Camera Basics

This topic covers the viewing angle, positioning, and lighting features and considerations of the NC Series cameras.

Angle of View / Field of View

The most important consideration about a camera is simply having it cover the intended area. This will determine the camera’s position and the angle of view it must have.

Wide-angle vs. telephoto

A PTZ camera's focal length of the zoom lens can be varied continuously to widen or narrow the camera’s angle of view. For teleconferencing in a meeting room, the widest angle is usually the most useful for capturing an image of participants seated around a table. A tighter, telephoto, angle is usually best for viewing a single speaker or presenter. A one-meter-wide view can comfortably frame a single person in a bust shot. This is important because a moderate telephoto shot is more appealing than having the camera closer and covering the same view with a wide-angle shot. For zoom and field of view calculations for all Q-SYS cameras, see the interactive camera calculator on the NC Series product page on the QSC website.

What NC Series camera model should I choose?

In a video conference application, the camera typically needs to cover everyone attending the meeting within its field of view. In a standard application, the camera needs to be close to the participants. Its angle of view must be wide enough to include all attendees. Select the appropriate camera based on the angle and zoom distance needed.

Wide angle caveats

Tip: A moderate telephoto shot from a reasonable distance will appear more natural.

Positioning

The angle of view, the desired viewing area, and the position of the camera are all directly related. For conferencing, a camera position slightly above eye level is ideal. Mounting the camera too far above eye level (for example, on top of a large flat panel monitor) can result in an eagle-eye-view where the camera appears to be significantly above the participants and is looking down on them from overhead.

Tip: The result of proper camera positioning is the appearance of meeting room participants making eye contact with remote viewers.

Lighting

NC Series cameras have automatic gain control (AGC) and excellent low-light sensitivity, with a minimum illuminance level of only 0.5 lux at widest angle. For comparison:

Even with a high-quality camera that has great low-light performance – as with the NC Series cameras – picture quality improves sharply with improved lighting. The camera boosts its gain very high to compensate for very low light levels, which can result in more noticeable video noise or grain. Camera autofocus systems are also less effective in very low light. Ensuring suitable lighting is a simple and effective way of improving image quality.

Lighting recommendations