Webcams can be used for Marketing, Surveillance, Blog broadcasting, or for Video Communications.

For Marketing Purposes, you are deploying a webcam to monitor a compelling view you will share with the public or provide as a private stream as a paid service. Ideally you will build a live stream using RTSP compressed video storing a video stream on a cloud platform. The Stream means you can preproduce and share that live video with many people and platforms with little impact on the host site where the camera is located. This is good for internet impact and for network security. To use a Webcam properly for marketing you will want to store high-definition snapshots on event timers so there is a photo to share and use that is high definition and not compressed. The Stream alone will not have a snapshot to share, so it is important to use a webcam that provides an FTP upload of the current view to build Timelapse and to share the current view without opening the stream. Most webcams overlook this feature, because engineers overlook the use of webcams for marketing purposes and only focus on surveillance uses. I wise choice is to use AXIS COMMUNICATIONS hardware for your Webcam Marketing needs.

For Surveillance Purposes, you are deploying webcams to capture and store video for later view. You can store the video locally, or on the Cloud in many different options. Each packaged surveillance video system will offer a cloud storage option for a price. Choosing a system with Local Network Storage is a good option, and there are many products and companies to choose from. In 2023 we like the Ubiquity Networks Dream Machine Pro and their Webcam line for Surveillance and Network development. The Dream Machine is and Video Data Storage as well as a Router and it provides great tools and statistics on your network. It has WIFI and Network Bridging and scales as well as provides remote management tools to manage the systems from anywhere. The outdoor cam price around $250 per webcam shipped is reasonable.

For Blog Broadcasting webcams you have a lot of options.   Your basic USB webcam will work for recording or live broadcasting to many platforms like Facebook, You-tube, or any Social video sharing platform.  In the case of the Broadcaster, the question to ask is where you will be recording.  Will you record in the field or in the studio?  If you are in the studio, your Lighting is the key to getting the best output.  Your resolution should be close to HD 1920×1080 as a MAX broadcast resolution and target resolution for broadcasting.  Most bloggers are using a Video Broadcast Software like OBS Studio, or Stream Labs to record and layout their podcast.  In this case the cameras that can be integrated are USB cams as well as Marketing Webcams with the proper setup.  If you are not in the broadcast studio and in the field you will want to use a mobile webcam to collect and record your footage.  You can even collect your footage using your mobile phone webcam and integrate that video in the lab later.  So the Webcam itself is not specific to the application, it just needs to collect decent footage in real time or post recording processing.

For Communications and Meetings Purposed we use simple USB Logitech type webcams, and their purpose is for SKYPE type meetings. These webcams have built in audio and are engineered for this purpose.  In many cases the webcam can be integrated into you PHONE or you Computer.  Best target resolution is HD 1920×1080.  Higher resolutions are too large in size to steam on the internet with current internet delivery speeds.  So a 4K webcam is only valuable in Surveillance and in broadcasting it is not used at a resolution higher than HD 1920×1080.