Review: PlayStation 3 Eye USB 2.0 Camera

PlayStation 3 Eye USB 2.0 Camera
Manufacturer: Sony
Site: Buy from ConsoleSource
Price: $44.95


Overview : Revolutionize your interactive gaming and online communication experience with the PLAYSTATION®Eye USB camera. The PLAYSTATION®Eye has the ability to reduce background noise and focus on the spoken word for smoother, more accurate speech recognition and transfer. The fast frame rate allows for improved tracking and responsiveness for pristine video quality. The PLAYSTATION®Eye is also engineered to perform well in low-light conditions and includes a dual action lens for close-up and full body options.

EyeCreate™ Software

EyeCreate is the first video editing software for the PLAYSTATION®3. Using EyeCreate™ and the PLAYSTATION®Eye camera, you can capture video, audio and even photos which can then be edited into a movie. An extensive list of special effects such as Color Filters, Distortions, Art Filters and Motion Trails can give your video a professional touch. There are even advanced features such as Time Lapse and Stop Motion to experiment with. Once you're done creating and editing your masterpiece, Export it to watch it on the Video folder of the XMB. EyeCreate™ will let you express yourself and get creative!

Features :

• Built-in 4 microphone array
• Chat with up to 6 people at once
• Ultra fast frame rate of 120 frames per second ensures pristine video quality
• Engineered to work well in low light conditions
• Includes free EyeCreate Software download

Quality/Usability : The PlayStation 3 Eye USB 2.0 Camera is the successor of Sony's popular EyeToy for the PlayStation 2. The PS3 Eye is not only available by itself, it also comes with The Eye of Judgment collectible card game. This review will be based only on the camera.

The PlayStation Eye works exactly like its predecessor, EyeToy. Setup is easy. Just plug it into the PS3 via USB. Upon setting up the PlayStation Eye, you can preview what the Eye is looking at by simply going to "Camera Device Settings" than "Accessory Settings". This will show you what the Eye sees and you can change between 50hz or 60hz.

Above the lens are 4 microphones underneath the mesh grill. These microphones can detect where the voice is coming from. Underneath the microphones are two LEDs. The red LED on the left shows that the Eye is in use. The blue LED on the right shows that it is plugged and powered on.

What's nice about the Eye is that there is ZOOM as well as an auto-focus. You do not have to manually twist the lens in order to focus on the picture. It does it for you without you touching it. However, there are two settings on the lens where you will have to twist the lens for normal distance and ZOOM.

Since I no longer own a EyeToy, I can not compare the both side by side but the quality of the image on the Eye is pretty good. Not clear and crisp as you would find on a camera/video camera but better than your cellphone video and webcams.

The PS Eye comes with a EyeCreate editing software. It allows you to save photos, videos, and audio clips onto your PS3 hard drive. Once you have saved your images, you can add visual effects to it.

Videos can be recorded as big as 640×480 (up to 60fps) in video-capture mode. It can record as low as 320x240 (up to 120fps). Videos are saved in MPEG4 format.

Video chatting worked great and looked sharp. Depending on connection, you will notice a image lag but the audio doesnt lag/skip.

Conclusion : Overall, PlayStation 3 Eye USB 2.0 Camera works great and will come in handy when games and the PS3 finally takes advantage of it. As mentioned The Eye of Judgement takes full advantage of the PS Eye. Burnout Paradise only takes advantage of it for the license pictures. There is a lot of potential for the Eye especially when HOME comes out. Hopefully more games will also take advantage of the Eye as well.

Too bad there is only one ZOOM. So if you're sitting far away from your TV, the Eye will be capturing a lot of the background as well as your surroundings instead of just majority of you.

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