If you’re new to office technology, you may be confused on what the difference between a video bar and a webcam is. You’ve probably used webcams for years in many different environments, whether using a webcam on a laptop for a work meeting, webchatting with friends or family, or even having fun in Photo Booth on an iMac. But with the constant innovation in audio-video technology, the video bar is a newer concept left unexplained.
While both are primarily designed to capture and broadcast audio and video feeds, the video bar takes this design many steps further because of the office environment they’re designed for. Because of this, they’ll commonly have many features that webcams lack.
For example, any model in the Poly X Series, which we use in our JUMPSTART ROOMS bundle THE MEET, contains not only a “brain” (which is A/V code for being able to run on its own without a computer), but also has speakers and multiple microphones rather than the usual one. Some even have multiple cameras on them that allow for multiple speakers to be shown at once, and auto-lighting technology. The hardware of a video bar is usually more sophisticated, allowing for a clearer transmission than what you would get with a $30 webcam meant for broadcasting a single person.
However, video bars are not all large devices that stay static on walls. Some function the same way webcams do and sit on top of a monitor. Some webcams like the Huddly IQ, as seen to the right, stay static below a display in conference rooms. It all depends on how complex you want to go, and how much space you have to work with in your meeting space.
Ultimately, both are great choices for different reasons. If you’d like to learn more about video bars, check out our blog comparing the different models of the Poly X Series.
