AVerMedia - Live Streamer CAM PW513 3840 x 2160 Webcam

When i was looking at it on the website the pictures make it look kinda big so I was very surprised to see just how compact it is. It's built very sturdy & high-quality material. Great picture, great quality, good feild of veiw for the pixel resolution. Plug & play easy to use, won't have to buy another Webcam for another 5 years!

Amazing product. It has good quality of video and a clear audio from its microphone.

I'm very surprised with some of the not so great reviews of this Webcam. After installation of the Cam Engine software and updating the camera (due to the issue of too much default brightness) I found this webcam to be superior to any of the ones I own including Logitech Streamcam and other Logitech and HP webcams. With the updated software, you have the option to adjust multiple settings and not rely on "auto" or "default" settings that the camera provides. During use and depending on the lighting inside my office, I find that tweaking these adjustments provides the right exposure when I need to adjust. The only caveat is not all web meeting application supports 4k resolution/streaming but I'm sure that will change in due time.

INTRO: The AVerMedia Live Streamer CAM PW513 sets out to be a high-end webcam solution for 4K streaming. Whether it’s streaming on Twitch, YouTube, Discord, Skype, Zoom, WebEx, Teams or through softwares like OBS and XSplit, the PW513 might be what you’re looking for. COMPATIBILITY: It’s important to note that since this is a 4K webcam, it does require additional bandwidth and processing power, meaning USB 2.0 will not work. But if you’re on Windows, you’ll need a minimum CPU of i5-4660 and 4GB of RAM; and on macOS, it’s recommended to have an i7 with 16GB of RAM. AVerMedia also claims that the PW513 might experience video delay on macOS and that you may have to compensate your audio, as well. Not a great user experience, and for this reason, I might suggest macOS users consider alternative products—especially considering the very demanding system specifications compared to those using Windows. For Windows users who want to use the CamEngine software, AVerMedia recommends that you use a modern dedicated graphics card, with AVerMedia claiming the GTX 1060 being the minimum on desktops and the GTX 1050 Ti as the minimum requirement on laptops. You’ll also want respectable CPU performance with AVerMedia recommending a minimum of the i5-6000 series on desktops and i7-7700HQ on laptops. For macOS users, there is a CamEngine Lite software which allows adjustments such as Brightness, Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, and Hue. BUILD / SETUP: While the PW513 does have a plastic build, it doesn’t feel cheap. The finish feels more like metal, which gives it a more premium look and feel. On the back, you have a single USB-C connection for power and data, and on the front you have the camera sensor and stereo microphone system. It should be noted that included in the box is a USB 3.0 Type-C to Type-A cable for compatibility with most laptops and desktops, but if you’re on a device with only USB-C, you’ll need to acquire a USB 3.0 Type-C (Male) to Type-C (Male) cable. The mounting system is simple with a very sturdy hinge design that allows it to mount atop your monitor or other objects, as you see fit. Alternatively, you can collapse the hinge and let it sit on your desk or other flat surface, or you can also use a 1/4" tripod mount (not included). I had no issues with the hinge loosening up like I’ve seen with cheap webcams, so the PW513 will have no issues staying mounted atop your monitor if you choose to use the hinge mechanism. Just mount it, plug it into a USB 3.0 port on your computer, and you’re just about ready to go! Additionally, there is a privacy swivel arm that physically covers the camera sensor so that you can always ensure that you’re not visible until you are ready. In the age of personal cyber attacks and online scammers that could leverage your webcam, this should be a standard feature for modern webcams. And while this does not disable the camera sensor nor the microphones, it is a step in the right direction. While Windows did recognize the PW513 upon connecting it, I also visited AVerMedia’s support website and downloaded the latest firmware update and optional CamEngine software. It’s important to note that the CamEngine software is currently in BETA. During my review period, I used AVerMedia CamEngine (Win) Beta v3.2.0.8 & Firmware: 0.0.8000.24​ from their official support website. I have not tested any firmwares or CamEngine software prior to this. SOFTWARE: Using the CamEngine software on Windows, I was able to fine tune the image and preview the changes in real-time. You can make adjustments to the white balance, contrast, hue & saturation, exposure & gain. There are even some automatic options as well as defaults if you prefer to run with those. I found that initially I had a yellow/orange hue to my skin tone, but after making some adjustments to the exposure, white balance, hue and saturation, I was able to get a natural looking skin tone with properly exposed highlights in my environment. There are other features such as AI framing, effects, and facial smoothing. Personally, I think that the AI framing is probably the only notable one, as it will digitally zoom to crop the image to faces on screen, and can even crop to the current speaker. While I haven’t gotten to test the latter half with multiple people, I can confirm that it does crop to my face when it’s enabled. Additionally, the CamEngine software allows you to create image crop presets which you can bind to hotkeys. This allows you to quickly change which portion of the image you want to show while you’re broadcasting. It should be noted that the CamEngine AI features might not work in every software, but I have verified that it does work in OBS and Discord as long as you set your camera source to use the CamEngine, rather than the PW513 directly. Personally, I think it might be helpful if CamEngine allowed you to save presets for your video settings so that you can very easily switch if you do have different lighting conditions, but this is likely more of an edge case. VIDEO QUALITY: The PW513 is somewhat akin to a front-facing camera on a smartphone. When configured with the CamEngine software, it can be fine tuned to deliver proper exposure, color, and sharpness. With a 94 degree field-of-view, you can be sure that you’ll always be in frame, so you don’t have to position the camera at a distance. Additionally, if you need to crop the image, you can do so through the CamEngine software so that your audience will only see what you want them to see. The Sony Exmor R sensor can deliver both 3840x2160p@30fps as well as 1920x1080p@60fps, making it a great choice for different needs. However, I found that 1080p@60fps delivered a much softer image while 1080p@30fps was sharper and more detailed. The basic math here suggests that on average, 60fps has to deliver a frame every ~16.66 milliseconds, while 30fps has to deliver a frame every ~33.33 milliseconds. Photography science would suggest that by using 30fps instead of 60fps, that additional time per-frame is being used to gather more light, resulting in improved detail retrieval. So my recommendation is to use 30fps if you want better detail; however, 60fps could be useful for situations where you need to capture fast motion—such as playing an instrument very quickly. With webcams, low light exposure is always of concern, and overall, I found that with great lighting conditions, the PW513 does a good job handling exposure with low noise. If you’re the kind of person who uses a softbox for lighting, that will make a big difference when complemented with manual adjustments via the CamEngine software. But if you plan to use the PW513 with lower lighting conditions, you’ll find that the image can yield more visual noise. To balance things out, I manually raised the exposure in the CamEngine software. But this also decreases the shutter speed of the sensor in order to let more light in per-frame. This means that the framerate can be very low if you end up having to max out the exposure, and you’ll have to adjust the gain which will likely introduce visual noise. So it’s important to recognize this if your lighting conditions are not the best. That being said, having this much control over the sensor is fantastic compared to other webcam offerings. The PW513 can deliver very impressive results compared to others on the market because it gives you more advanced controls. Normally one might recommend that novice users leverage the default settings, but I think that it’s worthwhile to consider the advanced settings to maximize the image quality. AUDIO QUALITY: In terms of audio quality, I found that the built-in stereo microphone was very clear and delivered a very full frequency range that is more comparable to a dedicated USB microphone than a headset microphone or laptop microphone. It wasn’t shrill or harsh in the treble range, but rather a nice balanced sound that could be used for sharing voice, musical instruments, and more. That being said, the CamEngine software also has an option to enable AI noise cancellation which will allow you to reduce unintentional noise. I found that it was effective without adversely affecting the sound quality. However, it might be best to leave this setting off if you are streaming/recording a musical performance, as it can cut quieter sounds out. After turning it off, I played some clean and distorted electric guitar through a nearby amplifier and it picked up all the dynamics of my instrument without issue. CONCLUSION: The PW513 has a lot of potential for streamers who want a high quality webcam solution without needing to buy an expensive camera and microphone. It delivers a quality picture and is complemented with surprisingly great stereo audio. The CamEngine software is mostly easy to use, but cropping your frame can be a little clunky, and sometimes programs will crash if you don’t open them up *after* first opening the CamEngine software, should you choose to use it. But as a plug-n-play option, it generally works well. Once you get things set up and feel comfortable with the results, it’s pretty good, general speaking. In the end, if you don’t mind a bit of tinkering, the PW513 might just be a great choice. But if you’re hoping for a super easy experience with no difficulty, you might find yourself a bit frustrated with varying compatibility.

Is a nice-looking webcam but I bought it thinking on the max resolution and max fps for streaming and video recording, here some pictures of the program that comes with the cam.