Hi, I'm the engineer who designed the NetcamLive camera. Someone pointed out this discussion about sensor size, and in another place bandwidth. I thought I'd offer to provide more info.
The camera is using a 5MP sensor. But the image sizes that are available had to be centered around YouTube approved sizes, and through testing YouTube's reactions to variations. We also took into account the wide range of conditions in the quality of internet connections throughout the day. For instance, did you know that in large cities there's a severe traffic jam on the internet every morning, when people get to work at the same time and all open their email? Believe it or not, that camera knows.
So the size of the sensor doesn't really tell you what sizes are available, as it does with security cameras. Whatever size of sensor we might use would have ended up with those sizes, to go along with current YouTube live stream behavior.
The bandwidth it uses is selected for you by that presets pulldown menu. Always use the presets to start! A lot of time was put into calculating what works best with the current YouTube system, and some of the things that preset menu does aren't obvious. Consider that it's not like a security camera, where you just pick what you like and see if the setup will allow it. YouTube monitors flow over relatively long periods, and the camera needs to comply with their requirements to get the best result.
Default bitrate on some sizes is set to 4000, but it adjusts itself on the fly several times a second according to your connection. A connection of only 500 can still produce a reasonable view, but in such a case you might need to tinker beyond the presets. Always remember, lowering the frame rate DOES NOT lower the bit rate. You have to lower both if you're trying to work on a poor connection.
Note that if you have a poor connection, there's nothing wrong with 360p. It's better than old fashioned TV was. Also, YouTube likes to re-sample the size when they send it out, and often turns 1080p into 360p unless the person viewing knows how to use their settings button.
360p is made from the whole sensor, so pixel for pixel it's actually a sharper image when viewed at that size than you would get from a YouTube re-sample of a larger one. But the optimum YouTube size at this time is 720p.
Here's a YouTube status page attachment, showing how people end up seeing our 720p fishtank. Most are receiving only 360p!
Anyone have nerdy questions about the camera? Feel free to ask.
I even know some amusing live streaming stories, like how my truck was stolen from our parking lot live YouTube, driven to Barstow, the radio stations were changed to jazz, and it was returned because of the YouTube stream (which had clear pics of the guy in the 4 hours they retained).
Daniel Lawton (dan@stardot.com)
Senior Engineer
StarDot Technologies
