SightSpeed 5.0 Review by PC Magazine

By Davis D. Janowski

Want brilliantly clear video calls? SightSpeed 5.0, the part peer-to-peer, part server-client communications application, can provide them. Just meld it with your broadband connection and any of dozens of webcams on the market, call another SightSpeed user, and you'll soon be making cross-country family video conference calls part of your daily routine. That's exactly what I've been able to do with my in-laws in California and parents in Florida; it's allowed them to visit easily with their granddaughter and has (somewhat) curtailed the complaints about the infrequency of our visits.

I'm awarding it an Editors' Choice as the best free video calling service, based on its unrivaled ability to produce real-time, fully synchronized calls. That quality is due in large measure to the real-time network and quality-of-service (QoS) monitoring performed by the application and SightSpeed servers during calls. At its core, SightSpeed's video service is based on the H.263 codec with a great many added proprietary enhancements, mainly in the area of identifying where and in which direction the media stream is being hindered (the technical term is constrained).

* Skype Offers Free Outbound Calls
* Skype 2.5 (beta)
* Introduction
* Talk Is Cheaper
* VoIP Glossary

I continue to believe that Skype is the most well-rounded overall communications client, but its video quality is still considerably behind that of SightSpeed. That goes for the other free messaging communications client services from the big guys (AOL, Microsoft, Skype, and Yahoo!, among others) as well. Of course, your friends are more likely to be on the much better-known Skype already, but I think it's worth the effort to talk them into at least trying SightSpeed. If they're interested in video, I think one demonstration might be enough to seal the deal.

There aren't many entirely new features in this finalized 5.0 version. One change is that the advanced video codec that was an optional setting in the beta release of 5.0 has been fully integrated into this version. One very interesting feature that's available now is SightSpeedTV, which can be likened to the popular Slingbox device and the Orb online service. Once you've installed a TV tuner card in your PC at home and installed SightSpeedTV, you should be able to watch TV remotely at no cost from anywhere by logging into your SightSpeed account.

The only other change users might notice to the beta interface will be the ability to sign up for SightSpeed In, whereby users can, for a monthly fee, receive incoming calls to their SightSpeed account.—Other Newish Features >