Dell UltraSharp Webcam Review

Dell has recently dropped the Dell UltraSharp Webcam, supporting up to 4K video and resolution, while also offering a 90-degree field of view. The webcam has a sleek cylindrical design, made of gunmetal aluminum. The UltraSharp Webcam also comes with the most intelligent technology that is contained within a web camera. These intelligent features include advanced digital overlap and video noise reduction, with the video noise reduction offering temporal or spatial noise reduction.

Dell has recently dropped the Dell UltraSharp Webcam, supporting up to 4K video and resolution, while also offering a 90 degree field of view. The webcam has a sleek cylindrical design, made of gunmetal aluminum. The UltraSharp Webcam also comes with the most intelligent technology that is contained within a web camera. These intelligent features include advanced digital overlap and video noise reduction, with the video noise reduction offering temporal or spatial noise reduction.

This webcam retails for $199.99 at Dell (same price at Amazon), which is fairly high for a webcam, however, for the people and creators that this is geared toward, it offers incredibly high-quality imaging. It also allows people to change settings, fix color grading issues, and allows for auto-focusing and auto-framing, which is a new feature that is pretty unique. The Dell UltraSharp Webcam is designed for those creators wanting to push the boundaries of what webcams can do, to give their audience crisp and clear videos and content.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam Specifications

Out of the box, there is the webcam, USB-C to USB-A cable to offer a more versatile cable rather than having a Type-C to Type-C. There is also the mount to allow the webcam to sit on top of any monitor. Additionally, it’s able to sit on top of laptop screens as well, making the mount very versatile. What makes the mount unique is that it is attached via magnetics rather than clips, giving a more professional feel and less chance of a plastic piece snapping. There is another mount that comes with the webcam, which is used for mounting it on a tripod. Finally, there is the cover for the webcam, which is interesting because it sits right over the lens attached with magnets.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam Features

Some of the most prominent features of the webcam include, as repeated before, it offers up to a 4K resolution at 24 or 30 frames per second. The main selling point behind this webcam, besides the 4K, is the sensor that is in place. It has a Large Sony STARVIS™ CMOS sensor, which is found in DSLR cameras. The webcam also has auto-focusing, which is important when on conference calls or other uses so that a person or object is able to stay in focus.

This webcam also has, what is classified as DELL’s intelligent features, Advanced Digital Overlap (DOL) HDR and Video Noise Reduction: temporal and spatial. This webcam also has an auto-framing feature and is able to track where a person is in the environment.

Although this camera offers many smart features, one thing that it does seem to be missing that may have been nice to see would be audio. This webcam doesn’t have a built-in audio receiver, making this a video-only webcam. This isn’t the worst thing to happen because most built-in microphones don’t offer the best audio anyways. It has always been recommended to use a separate headset or a different built-in microphone depending on the type of computer. A unified option may be appreciated by many, however.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam Uses

There are a variety of ways that this webcam is able to be used. The most common use for it is using it as an actual webcam on conference calls, business needs, or even school uses if a professor wants to record a 4K lecture so that students are able to get all the notes in the highest quality.

We have also used it for video making, using it as an auxiliary 4K camera when it comes to reviews that we have posted on YouTube. The manual adjustments this camera allows are pretty interesting. Going beyond normal color and exposure adjustments, you can also manually adjust focus or let it operate in auto-focus modes.

Some more uses that the webcam would succeed at would be things relevant to live streaming and those business professionals that get paid to make videos. When it comes to making videos or live streaming, it is important that people see the highest quality that they are able to, and with this webcam, it would be able to do just that. Of course, creators can opt for a digital camera for this duty, but the issue of cost can be a gating factor.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam Competition

This webcam retails for $199.99, which isn’t cheap by any means, and there are options like the Logitech Brio 4K Webcam, on Amazon right now is $149.99, or a 4K webcam made by DEPSTECH for $59.49 on Amazon. There are a variety of options out there, on multiple different sites. However, what makes this webcam cost $200 and why people prefer it over others is because of the sensor. It has the Large Sony STARVIS™ CMOS sensor.

This sensor that the webcam comes with is one of the highest quality sensors out there that features something that other webcams don’t have and that is back-illuminated image sensors. These work a bit different from other webcams and the senors that they have.

Standard webcams have front-illuminated structures, meaning that it takes in light through the lens, goes through color filters, then metal wiring, and then finally hits the photodiodes. What makes the Dell UltraSharp so different is that once light enters the lens, it goes through the color filter just the same, however, it then immediately hits the photodiodes, and the metal wiring is behind that. The light will never have to go through metal wiring to hit the photodiodes on this webcam.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam Software

Upon plugging the webcam into a computer, it will boot right into DELL’s very easy-to-use device manager, called Dell Peripheral Manager, which allows for very easy setup and the ability to change all the settings and features on the webcam. The drivers for it are automatically downloaded, so no more having to go to a website or searching online on where to find the drivers.

The software is able to change the resolution to 4K, Full HD, and HD, along with each frame rate that would be associated, however, Full HD doesn’t allow 60 fps when Auto-Framing is enabled.

Numbers reference figure above:
	Preset
	Camera Control
	Color and Image
	Presence Detection
	Capture
	Open Media Folder: Choose where to save or open video recordings.
	Start and Stop Recording: Start or stop video recording.
	Update Available When showing, an updated version of the software or hardware firmware is available.
	Help Provides Software and Driver version.
	Settings General: Allows you to turn on or off lock key notification and low battery notifications. Updates: This allows you to check for updated versions of the software and hardware firmware. Analytics: Opt in or out to sending diagnostics to Dell.
	Switch Devices Change the device that you want to configure.
	Add New Device Takes you to the Add New Device screen, so you can add Dell wireless keyboards and mice.

It also has the ability to change the color and image settings, with sliders that allow for brightness, sharpness, contrast, and saturation. Finally, it has different presets available as well, with Default, Smooth, Vibrant, and Warm that is able to change the picture tone.

Conclusion

Overall, the Dell UltraSharp Webcam webcam is a solid choice when it comes to a compact 4K webcam, offering up to 30 fps on 4K and up to 60 on 1080p. By leveraging the Large Sony STARVIS™ CMOS sensor, it makes it one of the best-quality webcams. With the easy-to-use device manager that automatically downloads the drivers and boots right into the software. It is one of the easiest to use webcams and it gives anyone the ability to change, with very nice granularity, how the picture is displayed.

This webcam wasn’t designed for the average user. It was designed for the professionals to have a piece of mind when it comes to using this webcam, knowing that they would be getting the best quality possible out of a webcam. For those in need of a 4K video webcam, or even a 4K camera that is able to do up to 30 frames per second, with auto-focusing, and the ability to have an AI auto-frame, then this is the webcam to get. From a conference call to filming and live streaming, the Dell Ultrasharp Webcam can do it all.

Dell UltraSharp Webcam at Amazon

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