Offering the HD experience

We've updated the DirectCam broadcaster which doesn’t rely on Flash player.  You can use it from your desktop, laptop, phone and tablet. Two-way cam should be a much better experience as well.  Read the 'DirectCam Helper' guide here.

Whilst the technical setup of DirectCam might not be your favourite part of the job, offering the best quality possible increases your chance of people joining, and staying in your live cam sessions.

When it comes to webcamming, the better the quality you can offer, the higher your chances of success are.  You may already have an HD webcam but maybe you haven’t adjusted your JustCamIt (JCI) settings accordingly.

Follow the guide below to make sure you give your customers the HD experience.

Your webcam

If you do not already have an HD webcam, it should be pretty straight forward in selecting one – as with most things, just spend as much as you can afford.  Logitech offers a great range, although, during COVID-19, you might find it harder than usual to get hold of one as so many people are working from home.

Video Settings

You do not need to be logged into JCI to make these changes, just make sure it is running.  Start with your video settings from the ‘Video’ menu.

These settings are unlikely to be the same for everyone, it all depends on the power of your PC and your internet connection speed – the quicker these are, the better.  If you can upgrade your internet speed and PC, we’d recommend doing so.  We’d also suggest using a LAN cable to connect directly to your router too.

Yes, we know, sounds old fashioned but WiFi is notoriously ‘flaky’ and patchy.  You just cannot beat a good ol’ LAN cable for a reliable connection.

Remember, lighting is key when webcamming, poor lighting will require your webcam to work harder and end up producing a poorer image.  Do it with the lights on – more light = more detail 😉

Image size

You can usually pick the size of image size at which your device it captures it.  It is common to see sizes of 848×480, 1280×720 etc. which is the size of the image your customer sees.  There is also a minimum bandwidth requirement for each image size:

Frames Per Second

This is the expected frame rate you for your webcam.  It does not guarantee that the FPS will be achieved, this will be again down to your PC and internet speeds.  If you set the frame rate higher than your device is able to keep up with you might run into issues.

Max Bitrate

This tells JCI what maximum bitrate to encode the video at.  The higher the number, the better the image.  It usually puts a higher bandwidth requirement through your internet connection though.  JCI will show you in the bandwidth test if this is achievable.

With all these settings, a little experimenting may be required.

You really want to be able to maximise the settings within the limits of your PC and internet connection.  You will be able to tell if you have over adjusted these settings if the ‘BW’, ‘FPS’ or ‘CPU go red within the ‘Info’ section of JCI.

Check your internet speed here.  Ideally, you want at least 1.5Mbps which would allow you to be listed in the HD Cams area and be able to stream to mobile devices*.

• iPhones you need 600 Kbps extra
• iPads you need 350 Kbps
• Android devices you need 300 Kbps

Whilst JCI will let you set these settings, there is no guarantee your camera can support them and specifying higher settings than your PC or camera can support will result in poor video, which the connection optimiser will attempt to correct.

Your CPU (Central Processing Unit (responsible for processing and executing tasks)) must stay below 70% – if it goes over, your PC will likely crash, this is because it is just trying to do too much.  You will need the FPS and BW as high as possible though.

Audio Settings

Not as intensive as the video settings but equally important.  Have you suffered from members advising they can’t really hear you?

Hit the ‘Audio’ menu at the top of JCI and ensure you have the ‘Enable Audio’ tick box ticked and adjust your bitrate to 42.4 Kbps – this will give great sound quality to your session too.

Wherever possible, we would recommend webcamming from a room that does not have a lot of audio interference, say for example avoiding rooms that are adjacent to high-traffic roads.  If that’s not possible try to keep the windows closed to minimise the sound.

You are ready to offer the HD experience

So long as you have managed to get your settings just right, you are now ready to offer the HD experience.  Your profile will show up on the HD Cams Page on the site and if you’re online, you’ll also show up on https://marketing.adultwork.com/HDWebcams/.

Every time you log in to JCI, you will see your connection optimizer report.  This is shown on the right-hand side of the JCI window. Not to worry, you won’t have to go through these settings again if you’ve got your settings right.

Keep an eye on your bandwidth, frames per second and your CPU usage when you start your sessions.  If you have lots of other devices connected to the internet, such as other PCs, smartphones, tablets or games consoles streaming or downloading content, this can severely affect your upload and download bandwidth speeds.

We previously published guides, ‘DirectCam Guide‘, *this includes more information on streaming to mobile devices, ‘Webcam Performer Setup’ and the ‘Ultimate Webcam Guide’.  It’s worth taking the time to read through these guides to ensure you’re doing everything you can to ensure the best success.

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