ZDNet UK


Skip to Main Content

ZDNet.co.uk - Winner of Best Business Website 2007
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Blogs
  4. Reviews
  5. Prices
  6. Resources
  7. Community
  8. My ZDNet

 

ZDNet UK RSS Feeds


IT Jobs

Become a ZDNet.co.uk member

NETWORKING REVIEW

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print

LifeSize Express review

7.6

Editors' Rating

Very Good

Ease of use 7.5
Installation & setup 7.5
Audio quality 8.0
Image Quality 8.0
Features 7.0
LifeSize Express

Charles Mclellan ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 04 Apr 2008

Videoconferencing used to be a relatively low-resolution 4:3 aspect-ratio affair, but in recent years it has been transformed by high-definition (HD) 16:9 video, displayed on large screens in custom-built suites. To reflect this enhanced, immersive, experience, the term 'telepresence' has been adopted. The exemplar of telepresence is Cisco's eponymous product, which is notoriously expensive — it'll set you back around £150,000 for a dedicated suite, with serious service/bandwidth charges on top of that. HP also plays in this high-end market with its Halo product, along with the likes of Tandberg, Teliris and Polycom.

Clearly there is a vacant niche in the videoconferencing ecosystem for something more capable than do-it-yourself 'Skype and a webcam' solutions, yet cheaper than feature-rich but exorbitant Cisco/HP-style installations (despite recent moves to cut prices in this market). This is where Austin, Texas-based LifeSize comes in — most particularly with its entry-level £3,499 LifeSize Express product.

Hardware
LifeSize Express is a single-screen, point-to-point telepresence system comprising an HD codec, an HD pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera, a high-definition MicPod microphone and a wireless remote control. Any display with an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) port can be used. Note that this is a standalone system — no PC is required.

The codec, which handles the audio/video streams in real time, is a slim, roughly A4-footprint, unit measuring 28.8cm wide by 18.7cm deep by 4.13cm high and weighing 1.29kg. Bar a couple of status LEDs at the front, all the action is on the backplane, where the I/O connections reside.

The LifeSize Express codec.

From left to right, there's a reset button, a 4-pin power connector (from the bulky 19V AC adapter), a VGA input for displaying PC output, a FireWire port for the camera, HD video-in and video-out ports, RJ-45 connectors for the LAN and the optional LifeSize Phone plus microphone, line-out and line-in jacks.

The camera is a solid pan-tilt-zoom unit that can deliver 1,280-by-720 (720p or WXGA) video at 30 frames per second (fps), although the resolution you actually get at the remote end of a two-way link will depend on the bandwidth available (>1Mbps is required for 720p). It connects to the codec via a 7.5m FireWire cable, giving you reasonable placement flexibility (a 15m cable is also an option).

 

The LifeSize Express HD pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera.

The camera's wide-angle lens has a 70-degree field of view and a 4x optical zoom that's operated via the supplied infrared remote control.

The remaining components are the aforementioned MicPod microphone and the remote control. The MicPod is a disc-shaped omni-directional mic with a 7.5m combined audio/power cable, adorned by a mute button and call status/mute indication LEDs.

The LifeSize Express MicPod microphone and infrared remote control.

The remote control lets you navigate LifeSize Express's on-screen menu system, control the local or remote PTZ cameras, mute the microphone and adjust speaker volume.

 

Next

Previous

1 2


  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly
  • Post Comment

Overview

LifeSize Express

Editors rating
Rating: 7.6
Verdict

As an entry point into high-definition videoconferencing (telepresence), LifeSize Express is hard to beat. It's a standalone solution that occupies the middle ground between PC-plus-webcam systems and vastly expensive telepresence suite installations.

Typical price

£ 3499

On The Road Blog

Mobile Speed Demon: Wireless Surpasses...

Mobile Speed Demon: Wireless Surpasses Landline Author: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com As I look around my house and throughout my network of friends, I instantly realize... More

Post a comment

Why do you need Portable password mana...

There are much more than 5, but I will start with these main points: 1. You are human... never mind, no one is perfect. 2. We live in modern world with its cons and pros 3. We... More

Post a comment

Over 10000 laptops are lost every week...

Yesterday article in PCWorld with reference to the Ponemon Institute survey claims close to 637,000 laptops lost in large US airports each year. The figure itself is amazing. But... More

Post a comment