Last spring Skype launched Skype for Windows 4.2 with support for HD (720p) video calling at up to 22 fps using one of two Skype-certified HD webcams with an embedded H.264 processor to offload the video processing from the user’s PC.  However, it turned out the calling experience ranged from excellent (for example, the call referenced in the post linked above) to erratic depending on the endpoints’ network conditions and CPU load. In fact, support of the embedded H.264 processor quietly disappeared in the initial releases of Skype 5 for Windows; under the correct conditions you could still have HD video calls happening but using the legacy VP71 codec that used the processor (CPU) on the caller’s PC.

This week Skype released a Skype for Windows 5 update that, amongst other issues, restored support for the H.264 processor on these two webcams and provides other improvements to the Skype video calling experience. However, it also requires a firmware upgrade on the TALK-7140 FREETALK Everyman webcam and the FaceVsion Touchcam N1.

In my limited experience, to date, with these updates, the first change I noticed was that the webcam would open up much more quickly on launching a video call. A second change is the significantly improved stability of the High Quality Video mode (640 x 480 @ >24 fps) when conditions are not appropriate for HD resolution. And, most importantly, Skype no longer crashes arbitrarily during a call. Overall a much more stable, robust and reliable video calling experience, at both High Quality Video and HD resolutions, is the outcome.

The updated FAQ for the FREETALK Everyman webcam also includes some useful information on the requirements for HD video calling:

Make sure both sender and receiver have installed the latest version of Skype for Windows; HD video is only supported by Skype for Windows 4.2 or later.[Ed.: It’s Skype for Windows 5.0.0.156 that is required to take advantage of all the upgrades.]

HD video (720p or 1280 x 720) requires an Internet connection with a minimum upload speed of 1.2 Mbps. Where there is insufficient network upload speed the Skype program will set the webcam automatically to Skype’s High Quality Video (640 x 480) with a minimum upload speed requirement of 384 Kbps, which is supported by most broadband (cable, DSL) Internet services.

Also note that there is some negotiating between the Skype program and the network that occurs when you start a Skype video call. Whereas Skype takes up to a minute for a High Quality Video call to be established, it can take up to 3 or 4 minutes (but usually ~ 2 minutes) for a video call to change over to sending HD. You will know you have achieved HD video when you see that the video image aspect ratio changes from the Standard 4:3 to HD video’s 16:9 ( in effect the image width becomes much greater than its height; it appears "more rectangular").

Other factors influencing HD video include the need for at least a dual core processor on your local PC and the RAM available. Try reducing the number of programs open, especially if you have <4GB RAM on your PC.

Skype also has a "bandwidth management" feature. Skype is constantly monitoring your network connection; should conditions degrade (due to conditions beyond Skype’s control), you may see your call drop back to High Quality Video or even lower (320 x 240 or 160 x 120). But if network conditions improve again, Skype’s bandwidth management will automatically restore better resolution all the way back to restoring HD video (when you have the other requirements for HD video).

See the Call Quality Indicator (Check Settings) to right of the "Call" and "Video Call" buttons for Call Quality information. This will give an indication of the system resources available for making calls (video or audio). See Call Quality Guide for suggestions to resolve any call issue

Bottom line: So the check points are:

• Upgrade to the latest update version of Skype for Windows 5 (5.0.0.156 or later); also perform the one-time update of the supported webcam’s firmware as outlined above.
• Ensure you are  using a dual core processor PC and, if you have < 4GB RAM, minimize the number of open programs.
• To send HD video, ensure you have a broadband Internet service with a minimum 1.2 Mbps upload speed.
• To receive HD video, ensure the recipient has a minimum 1.2 Mbps download speed (not an issue for most broadband services) and is using a Skype client that supports receiving calls from a contact using the H.264 processor (Skype for Windows 4.2 or later, Skype for TV).
• Be patient: It will take from 30 seconds to 4 minutes for the HD-supported webcam to switch to HD video after launching a video call; this is observable by the change of aspect ratio from 4:3 to the more rectangular 16:9 format.
• With Skype for Windows 5, Skype launched an improved bandwidth management feature which can often recover optimum conditions after a deterioration of a network connection (including after a total call disconnect). This feature also recovers HD from High Quality Video after a network connection’s recovery from a degradation of connection conditions.
• Note that the driver for these webcams is embedded in the webcam firmware such that no driver installation is required; just plug in the webcam (and perform the one-time update of the firmware as described above, if necessary).

Hint: I would also comment that one of the most useful improvements with Skype for Windows 5.0 has been the real time Network Connection condition indicator accessed from the revamped call bar in this version of Skype for Windows.

From it you can monitor any changing network connection conditions during a video call; and it will advise you of attempts to improve conditions and/or to reconnect a lost call. This Call Quality Indicator also allows real time monitoring of other hardware associated with supporting a Skype call.

As I gain more experience with HD video calling using these upgrades, I’ll provide further reports.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions, producer of the FREETALK line of Skype hardware sold via the Skype Store or freetalk.me website, has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. In Store Solutions also is responsible for the shopping cart for sale of the FaceVsion webcam on the Skype Store.

Related articles

• Download: Skype for Windows 5.0.0.156 (skypejournal.com)
• CNN uses Skype group video for call-in segment; violates Skype’s Broadcast TOS (skypejournal.com)
• Skype 5 Forcing Updates (chris.pirillo.com)
• WebM Video Codec in Skype 5.0 Group Video (webmproject.org)
• Facetime for Mac: Adding Millions to the FaceTime User Base (voiceontheweb.biz)

Over the past week I have been experimenting with two relatively new features that build out the Skype video experience:

• HD video using the recently released FREETALK® TALK-7140 HD webcam and Skype for Windows 4.2
• Skype Group calling using the beta release of Skype for Windows 5.0

FREETALK^® TALK-7140 HD Webcam

At a price point that makes it attractive even for Skype High Quality Video calls (VGA resolution @ 30 fps), the FREETALK^® TALK-7140 HD Webcam:

• Enhances the video image quality to HD’s 720p resolution at frame rates up to 22 fps, provided the Sender has sufficient Internet upload bandwidth (>1.2 Mbps).
• Requires 30 seconds to four minutes at the beginning of a call to come up to HD resolution; after some initial “network negotiation” by the connecting software the aspect ratio changes from 4: 3 to HD’s 16:9.
• Works with Skype’s High Quality Video calling where end point conditions do not provide sufficient bandwidth for HD calling.
• Falls back to lower resolutions when network conditions degrade as a result of Skype’s network bandwidth adaptation feature that adjusts video resolution to network conditions. But the image will self-restore to the maximum resolution if the network conditions recover and return to improved quality.
• Is Skype certified for HD Video and High Quality Video calling.
• Is recognized as a webcam by MacBooks and iMacs; however, currently will only operate on MacBooks at up to VGA resolution at up to 30 fps until Skype releases a new version of Skype for Mac that supports HD video calling.

The image to the right comes from a half hour, two-way HD call with TechCraver’s Jason Harris who had an upload speed in excess of 4Mbps while I was supported by a network upload speed of 1.8Mbps using Rogers recently introduced DOCSIS 3.0 Ultimate service (50 Mbps download, 2 Mbps upload). Expanding the image to a full screen display (22” in my case) gives a close-to-Telepresence experience.

Note that if only one Sender on a one-to-one video call has the upload speed to support sending HD video, the recipient, if also using Skype for Windows 4.2 or later, will be able to receive and view the full 720p HD image provided his/her download speed is above 1.2 Mbps – well below the download bandwidth maximum for most broadband Internet services.

So this brings up the issue of upload bandwidth speeds available to consumers. Om Malik had something to say on this subject in a recent post, Faster Upstream Speeds for Cable Broadband:

U.S. cable companies expect that by 2015, nearly 100 million of the nation’s homes will be able to send data upstream at speeds of around 20 Mbps. This will eventually be followed by further upgrades to 50 Mbps, by way of enhancements to DOCSIS 3.0 tech. That compares to current upstream speeds of 6-28 Mbps (shared).

So we don’t need to wait for Fibre-to-the-Home if you’re on cable. As mentioned above, Rogers now offers a 50Mbps download/2 Mbps upload DOCSIS 3.0 service for which they recently reduced the price by 1/3 to under $100 per month with a 175 GB/month cap. Bell Canada is introducing a 25/7 fibre-to-the-home service for $54 per month but with only a 75 GB cap; their current issue is coverage. Whereas it’s available in central Toronto, there is only limited availability around the suburban Toronto area. In the U.S., where available, Comcast is offering DOCSIS 3.0 services with up to 10 Mbps upload speeds but have services at 2 and 3 Mbps upload as well; also Verizon offers its FIOS Fibre-to-the-Home service. This scenario recalls the era ten years ago when broadband Internet services were rolling out sporadically over a three to four year period.

I’m still experimenting with the HD webcam and will have a more complete report once I have experience with a wider range of user endpoint conditions. The TALK-7140 HD webcam is available at the Skype Store.

Skype Multi-Party Video Chat (beta!)

In a separate post I’ll deal with Skype Multi-Party Video Calling; in the meantime check out Phil Wolff’s posts on this subject at Skype Journal and Andy Abramson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting’s Skype Multi Party Video Makes Others A Thing of The Past at VoIP Watch. As shown in one of Phil’s posts, I participated in a five party call for about fifteen minutes simply to ensure I had a configuration where it would work.

Caveat: Skype for Windows 5.0 is still beta software and needs user feedback and some work prior to any final release; it’s not suitable for ongoing production use at this time.

Bottom line: we’re seeing how far video calling can be pushed with respect to video resolution and multi-party video chat sessions; it’s still early days. For full realization of the potential of video calling we need implementation of faster Internet services for both consumers and SMB’s with reasonable pricing. Also we need more experience and development of the underlying video calling software and hardware, especially when it comes to the User Interface. In the meantime VGA resolution video calling (High Quality Video) remains a quite acceptable user experience – especially when it’s free.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions, producer of the FREETALK line of Skype hardware, has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

Some posts from the High Quality Video launch in late 2007:

• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.
• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Click here for more…

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At CES 2010 last week In Store Solutions announced they will be adding three webcams to its FREETALK^® product line that set new standards for video calling hardware.

The primary service goal for these webcams is to support up to 30 frames per second transmission over Internet services available via widely deployed broadband (cable and DSL) connections. Here’s a summary of the specs that have been developed incorporating features requested by Skype while contributing to a robust, reliable, user-friendly video calling experience:

Product	FREETALK® HQ Everyman Webcam TALK-710x	FREETALK® HD Webcam TALK-7140	FREETALK® HD PRO PLUS TALK-7181
Maximum Resolution and Frame Rate	VGA: 640 x 480 @ 30fps	720p: 1280 x 720 @22fps VGA: 640 x 480 @ 30fps	720p: 1280 x 720 @22fps VGA: 640 x 480 @ 30fps
Sensor	1 megapixel HQ 24-bit true color	5 megapixel HD 24-bit true color	5 megapixel HD 24-bit true color
Microphones Range	0 n/a	0 n/a	4 using Skype’s beam forming algorithm 4 meters
Video compression	via PC’s CPU	On board	On board
High performance Optical Lens	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto Exposure and Auto White Balance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Focus	Auto	Auto and Manual	Auto and Manual
Target Audience	One-to-one video calling	One-to-one video calling Multi-party video	“One-to-one” video conferencing (larger room)
Minimum CPU	Dual Core	1.8 GHz Dual Core	1.8 GHz Dual Core
Upload bandwidth required	384 kbps	1.2 Mbps for 720p 384 kbps for VGA	1.2 Mbps for 720p 384 kbps for VGA
Skype Version	Skype for Windows 4.2	Skype for Windows 4.2 (one-to-one) Skype for Win 5.0 beta (multi-party)	Skype for Windows 4.2
Target Price (subject to change)	$40	$70	$140
Availability	July 2010 on the Skype Store	May 5, 2010 on the Skype Store	July 2010 on the Skype Store

Notes:

• This table has been updated to reflect changes in webcam specifications as of the launch date for shipping the TALK-7140 HD webcam, May 5, 2010.
• While all three cameras will support High Quality Video calling on Windows, Mac and Linux at VGA resolution, only Skype for Windows 4.2 will support 720p HD calling on the HD webcams.
• A 1.2 Mbps network speed is required to both send and receive video; the real challenge with this requirement is the scarcity of Internet users whose upload speed meets this requirement. Receiving HD video, even if you can’t send HD video, is still possible for download speeds > 1.2Mpbs.
• Should an HD webcam encounter network conditions that do not fully support HD video calling, they will revert to support of either High Quality Video at its VGA (640×480) resolution if conditions permit or even lower resolution if conditions degrade further.
• The FREETALK Everyman HD Webcam also requires either a FREETALK Everyman Headset for Skype (or equivalent) or use of Skype’s echo canceling feature on PC’s with an internal mic and speakers.

And to clarify the video calling terminology:

• High Quality Video refers to the VGA (640 x 480) video calling offered by Skype on Skype for Windows in November 2007.
• HD (High Definition) Video calling refers to the 720p (1280 x 720) video calling announced at CES 2010 and initially to be available in May 2010 in Skype for Windows 4.2 (currently in beta).

Bottom line: the FreeTalk-7140 Everyman HD webcam allows a much broader public to take advantage of Skype’s High Quality video at a lower hardware price point; the 7140 and 7181 will establish the benchmark for the emerging world of HD video calling not only on PC’s but also TV’s.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

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• Skype 4.2 Beta Makes HD-Quality Video Calls (lifehacker.com)
• GIPS Explains Its Positioning in HD Voice and Video (voiceontheweb.biz)

Last week Skype announced Skype for Linux desktop 2.1 Beta, the first new release of Skype for Linux in over two years. As a result it’s a huge “catch-up” release bringing to Skype for Linux many features that have been introduced on Skype for Windows and Skype for Mac over the past two years:

• Incorporation of Skype’s SILK codec which not only improves call quality for Skype-to-Skype calls but minimizes bandwidth usage
• High Quality Video support: VGA-standard video calling at 30 frames-per-second over a broadband Internet connection (minimum upload speed 384 Kbps)
• SMS send support (requires Skype credits)
• Chat: incorporates typing notification, message editing and other features into chat so we no longer get those “this person does not have a Skype client compatible with chat” type of messages.
• Contact groups
• Other “catch-up” details and improvements as listed on the Skype for Linux 2.1 Beta announcement post (link above) and in the release notes (link below).

Note that this is still a Beta release; it still has several “known issues”. Check out the release notes for details including details of how to make video work on Logitech Quickcam Manager and features that may result in crashes, such as accepting screen sharing from a Mac or Windows client.

The one recently introduced Skype for Mac/Windows feature that appears to be missing: initiation of a screen sharing session. The release notes indicate you may be able to receive a screen sharing session but you may also encounter a crash.

Bottom line: Finally a much awaited Skype for Linux that has most of the features of the current versions of Skype for Mac and Skype for Windows. if you’re a Skype for Linux user and have tried the 2.1 beta, please comment below on your experience. (Of course, Skype also appreciates having all bug details reported to Jira.)

“I thought you were on at 4 in the afternoon”, says a confused Manhattan Best Buy visitor. “No, we tape at 9 in the morning”, replies Oprah. “Oh, then Hi Oprah!”. Placing a Skype webcam setup in a Best Buy store found an adolescent customer who was looking for a Mother’s Day gift and waiting for the neighboring Pottery Barn store to open.

Oprah: “So, do we have permission put this on TV?”

Ashra (Sp?): “On Oprah! Hell, yes!”

With this introductory clip of Skype video-induced spontaneity, Oprah’s “Where the Skype Are You” show yesterday became the world’s longest duration, most viewed Skype promotion. During the sixty minutes the show went to downtown Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost community on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Ocean, the Palmer Station Antarctica research site about 200 miles from the South Pole, to 37,000 feet on a Virgin America flight 780 from Seattle to Los Angeles and 60 feet under the ocean to the USS Louisville submarine. Other highlights:

• Three setups were at locations where such happenstance as shown above could occur: a Manhattan Best Buy Store, Harrod’s in London and at the Oprah sign outside the studio in Chicago.
• The Oprah sign initially was missing the usual crowd of tourists taking pictures but a later return found five young ladies who were eventually invited into the taping.
• The Palmer Station Antarctica research team was going to use their Skype video equipment to do live presentations about their research activities to students at schools across the U.S. while it was still there.
• Oprah interviewed Skype President Josh Silverman from Skype’s London Corporate Office who gave a brief demonstration of setting up Skype.
• Obviously Harpo has figured out how to mix Skype video calls to come up with a video conferencing solution that allowed a ”virtual” wine tasting session to happen between a vintner at Bonny Doon Vinyard in Santa Cruz, CA, two Virgin Flight 780 passengers and Josh Silverman in London. Now if we could just get the Skype bit-to-atom converter working to virtually share the wine!
• The Virgin America flight connection was via Aircell’s recently launched  GoGoInFlight WiFi service, which as of yesterday, is now available on all Virgin America flights. However, only for this flight was Skype video calling allowed; from Wednesday’s press release:
  

  Although Virgin America does not typically allow Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) products like Skype video call in-flight due to concerns about maintaining a quiet, restful cabin environment, guests can currently use Gogo® to Skype via the instant message feature, in addition to e-mailing, tweeting, updating their Facebook pages and any of the myriad other ways the web is keeping people connected. The early roll out of the Gogo® service across the airline’s network makes Virgin America the first and only airline to offer consumers in-flight WiFi on every flight – regardless of route, aircraft type, or flight time.

• Local Toronto sketch artist Barbara Muir has taken a liking to doing sketches from Skype Video calls (that’s Barbara’s sketch on my Voice On The Web bio page). Barbara appeared on the show and drew a sketch of Oprah from her Skype video connection. I spoke with Barbara after the show; the interview experience with Oprah had overwhelmed her. She was impressed with how Oprah was up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for the show; Harpo personnel were contacting her in preparation at 6:00 a.m. Chicago time. As mentioned above the show was taped at 9:00 a.m. Chicago time; and apparently there were two more Oprah shows to be taped that day. Barbara’s biggest issue was having to look at the webcam while Oprah appeared on the her display screen below – a protocol for doing any interview is to be looking the camera “in-the-eye”.

Overall an amazingly interesting production. What would be really interesting is to see if there was any significant post-show jump in Skype downloads and account registrations. But we’ll probably never know.

• Toronto Globe and Mail: Skype connects Toronto artist to Oprah
• Check out the Oprah.com user comments related to this show; read about the request for a “modem in the sand” (#12)
• A historical note from April 2007: Skype Video for “Live On Location” Television Amber MacArthur was the original reporter using Skype video for her reports to Toronto’s CITY-TV.

Next: what I have learned from this about how Harpo produces Skype video calls.

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Since first using Skype’s High Quality Video for remote interviews during her weekly “A New Earth” seminars in the spring of 2008, interviews via Skype have become almost a daily occurrence on the Oprah show. A recent one of significance was her launch of her own Twitter feed where she interviewed Ashton Kutcher who now has over 1.8 million Followers. Oprah herself has passed the 1 million Followers mark although she seems to post Tweets infrequently.

Well, it seems that her Harpo Productions team have been busy taking Skype to some “extreme” new end points. According to Skype’s Jennifer Caulkins:

This week, we’re expecting to see Oprah push the limits with Skype even further. Watch Josh Silverman, President of Skype, make an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Thursday, May 21st as part of the “Where the Skype are You?” episode. It’s going to be a fascinating Skype adventure not to be missed as Oprah takes viewers to some surprising places over Skype video.

But here’s where it gets real interesting: if you watch the teaser you start to get a perspective on where Skype has gone to new heights and new depths in this “extreme Oprah Show adventure”.

Thursday, May 21 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) is blocked out on my Tungle calendars. My only remaining decision is whether to watch an our TV set, via SlingPlayer on my PC or SlingPlayer for Mobile on BlackBerry.

Voice On The Web posts about Oprah’s use of Skype

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Doing the “grandparent” Skype video call and using Skype in a business environment has led two medical practitioners to begin using Skype to facilitate and accelerate patient care in their practice. While not a replacement for all doctor visits, there are situations where Skype video can be used to both screen patients prior to a visit or drive access to medical care.

In an ABC News  report on Good Morning America today, reporter Tanya Rivero talks about “Bringing Back the House Call, Virtually”. She interviews a New York-based plastic surgeon and one of his patients; she then interviews Iowa-based psychiatrist Dr. Loren Olson via Skype video.

Dr. Spero Thodorou, a plastic surgeon, found that many of his patients comprise a younger demographic familiar with the Internet. He uses Skype video to screen and educate patients prior to their first office visit. Patient Christine Traveras talks about how using Skype minimized her time requirements for the screening call; subsequently she has visited the office and had one of the surgeon’s procedures carried out.

Psychiatrist Dr. Loren Olson had started using Skype for calls to his grandchildren and then realized that he could use it (i) for routine follow up “med-check” visits with both urban and rural patients and (ii) for clinical consultations with a team of medical providers in a rural area. Amongst his points in the interview:

• the need in the cities relates to getting the 50% of mentally ill patients who do not have access to medical services to simply interact with a medical professional.
• while his calls do not have the intimacy of an office visit, there’s often a question of “this visit” vs. “no visit”.
• patients can become so totally absorbed and relaxed in the discussion such that the technology literally melts away.  In one case a patient asked for a glass of water (says something about the realism provided by Skype’s High Quality Video)
• one paranoid schizophrenic patient actually preferred using Skype for his doctor calls.

Bottom line: With the ongoing debate over rising healthcare costs, can Skype video calling contribute to solutions that not only reduce both patient and practitioner costs but also shrink travel requirements, accelerate remedial procedures and, most importantly, cut the time spent reading six-month-old magazines in the doctor’s waiting room?

How do you drive awareness for Skype? Have the two daytime talk shows with the largest audiences connect via a Skype (High Quality) video call.

Yesterday afternoon, during the Ellen de Generes show, Ellen was surprised to see Oprah appear, unannounced via a Skype video call, behind her on the large screen monitors used to support the show. Apparently Ellen had been campaigning, not too subtly, to appear with Oprah on the cover of a future issue of “O” magazine.

Oprah had “returned” Ellen’s previous call to discuss the issue.

I just watched Oprah’s showing of the call this afternoon (thanks to a heads up from Skype PR).

Needless to say, this will certainly drive sales of the O magazine issue when it appears. Will Skype collect some form of royalty? Nah, Skype’s into royalty-free these days.

Huffington Post: Oprah Invites Ellen To Share O Magazine Cover provides more background. (via E!)

Dan York suggests that Oprah and Ellen are promoting “Skyp-ing” as a verb.

Columnist David Pogue in a New York Time article reviewing Skype 4.0 starts with the AT&T video phone demonstrated at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and user experience from then. Not a lot of calls due to technical and psychological issues. He talks about why Skype has been so widely accepted (did he remind us it was “free”?) and why Skype has been a survivor when up against iChat, MSN Messenger, SightSpeed and others.

He goes on to mention several issues that have inhibited video calling in the past but then says:

The video quality still varies when you use Skype. Fast Internet connections and fast computers still work better than slow ones. But if you do have a good setup — wow. With certain Logitech or Philips webcam models, Skype 4.0 can deliver a picture that’s as big and sharp and smooth as a TV picture (30 frames a second, 640 by 480 pixels), with almost no delay.

In my test calls to friends in California, New York and Virginia, we were amazed at what a difference it makes when the delay goes away. (Maybe, for its next trick, Skype can lend its technology to the world’s cellphone carriers.)

He then went on to make calls using iChat, ooVoo and SightSpeed: “None of them matched Skype’s immediacy or video and audio quality.” He discusses Skype’s new level of audio quality (with the SILK codec) and reduced network bandwidth speed requirement. He mentions some features that he would still like to see and mentions what differentiates services such as SightSpeed. His closing comment places Skype video calling into a historical perspective:

….. Will we one day adjust to the idea of being on camera every time someone calls?

Nah.

In the end, video chatting isn’t a replacement for phone calls, but a supplement to them, a perfect way to check out someone’s new place, check in with distant family and friends or show off a new talent (or baby). They saw the possibilities back in 1964 — they just didn’t realize that we wouldn’t always want to use them.

Go read David’s post (free registration may be required); it’s an excellent yet objective review of the personal video calling space from the end user perspective. I guess David doesn’t watch Oprah; she seems to be using Skype High Quality Video almost daily according to reports from my wife.

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This afternoon I came across this article by reporter Chris O’Brien in today’s San Jose Mercury News: “Video Chat has entered the mainstream“. It appears that the worlds of Oprah viewers and Silicon Valley geeks and reporters have more than six degrees of separation. The story starts out by talking about an email he received from his mother:

Seemingly out of nowhere, this note from her landed in my inbox: “Have you heard of Skype? Apparently you can use it to do free video calls on the computer.”

My mother, who lives just outside Kansas City, tends to be a reliable barometer for when a technology is gaining adoption outside the hermetically sealed bubble that is Silicon Valley. Well, my mom, and Oprah. As one of only a handful of people on the planet who don’t watch Oprah’s show every day, I had missed the fact that she’s recently begun using Skype to make regular video calls with her audience.

Chris goes on to report on a brief interview with Skype President Josh Silverman whom he quotes with:

And Skype has a new version in beta that will make video calling much more central to the service, according to Skype President Josh Silverman.

…. And in its new release, Skype users will be able to enlarge the video to fill the entire screen without degrading the picture quality.

Well we now know what Chris is giving his mother for Christmas. For his benefit, listed below are previous Skype Journal posts on both Skype High Quality Video and our reporting last March on Oprah’s use of Skype Video.

• Skype Sponsors Oprah’s “A New Earth” Web Event
• Three Big Milestones in Skype’s Fifth Year
• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Expanding the High Quality Video Experience and Observations
• To Be Restored: Camera Flexibility for Video Hackers
• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.

Chris, keep up with Skype Journal and you won’t be learning about how Skype is used from your mother.

By the way, how did I know to follow up on Chris’s interview with Skype President Josh Silverman last Wednesday? He set it up via Twitter messages with Skype PR. At the time Twitter was their sole available source of contact information.

A final question: will we be seeing a new version of Skype High Quality Video (or better) introduced at CES in January?

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Earlier this week the GMail weblog announced GMail voice and video chat; basically they are designed to add voice and video modes to an email thread; from the GMail blog post:

… today we’re launching voice and video chat — right inside Gmail. We’ve tried to make this an easy-to-use, seamless experience, with high-quality audio and video — all for free. All you have to do is download and install the voice and video plugin and we take care of the rest. And in the spirit of open communications, we designed this feature using Internet standards such as XMPP, RTP, and H.264, which means that third-party applications and networks can choose to interoperate with Gmail voice and video chat.

This afternoon I had an opportunity to try it out with Hudson Barton; publisher of the Borderless Communicator weblog and tracker of “Real Skype Users”. We had a 20 minute conversation using my Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks on a Wiindows laptop and the webcam on Hudson’s MacBook. There are two viewing sizes available: a 225 x 140 window inside the GMail tab of a Firefox (or other browser) session and an optional pop-up window that goes to 430 x 270. We were only able to determine that it provides a “letterbox” 1.6 width-to-height ratio (as opposed to the 1.33 ratio of “standard” video), but not the frame size or frame rate actually being transmitted over the Internet. As for CPU usage, the “googletalkplugi.exe” was using between 10% and 17% of my CPU. With no accessible statistics along the line of Skype’s option to display call statistics, it was not possible to drill down further. Both audio and video quality were clear and crisp – quite acceptable for a basic one-to-one conversation. Echo cancellation was apparent; Hudson was using the native speakers and mic of his MacBook with no perceivable echo..

It’s definitely not up to the feature set of Skype but here’s where it fits in:

• GMail certainly has a large user base, same order of magnitude as Skype.
• It’s easy to forward your standard POP/IMAP email account to GMail; I use this feature both for the resulting search capability and the available access to GMail on multiple devices, including smartphones.
• It provides real time conversation mode options for GMail threads being read on a PC. While reading an email and running the cursor over the sender’s name, an option pops up to respond to the email message by email, Chat or Voice/Video based on the sender information as shown in the graphic above.

I would classify GMail Voice and Video Chat as a very mild competitor to Skype, suitable for basic “free” voice and video as a conversation enhancer. There’s no way to establish or check audio and video settings; there’s no access to the PSTN. While the video is quite good, it certainly does not meet Skype’s High Quality Video standards. It’s a perfect example of embedding voice and video into an application as a feature but it’s not a standalone real time conversation software application. When I consider the rejuvenation of Global IP Solutions and look at its customer base, I can foresee many other forthcoming instances of embedded voice and video as a feature within an application.

Note: as for the installation issues that Aliza encountered, I simply went to the URL suggested in the GMail weblog post and installed the plug-in (with the browser open). But then you have to restart your browser (in my case Firefox); initially the “video availability indicators” (as represented in the graphic above) were not present but I had to head out at that point. When I came back to my PC four hours later, they had appeared. Chat pixel dust from the (Google) cloud in the interim is my only explanation. At the time of writing this post, its availability should have spread to many GMail accounts by the usual Google osmosis process.

Full disclosure; the author has had previous first hand experience with what was thought to be an application but turned out to be a feature. Quarterdeck’s mid-90′s effort at building a web browser as an application was thwarted when Microsoft decided to make its web browser (aka MS Internet Explorer) a feature within the Windows operating system.

Global IP Solutions today announced a white paper on Desktop Video Conferencing, providing a background for their video infrastructure technology that has the potential to make video calling and video conferencing available to a much broader user base beyond Skype’s (even though it is quite large) and SightSpeed.

Many of you will recall that Skype’s original voice engine came from Global IP Solutions (formerly Global IP Sound) and contributed to Skype’s initial adoption through both its ease of use and voice quality. In April 2006, Skype acquired Camino Networks whose voice engine provided improved features such as echo cancellation. Camino’s President and CEO was Jonathan Christensen, Skype’s current General Manager for Audio and Video.

Global IP Sound went on to supply their voice engine to other players, such as Oracle and Yahoo but, as a company, they have been struggling; their most recent quarterly report demonstrated the extent of the revenue drop-off after loss of the Skype royalties.

This past April, GIPS announced the appointment of a new CEO, Emerick Woods (see full disclosure below). Since joining GIPS Emerick has led a reorganization of the company that included dropping their professional services offerings due to not only lackluster revenue but also the channel conflicts that operation created for their core audio and video infrastructure technology business. They have also closed a Tokyo office and settled outstanding customer lawsuits, including one with Skype where GIPS’ previous claims were denied in an arbitration resolution. As indicated in this interview with iLocus, they are moving to extend their customer base for their Voice Engine product line. As an initial move in August there was the announcement of Voice Engine for iPhone accompanied by a white paper.

In my interview with Emerick at that time, he pointed out that, while GIPS offers, through its various Voice Engine products, a total solution linking the Internet inbound/outbound connection to the user’s microphone/speakers, customers can also customize the voice engine, particularly when it comes to codecs. Customers can use either the GIPS codecs available with the voice engine or any other standard codec. Another feature he emphasized was their independence from operating system restraints and their support for various mobile platforms.

One additional focus has been on working with their current customer base to build stronger customer relationships that can extend their various Global IP Solutions implementations. And, going forward, GIPS will be investing in innovation with video as a key focus.

Today GIPS released a Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC) white paper, authored by analyst Jon Arnold, outlining “the value proposition behind desktop video conferencing, especially in conjunction with other solutions, such as telepresence. Supporting this is an analysis of the trends that create the momentum we believe will make desktop video conferencing as ubiquitous as PCs themselves, and even mobile phones in the years to come.”

Jon talks about the spectrum of video conferencing solutions from telepresence systems employing large “real life” HD video displays, such as offered by Cisco and Polycom, to boardroom systems that provide the basics of teleconferencing via standard display monitors, to desktop conferencing where the user does not have to leave his/her desk to participate in a video conversation.

In short, compared to other video conferencing solutions, the value proposition for DVC is based on three variables: quality, cost and flexibility. Today’s DVC solutions can deliver a high-quality experience, at an affordable price point, and across a wide variety of environments. Aside from complementing the other types of video conferencing solutions, DVC can be deployed in a host of scenarios that are simply not practical any other way.

Jon goes on to provide tables comparing the three scenarios and then goes into details on potential market size for DVC as well as enabling trends that will help provide an appropriate infrastructure for DVC. On a SquawkBox conference call this morning (recording will be linked once posted) we discussed one aspect: support for HD video. Its minimum 720p resolution will require higher bandwidth upload speeds (> 1.5 Mbps) that I have been told will be coming to Rogers Internet next year with an implementation of the DOCSIS 3 infrastructure and probably to other cable Internet services; recall that the widespread availability of broadband Internet was one factor in the rapid adoption of Skype back at its launch in 2003.

He then goes on to discuss the complexities of the providing and adopting the underlying technologies starting with video quality. Synchronization of audio and video, a consistent user experience, the variability of DVC end point configurations and support for a wide range of camera devices are other factors.

And, now for the commercial: GIPS is offering four products, Voice Engine and Video Engine for the PC client side and Voice Conference Engine and Video Conference Engine for the server side, that will allow ready embedding of desktop video conferencing into their customers’ services. Basically GIPS is providing platforms that allow developers, enterprises, service providers and end users to have a high quality DVC experience. Jon concludes:

With GIPS, they have a complete engine that handles all the complexities of IP communications, and with that, a clear path for allowing DVC to reach its full potential, not just at the desktop, but in the mobile world as well.

GIPS has put up two demonstration videos for comparison: one “Traditional Video Conference” and the other “Video Conference Using Global IP Solutions”.

The only current customers using these services are Oracle and Baidu, the Chinese portal; however, discussions are being carried out with several prospective customers, probably including many in their current customer Most interesting is their potential for mobile video; the only North American carrier supporting video to date has been Rogers; however, its most obvious problem is finding other users who can take video calls. Introduction of the Nokia N95 8GB was supposed to expand the video calling-enabled user community; however, iPhone and BlackBerry Bold have stolen the 3G phone market.

Skype’s High Quality Video, SightSpeed’s acquisition yesterday by Logitech, Qik on Blackberry and Nokia N-Series combined with news of GIPS platform offerings are all precursors to a much broader adoption of user-friendly video in both business and personal conversations in the future. (Yes, we all know users have been looking for Skype video conferencing; when?)

Skype Journal: On2 Powers Skype High Quality Video

Full disclosure: GIPS CEO Emerick Woods was the Vice-President, Internet of Quarterdeck Corporation in the mid-1990′s with whom I worked on several business development projects involving partnerships with ISP’s of the time. Over the past 12 years, Emerick, in his capacity as CEO of several startups, which have gone on to be sold, has hired the author at various times for his business development services. The author, however, has no business relationship with Global IP Sound. One more clarification: Emerick has the same initials as a well known Tiger and loves golf just as much.

Tags: Global IP Solutions, GIPS, Emerick Woods, Jon Arnold, Skype High Quality Video, Polycom, Cisco, Nokia, BlackBerry, Qik.com, Logitech, video conferencing, video calling, video, Jonathan Christensen, Desktop Video Conferencing, Voice Engine, Video Engine

OK, so it’s the fourth post this week where I’ve referenced Dan York. But over the two years I have known Dan I have to say he is, in my view, one of the most respected authorities on the technology behind today’s communications revolution. Yet he also understands the value of the user experience.

In celebration of Skype’s fifth birthday Dan has written the most thorough post yet on Skype’s accomplishments and how it has changed not only his life but also the communications market space he works in. He starts out with a personal reminder (along the lines of many of the “What Skype Means to Me” posts that Phil has been coordinating):

I had a personal reminder of that the other day when I wound up in a video chat with one of my closest friends who was my best man at my wedding 12 years ago. Although we have spoken in the intervening years, we had not actually seen each other in probably most of 10 years due to living far apart. He and his wife emailed a group of folks that they now had a Skype ID. I added them as a contact, opened an IM chat and wound up calling them… and then moving into video and seeing them both. It was a powerful moment – and a great reminder of the power of Skype to easily connect people.

Articulating his contribution to our Skype discussion on yesterday’s SquawkBox, Dan then goes on to talk about the many unique aspects of Skype:

• How Skype Disrupted Technology
• Skype “Just Worked”
• Wideband Audio
• Secure VoIP
• P2P VoIP
• Voice First
• Multi-Modal Communication
• PSTN Interconnection
• Cheap Calls
• Challenging SIP and Open Standards
• Persistent Chat – with History

Dan goes on to discuss some of the imperfections and bumps that Skype has experienced over the years and the need for the new executive team to express its vision for the future. (Although Josh’s “liquid communication” term is an appropriate description when I look at the variety of ways I can converse currently via Skype over my PC’s, Blackberry, Nokia N-series phones, Sony mylo, Nokia N-800 tablet, Skypephone).

Last week at Rogers’ Blackberry Bold launch, RIM’s Director of PR pointed out how, during the famous patent lawsuit, settled over two years ago, enterprise IT managers were seeking out alternatives to the Blackberry, should a court injunction force disruption of the Blackberry service in the U.S. This turned out to be one of the best “zero cost” marketing tools RIM has ever had. The IT managers could all report back that the only total solution to their mobile communications needs was indeed Blackberry. (And will remain so, in spite of iPhone’s success.)

So show me another multi-modal, secure, archiving, interconnected conversation platform that provides all the features above in a user-friendly means and that can deliver all the user experiences posted on Skype Journal over the past few days and I’ll stop being a Skype Cheerleader. (But, going forward, the Skype team still has to earn their way … and will.) Yet I’ll also be a cheerleader for anyone else who delivers beneficial user experiences with access to over 40 million ongoing users.

Earlier this week Skype Journal reported on Skype’s sponsorship of Oprah.com’s Web Events involving “classes” discussing Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth. A unique aspect of this presentation involved “full duplex” video dialogues as viewers posed questions. In some cases the viewers were supplied with the appropriate webcam and dual processor PC so that they could use Skype’s High Quality Video to support the dialogue with Oprah and Eckhart. Unfortunately last Monday’s initial session was fraught with network congestion issues as Harpo Productions attempted to support viewing by over 500,000 participants. However, I was finally able to watch the entire presentation once the video download or streaming was made available Tuesday.

My one key observation about the impact of the video technology is being able to watch the viewer’s facial expressions change as her/his question is answered. It provides an additional perspective to the discussion through watching the viewer’s emotional response as a complement to the verbal dialogue between the viewer and either Oprah or Eckhart. Using High Quality Video allows the viewer to be seen at the same level of video quality as the primary video feed from the main studio. Even when the viewer was shown full screen there was minimal pixelation; it allows the technology to take a back seat to the primary presentation and discussion as opposed to being a distraction. Bottom line: a viewing experience that focuses on the subject matter under review. And [switching to Skype cheerleader mode] you had to love Oprah’s comment during one dialogue: “Thank God for Skype!”. Whereas a year ago I was a skeptic about the value of video in conversations, watching this show, following my Skype High Quality Video experiences of the past few months, changed my viewpoint.

This weekend Oprah distributed an email to her book club registrants:

To Students of A New Earth,

Like you, I was deeply disappointed that so many dedicated webcast participants around the world were unable to view our first live webcast.

Experts from both Limelight Networks and Move Networks, our partners in bringing this groundbreaking experience to the Internet, believe they have identified and addressed the programming problem that was unmasked by a historic number of simultaneous users. While we were certainly prepared for the more than 700,000 people registered and continue to be assured that capacity was not the issue…it is clear that pioneering this new platform will always come with risks. So, that said…the team believes we are good to go for another try.

Since Monday night, over 1.5 million people have streamed or downloaded the webcast, and that option will be available on Tuesday of each week after all of the next nine classes.

I have been encouraged by the thousands of message board posts cheering us on to continue the live classes on Monday nights, and so we will keep moving forward, attempting to break new ground.

If you are willing to partner with me in exploring this new frontier — I’ll see you in class live on Monday. Otherwise, you can stream or download the class on Tuesday or whenever it’s convenient. I understand the frustration and leave it to you to experience the class in whatever way works best.

— Oprah

For those who always asked about Skype promotion, does 1.5 million viewings over a one week period answer their concerns about Skype’s awareness generation in North America? I would probably expect around 1 million real exposures as there were four options for downloading and I’m sure, as I experienced, lots of visitors made a couple of attempts to determine a suitable format for viewing or listening.

[In case you had any doubt about the power of an Oprah endorsement: Earlier today, while visiting a Staples, I asked where I could find a Post-It Flag Highlighter -- a co-sponsor with Skype and GM Chevrolet division of this event. In an unsolicited response the Staples associate told me the store had been inundated with requests for this new book reading tool as a result of Oprah's using it on one of her shows. Also worth noting - While Skype's only appearance during Oprah's class is the actual use of Skype High Quality Video with the Skype logo in the name bar as shown above, the other two co-sponsors only had ads that were inserted every 20 minutes or so during the event.]

There was a caveat with respect to tomorrow’s second class (of ten):

We are asking you to arrive early to take your seat. On Sunday, you will receive an e-mail that contains your special link and specific time to enter class. If you arrive after 8:55/7:55c, there is a chance you will be unable to participate in the live Web event. Our goal is to provide as many of you as possible with a positive experience. If we should see a significant decline in video quality, we may limit the size of the class that evening.

Today I received that email with a link; I’ll report on the outcome.

• Dan York: The Oprah-tization of VoiP via Skype
• Harold Wolinsky: Oprah Goes Skype
• Skype Ad Page on Oprah.com

Tags: Skype, Skype High Quality Video, Oprah, Oprah.com, Oprah Book Club Web Event, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, Post-It Flag Highlighter, GM Chevrolet Division

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Getting an interactive Internet program broadcast out to 500,000 proves to be a true pioneering effort; Oprah.com and Harpo Productions demonstrate the value of transparent communication to your audience as a result of a communication technology breakdown. From the Web Event web site at about 10:00 p.m. EST:

Congestive heart failure is a disease where functioning of your heart continues but in a somewhat weakened state. Last night 500,000 logins was too much for Oprah.com. In spite of moving information over the Internet at 242 Gbps, Oprah’s Web Event¹ suffered congestive Internet failure. Some got a steady stream apparently during the first 15 to 20 minutes after a 9:00 p.m. start, whereas others (myself included) received intermittent coverage that eventually just froze. Harpo Productions, however, was quick to put out an apology and explanations, via both the Oprah.com website and emails to all who registered:

Harpo Productions, Inc., Move Networks and Limelight Networks recognize that interactive Internet broadcasting to a mass audience is still an emerging medium, and we’re proud to have been pioneers in pushing the industry forward. We deeply regret that some of our audience did not have an optimal viewing experience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The first session of the webinar will be available in its entirety for viewing on Oprah.com or for downloading as a podcast on Oprah.com or iTunes on Tuesday, March 4.

In the public relations space, it’s called quickly and transparently acknowledging your issues and getting a message (any message) out to your target audience.

As for Skype’s involvement, during the snippets I could watch in 15-20 second intervals, Oprah took two questions over Skype High Quality Video from Illinois, one an individual and one a group watching at a Borders store in Chicago. A couple of comments:

• The bar with the Skype logo remained on screen during the entire dialogue with each questioner. No brief ten second impressions here; this was an ongoing continuous five minute impression! And repeated for each questioner.
• At one point I heard Oprah say something along the lines of “Let’s go back to Kelly via Skype. This Skype is ‘wonderful’: I didn’t even know about Skype until a couple of weeks ago.”
• The Skype High Quality Video logo appeared continuously in the upper left hand corner of both the video calls I was able to view.

When the webcast is available later today, I’ll go back and listen for more details on what is hopefully an uninterrupted stream. Being available as a webcast and a downloadable podcast, there will be lots of residual impressions for Skype. As one of my fellow bloggers commented to me in a chat session: “OMG, the Oprahfication of Skype!”

With nine more Monday night “classes” scheduled, this will be as interesting for the communications technology story and associated public relations activity as for the book’s content.

¹ Due to the dynamic nature of this landing page, the content may change with time. As of 8:00 a.m. EST Tuesday, March 4 it started out: “Monday night’s webcast was one of the largest single online events in the history of the Internet. More than 500,000 people simultaneously logged on to watch Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle live, resulting in 242 Gbps of information moving through the Internet. Unfortunately, some of our users experienced delays in viewing the webcast. We are working to identify the specific causes for the problems experienced and will work diligently to rectify them.”

Skype High Quality Video to be used in the world’s largest classroom.

For all those who have complained that Skype has not generated enough awareness in North America, an event this evening (9 p.m. EST – GMT-5) should change all that. Skype, along with GM’s Chevrolet division and Post-It Notes, is sponsoring all ten weekly segments of Oprah.com’s “A New Earth” Web Event discussing Eckhart Tolle’s book: “A New Earth: Get Ready To Be Awakened“. With over 750,000 registrants, this could be, to quote Oprah from the video, the world’s largest classroom. Click on the image to hear Oprah’s message to Skype users.

Towards the end of each segment, Oprah and Eckhart will be taking video questions using Skype’s High Quality Video. From all the questions submitted, Harpo, the producer, has selected several for a response during the seminar. Those asking the questions have been equipped with the requisite Logitech cameras and dual core PC’s such that they can use Skype’s High Quality Video. Obviously a significant logistics operation here; it will be interesting to watch and see what level of spontaneity is afforded by this arrangement.

To follow the “class”, you need to join Oprah’s Book Club and an opportunity will be presented to attend the event. Note that you also need to install the special movie player required to watch. One has to assume this player has been developed for large audience broadcast events.

I’ll watch and report back tomorrow.

Skype Journal on Skype’s High Quality Video:

• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Expanding the High Quality Video Experience and Observations
• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.

Tags: Skype, Skype High Quality Video, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Book Club, Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

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Earlier this week I mentioned that Jonathan Christensen would be appearing on Alec Saunders’ daily Squawk Box this morning to answer questions about Skype High Quality Video. The session has now been posted as a podcast on Saunderslog. Well worth a listen to get answers to how High Quality Video evolved at Skype as well as some details of how it was a full end-to-end effort on the part of Skype, Logitech and On2 Technologies to meet Skype’s goals.

As an indication of interest, normally there may be four to six participants on a Squawk Box con cast; today there were thirteen.

Tags: Skype, Skype Video, High Quality Video, Jonathan Christensen, Alec Saunders, Saunderslog

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At CES 2008 three weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend some time with Bill Joll, CEO of On2 Technologies, who has been providing the video codecs used in Skype. Founded in 1992 and having done an IPO in 1999, On2 has become the codec power behind not only Skype but also the Adobe Flash Player and, more recently the QuickTime player on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Fundamentally On2′s claim to fame is to provide more efficient compression such that video communication requires less powerful resources than required for standard-based video codecs, such as H.264. Using On2′s VP-7 codec, they were demonstrating, at CES, HD video running on 1.7 GHz platforms; video that would otherwise require a 2.8 GHz platform for the same performance using H.264. Bill’s statement to me was that “the H.264 standard would require the three times the processing power of a video service using On2′s VP-7″.

On2 supplied an earlier version of this codec for the initial Skype video offering two years ago. More recently I reported on the launch of Skype’s High Quality Video mentioning how Jonathan Christensen and his team searched out technology to meet their High Quality Video standard of 640 x 480 @ 30 fps over a minimum 384 kbps Internet upload connection. Having determined that the new Logitech webcams with Carl-Zeiss optics were appropriate for their requirements, they and Logitech personnel worked with On2 to make special adaptations to the VP-7 codec to facilitate meeting Skype’s quality standards, optimizing the video codecs for “moving heads” typical of Skype video calls:

Skype has used On2’s award-winning VP7 video compression since 2005. VP7 technology is designed to provide superb video at very low data rates and perform efficiently on low-power processors. The new VP7 update is specifically designed for video conferencing, using optimizations targeted at stable camera video and processor scalability.

‘In conjunction with Skype and partner Logitech, we have been able to optimize VP7 to achieve video-quality improvements while maintaining tremendous bandwidth efficiency,’ said Bill Joll, president and CEO of On2 Technologies. ‘These are remarkable results for video conferencing. Users will find that they can get lifelike High Quality Video at 384 kbps, a fraction of the bandwidth of most broadband connections.’

In one sense we can see the power of the On2 VP-7 codec when comparing Skype’s High Quality Video’s ability to run on connections with speeds as low as 384 kbps while SightSpeed can currently only run 640 x 480 @ 30 fps over a minimum 1.5 Mbps connection.

During the CES show and in a later press release related to their participation in the upcoming Mobile World Congress, it becomes apparent that On2 is attempting to find ways to provide full 720 x 1280 HD video transmission while minimizing processor and bandwidth resource requirements. Currently HD resolution would be possible with Skype video by a simple modification of a certain Skype file but only at 15 fps; however, this also tells us something about why Skype chose to limit their current High Quality Video standard for a “consumer” environment.

We also talked about multi-party video conferencing. Using the current Skype video technology but with software to manage the logistics associated with multiple participants visually while synchronizing the audio, it would be possible to carry on a video conference call without the need for a central server. (Hint: for practical multi-party video you would probably use four 320 x 240 windows to fit all the images onto most desktop real estate.) Of course all participants would have to meet the minimum hardware requirements for High Quality Video. But I have no information from Skype as to if and when such an offering will become available.

Bottom line is that On2 has become a critical component of Skype’s video technology portfolio and appears to be taking the steps to continue this leadership role.

Tags: Skype, On2 Technologies, Skype Video, High Quality Video, VP-7 codec, Logitech

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For the past few weeks, Alec Saunders, CEO of iotum, has been hosting Squawk Box, a daily conference call discussing IP communications industry issues with anyone who wishes to join the call. Naturally he uses iotum’s Free Conference Call service on Facebook for these calls. Occasionally he has been able to line up a featured guest who brings a special interest to the discussion..

Thursday at 11 a.m. EST (GMT -5) Jonathan Christensen, Skype’s GM for Audio and Video, will be participating to answer questions about the evolution of Skype’s technology, especially the recently launched High Quality Video.

For reference here are Skype Journal’s previous posts about High Quality Video:

• Installing a Logitech High Quality Video Camera: The Experience.
• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Expanding the High Quality Video Experience and Observations

I have been using the High Quality Video for a few months now; my contacts continue to complement the quality of the video they are seeing. ‘Nuf said!

Conference Calls Amongst Your Facebook Friends

Accessing Free Conference Calls on Facebook:

If you are a Facebook, member simply go to the links in the text above. If you are not a Facebook member, send an email to alec@iotum.com to request information on how you may join this call. SkypeOut access: if you are outside the U.S. and have a SkypeOut account, you may use SkypeOut to access the conference number to minimize long distance charges.

Tags: Skype, Skype Video, High Quality Video, Jonathan Christensen, iotum, Free Conference Calls, Alec Saunders

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Last week Alec Saunders received an evaluation Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks; in a post today he comments on:

• the camera’s basic optics quality
• his previous objections to video calls that are overcome by Skype’s High Quality Video:
  • getting the right lighting
  • how previous cameras tend to focus, distractingly, on the forehead rather than the face.
• our twenty minute “across the Internet table” video call this afternoon.

and includes a couple of video comparisons. The outcome: he ordered an additional camera off eBay so he can do Skype video calls with his family while traveling.

Previous High Quality Video posts:

• High Quality Video: What’s the Benchmark?
• High Quality Video: Definitely a Winner for Skype
• Expanding the High Quality Video Experience and Observations

Tags: Skype, Skype Video, High Quality Video, Alec Saunders, Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks