Webcams

A webcam lets you do just that. With one of these tiny, bug-eyed cameras hooked up to your computer, you can broadcast pictures of yourself or your home to the entire world! A webcam is a bit like a digital camera and works much the same way. But unlike a digital camera, it's designed to make relatively compact digital photos that are easy to upload onto Web pages or send across the Internet. It all sounds simple enough—so let's take a closer look at webcams and the technology behind them.

Photo: A typical webcam fixed to the screen of a laptop.