If you own a laptop or desktop, chances are that you already have a 720p webcam. It’s the de facto industry standard: the baseline for both laptop-integrated and standalone USB webcams.
But is it enough? These days, it’s not difficult to find a third-party webcam featuring Full HD 1080p resolution – in fact, even the cheapest option in our ranking of the best webcams is FHD.
Aspects such as sharpness and color reproduction can vary greatly even between webcams of the same resolution, but at this point, the TechRadar Computing team does agree: we consider 1080p to be the most suitable starting resolution for webcams.
Is a 720p webcam good enough?
Off the face of it, then, it would certainly appear that we recommend a 1080p webcam unilaterally. More premium laptops typically have built-in 1080p webcams these days, too – and you can quite easily pick up a 4K standalone webcam online, if you’re willing to spend a bit more.
Of course, that’s not to say that a 720p webcam means you need to upgrade immediately – especially not if you’ve already got a perfectly decent laptop that doesn’t otherwise need replacing.
720p is sometimes referred to as ‘HD Ready’, and it’s still sufficient for most people. If you only use your webcam for Zoom calls with coworkers, you probably don’t need to upgrade.
We care about e-waste here at TechRadar, so we won’t encourage you to replace a 720p webcam that still works fine simply because you could get a higher resolution. In fact, you could also consider using your phone as a webcam, which could save you some cash.
Upgrading to 1080p and beyond
There are reasons to upgrade, though. The difference between 720p and 1080p is often pretty noticeable in practice, and the leap up to 4K is even more significant (although of course, you’ll also be constrained by your display resolution, so don’t shell out for a 4K webcam if you only have a 1080p monitor).
If you want to use your webcam for any sort of content creation, from livestreaming on Twitch to recording video for a podcast or YouTube videos, then you’re absolutely going to need a 1080p webcam. This is effectively the ‘baseline’ resolution for modern content creation; 4K is obviously better, but 1080p is generally going to be sufficient since most of your audience won’t be watching on 4K screens anyway.
It’s also worth noting that at this point, getting a 1080p webcam isn’t expensive. There are plenty of great 1080p webcams out there that won’t break the bank, and as time goes on, it’s likely that 720p cameras will eventually fade into obscurity (just as 480p ‘Standard Definition’ did before it).
If you’ve been contemplating upgrading, but have been concerned about price, know that it really shouldn’t be a concern at this stage. HP, Obsbot, and Logitech all have great FHD webcams that don’t cost a ridiculous amount.
Ultimately, whether or not you upgrade to a 1080p webcam is your choice. Even if you’re not planning on creating content with your webcam and simply want to look better on calls with family and colleagues, then it’s not a bad move to future-proof your setup.
Just remember: your video quality on live calls will also be dependent on the speed of your internet connection, so that may be another thing you need to upgrade!
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