Appearance
It seems to be nothing unusual, but still interesting. The camera is enclosed in a standard case for such devices, located on a special leg. The camera itself is able to rotate 60 degrees on a stem, and the holder consists of two rods connected by a hinge, which allows the user to vary the position of the camera as desired. The leg allows you to install the camera on the monitor or next to it, as well as attach it to the laptop cover above the display, following the example of built-in cameras - however, the device is not very secure. And on the leg, the Logitech Pro 9000 is not very confident.
There are two logos on the external panel of the USB gadget. In the center there is the Logitech inscription, and on the rim of the camera itself - Carl Zeiss. This webcam uses the famous German company optics with a glass lens system and autofocus. As for the manufacturer of the device itself, when the camera is connected, its logo is also enclosed in a rim - an orange LED lights up around the Logitech inscription. The case is quite susceptible to fingerprints and scratches - this includes the glossy black plastic of the outer bezel and the silver coating on the lens rim. Everything else is covered with coverage, which is practically not afraid of anything.
There is a microphone on the right side of the main unit, but there are no built-in speakers. On the left side is the only button in the device - you can use it to take a snapshot.
Connection and configuration
The connection procedure will take some time from the user. First, you need to install a driver disc - it is in the box with the device. There you can also find a fairly detailed user manual in 16 languages, including Russian. After installing the software, you can work with the camera. It is worth considering that QuickCam Pro 9000 is friendly only with operating systems Windows XP and Vista. With the 2000th version, the camera does not work, although, given the high system requirements of the gadget, there is hardly a user with this edition of Windows. For Vista, the camera asks for a whopping 2.4GHz processor clock speed.
After installing the software, the user may spend some more time adjusting the audio parameters. In principle, you can always return to them through the camera settings menu. This menu is quite extensive - in the abundance of parameters, as well as in high-quality glass optics, the main difference between this device and conventional webcams lies. The Logitech Pro 9000 has the ability to switch between auto and manual focus, zoom in, adjust brightness, contrast, white balance, and recording volume.
Functionality
The device menu consists of two windows. The main window displays the frame of the camera with the image, and the size of the image can be adjusted. With the help of the options of this window, you can take a picture or record a video in an unprecedented quality for webcams - 1280x960 pixels and at a frequency of up to 30 frames per second. At the bottom of the window, a gallery with ready-made images and videos opens.
The second window manages the additional functions of the camera. To make life more fun, you can play with video effects - the user's face can be replaced with an alternative one (dinosaur, shark, cat, alien), a virtual detail can be added to it ("goatee", patch, crown, "terminator" and an arrow piercing the user's head through and through) or overlay the effect on top of the image. In video chat mode, you can also hide your face behind a landscape picture from the gallery, or upload an image from your computer's memory.
Now everything is ready for full-fledged work on the Internet. Another menu item offers to download one of the popular programs for communication on the network, which you can choose from among the available: Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and AIM.
