2418hz/apd/210-aofy/monitors-monitor-accessories

josephhinvest

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#2495545 31-May-2020 10:31

An iPhone makes an excellent webcam. I’m sure you can do the same thing with an android phone too?
You may already have what need. A good sturdy mount for your phone at a good height and good lighting makes a huge difference.

CrashAndBurn

654 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2495589 31-May-2020 10:43

Elwood:

Apologies - this is the link to the Dell one:

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/dell-24-monitor-for-video-conferencing-p2418hz/apd/210-aofy/monitors-monitor-accessories

For that price you could probably get a 27 inch plus a separate webcam especially right now due to Queens BDay Sale. But if you prefer simplicity then that should be fine. But in the event that lets say the webcam becomes faulty, you will have to take the entire monitor with you :p

richms

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#2495591 31-May-2020 10:57

Friend who is doing it places his camera infront of the screen that the skype is on so its easier to look straight at it. Its only infront of other peoples faces so no big deal and means he looks better in the recordings of the meetings than the people that look like they are staring at the floor. He upgraded from some crap logitech cheapie to the razer with the ringlight when lockdown looked like it was a thing and its a great camera, the light really helps with shadows from lousy room lighting and the blue cast that the monitor light puts over everything.

Richard rich.ms

PolicyGuy

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#2495644 31-May-2020 12:57

josephhinvest: An iPhone makes an excellent webcam. I’m sure you can do the same thing with an android phone too?
You may already have what need. A good sturdy mount for your phone at a good height and good lighting makes a huge difference.

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Batwing

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#2495646 31-May-2020 13:03

To get effective USB webcam functionality on Android you'd be needing to enable USB debugging which will likely not be allowed on a work device, or a personal device with a work profile.

ajobbins

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#2495687 31-May-2020 14:55

I have a Microsoft Lifecam Studio HD webcam sitting on top of my main monitor. Works well as the cameras is WAY better than what's in the laptop - and it centre and level with my head not down and off to the side like the laptop one. The camera I have is great, but not cheap. You'd probably get almost as good results with a more reasonably priced camera.

I wouldn't be looking for a monitor with an inbuilt camera. While probably better positioned than your laptop camera - you can't really adjust their angle, which I find myself needing to do sometimes (such as when I want to slouch a little or sit more comfortably or something).

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lchiu7

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#2495708 31-May-2020 15:09

Batwing:

To get effective USB webcam functionality on Android you'd be needing to enable USB debugging which will likely not be allowed on a work device, or a personal device with a work profile.

Actually the issue for using a phone for video conferencing on a work machine had nothing to do with the phone itself since you can use pretty much any phone. It was installing the device driver in the work PC that wasn't allowed. Still since it's only for work video, a web cam works just fine for me.

My sister who wanted to do personal VC and was caught without a webcam when we hit Level 1 just used a spare Android phone and Droidcam software and that worked pretty well. And since it was the free version she couldn't even run HD on the phone and we felt her video was clear enough.

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