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Best viewed with IE 4.0 or later, 1024 X 768.
Introduction Staying in touch with people who are far away has been one of the mainstays of technology throughout the ages. Indeed, to support the vast infrastructures in place, fast and efficient communication is not a luxury, but a necessity nowadays, and when one thinks about it, much of our communication equipment not only supports infrastructure, but is an essential part of that infrastructure. When one thinks about it, a phone is pretty much a prerequisite to living in the modern world; some would say that Internet access is also the same. Following the lead that voice communications have taken, video communications have been promised for some time now. Watching any number of non-Apocalyptic future TV shows will certainly yield some form of video communication, whether it be through Star Trek or that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa is thrust into the future after her encounter with the fortune-teller. But a number of things have prevented the videophone from being widely adopted, from price, to the simple fact that many people don't want to be seen as they value the inherent privacy of a phone. But for those wanting videoconferencing ability, there are more problems than just price. Initially, videophone abilities were limited to PC's equipped with webcams and sometimes hard-to-configure conferencing software. This left something to be desired, because if placing a videophone call was so difficult, many people simply would not want to deal with the trouble, and hence there wouldn't be a large user base. It didn't matter if the technology was awesome; if no one's using it for communication, there's little incentive for new users to adopt it. D-Link saw these problems, and designed the DVC-1000 "i2eye" VideoPhone to address these issues, and add several other features at the same time. Just by reading the initial specs of the DVC-1000, one gets an idea of its target audience. The DVC-1000 is a completely standalone device; it does not need to be connected to a computer for usage, and hence requires no software installation. It is therefore not just a webcam that can be used for teleconferencing, but rather it was designed from the ground up to be used for videoconferencing. It conforms to the ITU H.323 standard for voice and video communication over the Internet, and has its own 10Mbps network interface built-in. Video and audio output are via RCA jacks for a quick connection to your TV/VCR, and the only other thing that is needed is a broadband Internet connection. There is also an option to use a telephone as a handset for private communication, and this also has additional benefits. D-Link claims their i2eye DVC-1000 Videophone is a revolutionary device that aims to bring videoconferencing to the masses in an easy-to-use, affordable package. Indeed, they even have compared their product to the invention of the telephone, and the patenting of the television set. Certainly, D-Link has confidence in their videophone - but can it perform well, and more importantly, is it easy to use? We shall see... Specifications The DVC-1000 is meant to be used in conjunction with a TV, and placed on top like a set-top unit. It connects to a TV or other device using standard RCA cables, which are included. It is about the size of a hard cover book, and not heavy at all. At the heart of the unit is a camera that supports a resolution of up to 352x288 at 30fps, though this figure may vary according to available bandwidth and so forth. The unit does have a built in microphone for speakerphone mode, but it is advisable to use a microphone or telephone so that full-duplex mode will be enabled; when in speakerphone mode voice communication is only available in half-duplex mode, meaning that only one side can speak and be heard at any given time. When connecting a telephone for use as a handset to the DVC-1000, you won't be able to use the telephone to place regular phone calls; rather it can only be used with the videophone itself.
The DVC-1000 came nicely packaged as many of D-Link's products do, and was well protected. The videophone itself came with a rubber lens cap on, to protect the lens from dust and scratches, and it's a good idea to keep the lens cap in place when you're not using the device. The remote came with 2xAAA batteries; it's nice to see that you don't need to rush out and buy these little things to get this product working. The A/V cables and a CAT-5 cable for data were also included. The included Quick Install Guide and Manual were also up to par, each being full of screen shots and helpful pictures to guide you on your way. D-Link wanted the DVC-1000 to be an easy to use solution, and the starting point of this was their always-informative manuals. Overall, the DVC-1000 came in a complete package that left little to be desired, and it's nice to see D-Link put together a full package, rather than skimping on things to save a few cents per unit.
Being fairly small, the DVC-1000 will fit nicely on top of almost any TV, and because of its small size, low weight and gripping feet, it'll stay where you put it. The only minor placement problems you might run into are a result of the length of the RCA and power cables; the RCA audio/video cables are only about 1.5m long, and the AC adapter is only 1.8m. If the connections on your TV/VCR are quite a ways away, or the power bar is is not close by, these distances will not suffice. A remote is pretty much necessary for operation as if you're not using a telephone as a handset, all the input will be done via the remote. However, this results in just one more remote being added to the collection of remotes around your TV or entertainment center.
The front of the unit shows the status of the DVC-1000 through a series of LEDs. The square LED to the immediate left of the lens shows the activity of a call - it'll be red when there's a call in progress. The remote sensor is to the right of the lens, and then comes the status LED and power LED. The status LED should only be on briefly when you power up the unit, otherwise it should be off unless the DVC-1000 is perhaps defective - useful as a quick diagnostic tool. As you can see from the side view, the DVC-1000 isn't bulky and hence won't look ugly on top of your TV. As with most consumer devices nowadays, the silver case is made of plastic.
There is a focusing ring around the lens, as is the case with many cameras. It is really only for making minute adjustments, which is all you should need to do; the ring is quite tight and when you turn it counter-clockwise it appears to unscrew and suddenly get loose, and if you're dumb enough to keep loosening it (like I did), the lens eventually comes out. Tightening the lens helps focus on more distance objects, while counter-clockwise motion helps to focus in closer. You shouldn't have to make a lot of adjustments though, as by default the DVC-1000 will focus well if you're about 8-10ft or so away - which is about how far you need to be if you want to be in the camera's field of view properly. Though the lens assembly can tilt up or down quite a bit, it can't swivel from side to side, so you'll need to position the whole entire unit accordingly during setup. A nice addition was the sticker on the bottom that explained all of the camera's connections and status lights; this is the same diagram found in the quick setup guide. It's a bit redundant though, as D-Link pretty much labelled every connection itself nicely.
As the DVC-1000 is a standalone device that doesn't require a computer at all to use, a remote control is included, along with the batteries needed to operate it. It's pretty much a standard remote, not big at all at around 16cm in length. It's easy to hold, and the button placement with the Enter and arrow keys right where your thumb rests makes it easy to use as well. A number of buttons are in place to provide quick access to useful functions, such as the Enter button which brings up the on-screen keyboard for character input, and the cancel button, which backs you out of a menu quickly, removing the need to use the arrow keys to get to the cancel button on-screen.
The back of the unit sports all of the connections. A hard on/off switch is followed by the RJ-45 connector, a mic input, an RJ-11 phone jack for use with a telephone as a handset, and the RCA connectors for attachment to your TV. The Ethernet connection has the small status and activity LEDs as any normal jack should have, and as mentioned before, the interface sports only a 10Mbps connection; this shouldn't matter as the necessary data rate for the DVC-1000 is far below this. However the most interesting connection on the back is the phone jack, which allows you to hook up a regular telephone. I was initially confused at this, but it's pretty simple. A phone connected to the DVC-1000 will *not* be able to make regular phone calls as it's not connected to a phone line any more, but instead the phone's handset will be used as an input/output device for the DVC-1000. Basically, this transforms the DVC-1000 into a true videophone that operates in the same way as a regular phone. When you want to make a call, you simply take the phone off its hook (or press "Talk" if you've connected a cordless phone), and the DVC-1000 will detect that the phone is engaged; it will then prompt you to dial a number or select a speed-dial entry - you can do both just by using the keypad on the phone's handset. Similarly, when someone calls you, picking up the phone will answer the call. This feature indicates D-Link was very much aiming to make the DVC-1000 easy to use for everyone - by making the basic operation as similar to a phone as possible, this has ensured that almost everyone should be able to use it easily.
Using a phone also enables full-duplex audio; that is you will be able to talk and hear the other person at the same time. While using the speakerphone in the DVC-1000, audio is only half-duplex; you will only be able to talk or listen, but not do both at the same time. What is worse is that speakerphone automatically determines when the noise level is high enough to transmit; thus if you're in a loud room the speakerphone will always been transmitting audio, and because of the half-duplex impediment, you won't be able to hear the other side.
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