The era of widely used video calls draws near

Sep 1, 2007 09:33 GMT  ·  By

Samsung Electronics just announced the release of two brand new LCD monitors with integrated VoIP functions which are intended to allow users to make video calls over the Internet without the need of additional hardware. The two 22 inch monitors, the SyncMaster 220TN and the SyncMaster 225UW, are optimized for video conferencing as they need only a LAN cable and an Internet connection for their VoIP functions to operate even without a computer system.

The SyncMaster 220TN LCD monitor integrates simple networking modules and a built-in Web video camera, a microphone and a speaker, while the more complex SyncMaster 225UW is specially designed for Microsoft's Unified Communication solution and it also integrates a built-in camera, microphone and speaker which are, of course, compatible with widely used and popular messenger systems such as MS Live Messenger and Skype. Supporting resolutions up to 1680x1050 and a maximum of four high speed USB ports the new LCDs made by the Samsung Electronics company are featuring elegant designs with high gloss finish and touch buttons.

A fast response time of only 5ms makes both of the new Samsung LCD monitors perfect for use at home and in a business environment and the manufacturing company expects them to be well received and liked by companies that are extensively using the video conferencing system over the Internet or by personal users that like to make video calls. Yun Ho Ha, Senior Vice President of Samsung's Visual Display Division said in the company's press release concerning the launch of the two new LCD monitors, "These monitors with VoIP functions unveiled at this IFA exhibition will become a must-have item for individual users and enterprises in the global era."

The Samsung 225UW features a tiltable webcam with a high native resolution of 2 megapixels as well as a number of image and video enhancing technologies like MagicTune, MagicBright2 and MagicColor, while the Samsung 220TN comes with an integrated thin client for VoIP wich runs the embedded version of Microsoft's Windows XP. On the hardware side the thin client comes with an AMD built Geode LX800 central processing unit which runs at a standard clock frequency of 500MHz while the memory amount to 256 RAM and 1GB of non-volatile storage space based on a flash solution. A networking 10/100Mbps Ethernet solution assures the needed connectivity.