THERE’S BEEN A SEISMIC SHIFT in how business teams, in both large and small companies, conduct meetings. Even after the COVID-19 crisis is over, remote employees will account for account for a significant portion of workers, greatly increasing the need to conduct meetings via audio and video teleconferencing. At the same time, more businesses are eschewing traditional large conference rooms in favor of “huddle rooms,” smaller meeting spaces with specialized hardware for audio and videoconferencing.
Anyone who’s watched Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace has seen the end goal of teleconferencing, but we’re a long way off from projecting holograms of people working from remote locations into a conference room seat. Thankfully, a lack of holograms doesn’t equal a lack of ingenuity, as hardware makers are constantly devising new solutions to improve virtual meetings. Jabra, for instance, known for audio products like office and Bluetooth headsets, is looking to shake up the video side of conferencing with the PanaCast, claimed to be the world’s first intelligent 180-degree panoramic plug-and-play video solution.
Meet PanaCast
The huddle room is not a new concept by any means, but with the traditional camera/screen setup, extra floor space is needed to position the camera far enough from the table to get everyone in the frame. Jabra says that PanaCast’s 180-degree camera lets you place a table directly against the wall and still include everyone in view, saving organizations money by allowing them to host meetings effectively in smaller rooms.
I’ve gotten the opportunity to play with several dedicated conferencing solutions over the years, many of them large and bulky. The PanaCast was much smaller than I expected, essentially the size of a traditional webcam. This gives Jabra’s solution one major advantage over many others: portability. A dedicated huddle space can have hardware mounted in place, but remote teams can tote the PanaCast along with ease and create a huddle space virtually anywhere simply by placing a laptop at one end of a table.
Unlike traditional webcams, the PanaCast contains three built-in cameras stitched together in real time via the onboard PanaCast Vision Processor. The result is a 180-degree horizontal, 54-degree vertical panoramic view at a resolution of 3840×1080 at 30 fps. Additional view modes and resolutions are available when a full panoramic display isn’t necessary.
Out of the box, the PanaCast’s flexible mount allows it to be attached to a laptop display or monitor like any other traditional webcam. There is also a threaded hole for a variety of other mounting options like table stands, tripods, and wall mounts.
The PanaCast itself sports a single USB-C connector rather than a hard-wired cable like most webcams (this is expected, since it is designed to be part of the stationary AV equipment in a room). Those using it on the go will need to bring along the included 3-foot USB-C to USB-A cable.
Using PanaCast
PanaCast is compatible with both PCs and Macs and certified for use with a wide range of conferencing applications; my testing was on a PC and notebook running Windows 10 using Zoom, Skype for Business, and Teams.
First and foremost, PanaCast is a plug-and-play device. All the video stitching for the three cameras is done on the device itself, so anyone with a notebook can simply attach it and start using it with no additional software required. There is a recommended software component, Jabra Direct, that can be optionally downloaded. Jabra Direct is how you get firmware updates, and most importantly, it exposes a bunch of settings to adjust or fine-tune the video.
Jabra describes PanaCast as an “intelligent” cam, with the ability to locate and adjust both the electronic zoom and view according to those present. When I sat in front of it alone, it started in a wide, panoramic view, but ultimately decreased the view to 120 degrees, zoomed in, and centered on just my face.
While the intelligent zoom generally works well, it takes a good 20 to 30 seconds to figure out the best mode to use. It was very good at detecting and settling on a view with a larger group of subjects sitting around a table. With fewer participants (especially with just one or two people in view) I found it indecisive. It locked in on a view and zoom level for a few minutes, then adjusted to another one, and kept switching back and forth. Those who wiggle around or lean in and out, particularly in close quarters to the camera, will find it constantly trying to adapt.
At full resolution with suitable lighting, the video quality is above average. Colors aren’t oversaturated, and the image is sharp and clear. While the intelligence feature optimizes the scene view, it does so at the expense of quality—zooming in made the image look muddled and noisy. When using it more as a webcam or with few people, I recommend positioning the camera as close as possible.
Image stitching between cameras is good, but not perfect. There are two different video modes selectable in the Jabra Direct software, Blend and Carve, which differ in how they blend the images together. Carve mode did a better job making the seam less noticeable in the overlap region. The seam is more noticeable at close range but is still visible if a subject happens to be in just the right spot.
Video controls for things like color, contrast, white balance, zoom, etc., are available to tweak (and thanks to a recent update, will save between sessions), and are adjustable in real time. The device settings are in a separate section and require a reboot of the camera if changed. That would be annoying, but few will want to change these from the defaults. The exception may be the intelligent zoom feature, which may be desirable to disable in certain integrations.
The PanaCast has two built-in microphones for audio pickup, which worked about as well as expected for integrated microphones. As a webcam, I’d say it’s better than average, but meeting space integrators will want to eschew the built-ins for a dedicated audio device.
Summary
I walked away impressed with Jabra’s PanaCast. It’s incredibly simple to use, which is important for groups that want to enter a shared space and start a meeting with little effort. The 180-degree camera really does allow for space saving in rooms designed with the PanaCast in mind. Its compact size makes it suitable as a single conferencing solution for both dedicated rooms and remote teams that want to create a huddle room anywhere.
Most importantly, the expansive, panoramic view is great for team-to-team discussions. For any business with groups of three or more regularly conferencing on video, the PanaCast should be one of the first solutions considered.
FEATURES AND PRICING
(Specifications courtesy of Jabra)
Price … $895 MSRP
Number of cameras … 3
Field of view … Horizontal:180°; Vertical: 54°
Light control … Brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and white balance
Stitching technology … Dynamic real-time stitching technology, running in the onboard PanaCast Vision Processor
Supported resolutions:
- Panoramic-4K: 3840 x 1080 @ 30fps 1080
- Full HD: 1920 x 1080 @ 30fps 720p
- HD: 1280 x 720 @ 30fps
Audio … 2 built-in microphones
Camera controls … Electronic Pan-Tilt-Zoom (ePTZ)
Adjustable field of view … 90°, 120°, 140°, and 180° through Jabra Direct
Connectivity … USB plug-and-play USB-C port
System requirements … Windows 7 or above, macOS X 10.9 or above, Linux Ubuntu 16.x or above, Chrome OS USB 3.0 (supports USB 2.0 through the Jabra USB hub)
Certifications … Microsoft Teams Compatibility Zoom, Cisco Webex, Slack, Google Hangouts and more.
Main unit dimension … (L x W x H) 102 x 67 x 20 mm / 4 x 2.6 x 0.8 in.
Images: Courtesy of Jabra
