INTRO TO VIEWING WEB CAMS

If you are new to viewing web cams then here is a little introduction to help guide you in your quest for visually exploring the world.

First off most live web cams will need a java capable browser with the java activated. We use Microsoft Internet Explorer (TM]. For more information on setting up java in your browser please see your browser's help.

Don't expect video like tv. A web cam sends pictures at a rate preset by an individual that is running the cam site. Web cam pictures can refresh anywhere from every 3 seconds to hourly, daily, weekly or other. Naturaly the faster the refresh rate the better the motion will appear. Also not all webcams are sending live. Recorded video is used often, but usually it will say live on the site if it is.

Some cams allow you to control the camera. These controls can let you zoom in or pan horizontal and vertical. Sometimes you can even capture a image of what you see and save it to disk. The option to hear audio may also be included. All of these controls are set up by the site owner who determines the amount of control the visitor may have. Not all cams have controls. Cams many times are just sitting in a window overlooking an area and sending images of whatever happens in front of it's lens periodically to a website.

Speed of the cam refresh is best with a cable or dsl modem but can be viewed fine using a regular modem of 56kps. Hopefully the cam is sending at least as fast as the modem you have, otherwise that can cause for slow download time of each new image.

Video streaming is another form of sending video over the internet. This is when you will see true video on the web, but the quality is usually best when accessing the internet with a high band width monitor such as cable or dsl. Low band width modems may hesitate durring play or be choppy. Video streaming can be live or a recorded movie and both often have streaming audio included.

If you come to a cam site and the cam does not seem to be working, try refreshing your browser. If it still is not working then go back to it at another time, it may be that the camera is turned off. Many cams don't run 24 hours a day.

If you like the sounds of all this and think you would like to give it a go, just scroll a little farther down this page and click on a place you would like to see.

Have fun and enjoy.