Sony CMU-BR100 Camera and Microphone for Skype

Awesome product, talking on the television is a great feature, the camera works great, it has good sound and quality image, highly recommended.

This unit was mounted on the top of a Bravia XBR 55HX929 TV, and tested in about five minutes flat. While no actual SKYPE call was made there is an echo feature that shows video and sound. Coverage area was just as desired, and the jumping around and sound of an energetic 5-yr old played back perfectly, without any motion jags detected. Great unit well priced.

This is your only choice for a webcam, for Skype, for your Sony Internet TV (check compatibility before ordering). It can also be used as a regular webcam on a computer. This small cam/mic is about 6 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. The mounting instructions are pretty much incomprehensible. Once I ignored the helpful little pictures, I was able to get it stuck to the top of my TV. A product at this price point might be expected to have a better mounting system, e.g. a matching peg system that better mates the webcam to the TV. Once you have it stuck to the TV, plug it into the USB port on the TV and you're good to go. Just fire up the Skype app, found under "Internet Video" on your Sony TV remote. You will not be able to text message nor will you be able to send files using the internal TV app, but you may not need to do either. In a typical family room/entertainment room setup, you won't. If you are using the TV as a computer monitor, as I am, you can plug the Sony webcam into a USB slot on your computer and use the regular Skype app in Windows or iOS (where you are able to select the microphone array under Tools/Options/Audio Settings). This is a good product for its intended use, and I see that it is approaching a reasonable price after a number of price reductions. If you are looking to maintain the look and feel of your TV, it does the trick. Picture quality and the microphone array are very good, although I would wish for a less wide-angle view. It's great to have Skype video on the "big screen." I sit about 4 feet from the screen and I find myself to appear on the smallish side due to the wide angle lens. If you were 15 feet away, I fear you might be a mere speck, but that is not my setup and you should look to other reviews on this point. It would do a good job of getting the whole family into the picture, and I guess that is the trade-off. I use my Sony 32" Bravia Internet TV as a computer monitor, and I use this Sony webcam as a computer webcam (i.e. plugged into the computer's USB port, not the port on the TV). That is pretty much plug and play as well - you just have to go into Tools/Options/Audio in Skype to set the microphone to the microphone array in the Webcam if you wish to use that (mic quality is excellent). If you decide, as I did, that you don't need to actually plug the webcam into your TV, your choices widen considerably and the price point falls. Here is a 4 1/2 star Logitech 720p webcam sold on Amazon that sells for $40 and uses Zeiss glass. It appears that product would be easy to mount with Velcro to the back of your TV/monitor, but it must be plugged into a computer, NOT the back of a Sony Internet TV: [..] Summary: This is a snazzy webcam with a crisp picture and a great mic (a 4-mic array) that you can plug into certain Sony internet TV's. It's a bit pricey and the wide angle view may not be ideal for all settings. You can also plug it into your computer and use it like any other webcam, in which case there are other, less expensive choices. It's your only choice if you want to run Skype video on your Sony Internet TV using the built in USB connector and Skype application. That built-in Skype app is easy to use. You may find the process of attaching it to the top (or bottom) of your TV to be annoying, as the visual instructions are unclear.

This is a nice little camera that makes your Sony web-enabled TV work with Skype. It has pretty good resolution and a wide field of view. It's plug'n'play and sits nicely on top of your TV. It's nice to be able to Skype directly from the TV without having to jump up and go to the computer. My only two caveats are: 1. I'm not really sure how much Skyping I want to do from the bedroom (that's where I installed my newest Sony TV), and 2. It's pretty pricy for a web-cam. Unfortunately Sony didn't enable their TV to use any off-the-shelf webcam. You have to buy theirs.

This camera only works with certain models of Sony televisions. Those televisions have the camera drivers installed already, and will only work with this camera. It was a painless plug and play installation. Video and audio are both excellent. It is about 18 feet (five meters or so) across the room to our couch, but we can be heard without shouting and the whole family can get in the field of view without crowding. Great product!

Very good vidcam. Looks great on top of my Sony Bravia TV, Great sound and video quality and is really cool being able to Vidcall on a 55" TV. Super easy set-up TV is integrated for the camera (my 16yr old daughter did it all by herself without directions). It might be a little expensive but I believe it was a great investment. The only thing I think is missing is a lighting system. But it might be very annoying to stare into a bright light, I don't know the distance to the TV is much greater than when sitting at your laptop. Highly recommended !

I will be returning this camera that I bought for BDP-S790 due to mediocre video quality and buggy firmware. I tested a Skype video call on my home network between iMac and the player, and found out that video quality captured by iMac's built-in camera was much better. True, that built-in iMac's camera has a higher resolution (1280 x 1024) vs. CMU-BR100 (1280 x 720), nevertheless this should not explain rather a big difference in video quality. Given the price, CMU-BR100 is not worth the money. Skype capability was the major factor when I decided to get this player vs. another PS3 (there is no Skype for PS3). Also, like someone else mentioned in another review, the camera frozen the player on a few occasions. It is a shame that Sony forces BDP-S790 owners to buy this proprietary and overpriced camera, and not supporting its own products like PlaystationEye.

The product that I bought through Amazon with Circuit City as the provider was not shipped to me. However, I was able to purchase the Sony Bravia TV Skype Camera and Microphone from another vendor and the product works great. Really enjoying sharing skype moments with my children and grandkids. I recommend this product for folks with a Sony Bravia internet ready TV.

We have a Sony smart TV so it was very easy to install ...direction well written. diagrams were not clear at first. But made sense later. Worked instantly!

Good