Jabra is known for its wide variety of audio products. But for those who do not know, Jabra is also active in offering equipment for the office such as audio sets and camera sets. Many Jabra products are suitable for business, enterprise and many more purposes.
Arriving at our lab recently is the Jabra Panacast 20, which is a webcam powered by an artificial intelligence system so it can detect faces and have good focus and tracking. I have used this webcam for various meetings and teleconferences and in this article I will share my usage experience as well as give an opinion on whether it is worth owning.
Specifications
Jabra PanaCast 20
Webcam Type
13MP sensor, F/2.25
1/3.2
3x Digital zoom disappears
Microphone 3x MEMS microphone
4k UHD recording, 3840 x 2160, 30 fps
1080p FHD, 1920 x 1080, 30 fps
720p HD, 1280 x 720, 30 fp
Zum pintar
Jabra Direct Software
Windows or macOS
USB-C to USB-A connection
USB-C to USB-C
Price RM1850
The Jabra PanaCast 20 uses a 13MP camera sensor with a 1/3.2-inch size and f/2.25 lens aperture. It also supports invisible digital zoom up to three times, is loaded with three microphones and supports recording up to 4K 30fps. The specs look pretty good for video calling use as well as for teleconferencing sessions.
The webcam also has an artificial intelligence system to ensure the image and video quality remains good. It can also ensure that users can be seen in low lighting situations. Jabra uses its own chip for this artificial intelligence system.
The PanaCast 20 is also designed in a compact size for easy carrying anywhere. It also has a flat plastic part for easy mounting on a laptop or monitor. The design is also simple, neat and doesn’t look complicated. Jabra also provides a slider to close the camera sensor as privacy to users.
The connection is by USB-C to USB-C with the camera provided. But if you use a USB-C to USB-C connection, it is not a problem as long as it is USB 3.0. LED lights are also built in to let you know which camera is being actively used. In the purchase package, there is also a storage container made of fabric.
Camera Quality
For a 13 Megapixel webcam, I was a bit surprised by the capabilities of this Jabra PanaCast 20 camera. It has satisfactory results, especially in low light situations. The camera has good focus and is able to give quite bright and quality results. Although the noise effect is still clearly visible, it is still within acceptable levels.
At the beginning of use, I did not change any settings through the Jabra Direct app. Auto mode is pretty good and goes beyond what I would like on a webcam. Only if using it to take pictures, it is not very consistent and the artificial intelligence system starts to get dizzy.
The picture has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, from several samples I took throughout use, each image is different. The quality becomes worse if Vivid HDR mode is used.
For video quality, in some of the meetings and press conferences I attended - the results were very satisfying for light in the office. If there is the help of sunlight, of course it looks more beautiful, bright, sharp and has good focus. At night with LED lights, it can still be seen well and clearly.
What I love is, it has a Center Stage -like feature from Apple. It can detect the face of the user who is in front of the camera. When it zooms in, it still has good quality. Then when someone else gets into the frame, it will try to focus for more people. Only his movements looked a little weird and awkward.
Audio Quality
The quality of the microphone when in a state of silence and only I am the one speaking, it is quite good, clear and bright. The voice can be heard without any problems. In more noisy situations, however, it will have a bit of a problem as it tries to remove the noise and focus on my voice.
While I can accept the quality of the audio produced, I’m not very satisfied as it has more or less the same quality as the microphone on my Huawei Matebook 14s, only it’s slower.
Software
To control this camera, all controls and settings are through Jabra's own software, Jabra Direct. The software supports Windows and macOS platforms without any problems. In fact, on a MacBook with an Apple M1 chip there is no problem to use this software. On Windows, it can directly detect the camera without having to install software. But this I do not encourage because if there is a software update on the camera it cannot be done.
In this software, it can turn off or on the smart zoom feature as well as picture-in-picture mode. This picture-in-picture mode however does not support the smart zoom feature, but makes it easy for users to perform various multi-tasks.
The camera is also optimized for use on software such as Zoom, Google Meet and many more teleconferencing services.
What's In The Box
Jabra PanaCast Camera 20
USB-C to USB-A 3.0 cable
Former storage
Guidebook
Conclusion
For those who don’t have an iPad or MacBook with the Center Stage feature, the Jabra PanaCast is among the best cameras you can all use as a webcam for daily work. It has acceptable quality, smart features that facilitate as well as pretty good microphone quality.
Only the selling price of this camera is RM1850 which to me, it is quite expensive. It’s the price of a premium mid -range smartphone that already has a good camera. With third -party apps like Camo Studio, the phone can be turned into a webcam without having to incur additional costs.
But if you only have one phone, want a smart camera with a microphone that can capture good sound - the Jabra PanaCast 20 is a professional webcam ideal for those actively attending teleconferencing.
Pro
Satisfactory video quality for webcams
Able to zoom up to 3x
Can track faces and change focus well
Cons
Image results are inconsistent
Audio is not good if in a noisy official situation
The price is a bit high
