Video Conferencing – From Birth to Now
With the recent advancements in video conferencing technologysuch as HD capabilities and reduced bandwidth it has come a long way since its launch in 1964 at the New York world fair. The original video conference system simply consisted of two televisions connected by a closed circuit cable. Due to the current economic situation and the resulting rise in petrol prices, video conferencing has become an increasingly popular method of communication; especially for conducting meetings between businesses, government, military and educational establishments all over the globe.
After IBM introduced their special video conferencing in the 1980s that could be used by businesses internally for carrying out meetings, the commercial market began to appreciate the benefits of video conferencing systems. These advancements came at a cost though, with each system costing typically around $250,000 and these were not yet even at optimum picture quality; this lead to a lack of demand for these systems resulting in the cost being dropped. It wasn’t until the cost was lowered significantly to around $80,000 that anyone was really interested. The US Military decided to take advantage of this lower price but still video conferencing could not be deemed a success until the mass market of businesses and consumers made the decision to use this new video conferencing idea.
By the 1990s the internet was the new exciting development and due to these new advancements, the video conferencing systems also developed and became cheaper as now video could be sent via the internet. Further reductions came from IBM with the development of the video conferencing system that could be entirely based on a PC at a cost of around $2000, a snip compared to the original prices of these systems.
This was all possible due to advancements in technology allowing for more advanced video compression technologies which allowed for larger files to be transported in a compressed format therefore using less bandwidth.
The new compression technology helped to form the first socialising type programs such as MSN Messenger. Finally, a whole new market was realising the benefits of video conferencing.
High-speed internet became easily accessible at a very low cost by 2003 including the reduced costs of web cameras and display technology. Individuals are now able to do high definition video conferencing which was first introduced during 2005. A clearer and more crisp image quality is easily achievable as well as a synchronised audio to provide a higher quality experience for all involved.
HD video gives a wider presentation allowing more people to be involved in the conference and with the ability to transmit high resolution content such as charts and photographs, the conference has a new, more vibrant clarity that is enjoyed by all. For the hearing impaired, now the smooth image quality makes it easy to follow sign language over the video conferencing system. The whole overall quality and range of information that can now be communicated through these systems makes video conferencing a valuable tool for anyone.
Due to the quality of HD video conferencing, the experience is far more personal and life-like. It is the next best thing to actually being in the same room. It will be very interesting to see if video conferencing develops into 3D functionality in the future and what benefits that might bring to the user experience.
