Thursday, 17 January 2013

Video Conferencing Equipment Has Evolved Into Perfection

By Paul Fraser


Video conferencing equipment has evolved through the years from radio-frequency hookups to high-definition Internet connections. Now, video conferencing is accessible to most businesses and works better than ever before.



If you have a well-documented history in business, you may have been involved in some early teleconferences or video meetings. Those early connections between 2 locations are as different from the experience provided by modern video conferencing equipment as a phonograph is compared to a MP3 player.



Sure, communication happened on those early connections â€" similair to a phonograph, which replicated the sounds of singers and bands accurately â€" but there were definite quality issues with the equipment and the link.



Today's video conferencing equipment has evolved beyond where anyone could have forecast only one or two years back. Let us take a brief look at the past, present and future. You might just be shocked as to how long videoconferencing has been in the works â€" and how long it took to develop a method and set up that would essentially get things done.



Like many other things, modern videoconferencing owes a lot to the quality connection between locations offered by the Web.



History of Video Conferencing



A videoconference can be any type of audio-video connection between multiple locations. It can be as simple as a conversation between two people at two different locations or it can involve a large number of people spread across various sites around the world.



Primitive videophone communication has been used possibly as long as television has been in existence. Although it wasn't available for widespread use until much later. Still, a video phone network was available by coax cable in Berlin and other German towns as early as 1936.



When space flight started in the U. S. , NASA maintained video communication with its space-going vessels using UHF and VHF radio-frequency video links going in each direction. TV broadcasters used comparable videophones when reporting from the field.



Further attempts to bring similar technology to business conferences, telemedicine and distance learning in the 1950s often failed nonetheless, because picture standard was poor and there was no technique of compression available. Further attempts in the 1970s were not successful either, principally due to expensive costs and the comparatively low number of Picture phones being used globally.



When digital telephone technology started to develop in the 1980s, video conferencing started to become a reality. Still, connections were pricey and quirky. In the 1990s , however , Web-based video conferencing changed into a reality, and business-to-business use rose.



Video Conferencing Equipment Today



Skype and similar services have made video conferencing available to everybody, but these services provide sub-standard connections in a few cases, and hookups frequently fail for seconds to minutes at a time.



In 2005, high-definition video conferencing equipment was demonstrated. Nowadays modern cameras and sound hardware are combined with fast, stable connections between locations, near-perfect communication is possible as long as the right pieces of equipment are installed at each location.



It's difficult to predict what the future could hold because today's video conferencing equipment is so advanced. But with each new year and each trade show that occurs, additional refinements are introduced.



Today's video conferencing equipment is about perfect nevertheless, it's a perfect time to have it installed in your business. It's a far way from the low-def, low-quality connections of the past and even miles ahead of what Videophones can do.




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