All the way back in 2016, Mark Zuckerberg posted a now famous image to the web celebrating 500 million monthly active users on Facebook. The image showcased the Meta chief executive in an Instagram frame alongside his notebook that had an odd feature.
That feature was a piece of tape covering Zuckerberg’s webcam.
This image sparked a trend where many folks covered their webcams but since the rise in the popularity of video calling we have to wonder how many people are replacing that piece of tape, Prestik or other DIY privacy guards after their call.
It’s common knowledge that attackers can take control of a webcam and spy on you which is why it’s time to upgrade your webcam’s security and you can do so while also upgrading your monitor.
Philips has a number of monitors which are full of great functionality and also boast built-in pop-up webcams.
The Philips 346P1CRH is a 34inch 1500R curved monitor with a WLED backlight, anti-glare coating and a native resolution of 3440 x 1440. The star feature however is the 2MP FHD camera which also supports Windows Hello.
Windows Hello is Microsoft’s keyless password system in which a camera with near-infrared capabilities is used to verify that you are indeed the owner of the PC.
The Philips 346P1CRH also sports a built-in MultiClient KVM switch which makes controlling two different PCs with the one monitor, mouse and keyboard far simpler. You can also use the monitor as a USB-C docking station with power delivery.
One of the more interesting features for those working with sensitive information is the PowerSensor. Using infrared, the monitor is able to determine whether a human is sitting in front of it. If no movement or infrared signal is detected, the monitor turns off. This can help save power while also acting as a privacy guard when you get called away from your desk suddenly.
In terms of colour gamut the Philips 346P1CRH covers 98 percent of the NTSC, 120 percent of the sRGB and 88 percent of the Adobe RGB colour spaces.
Of course 34 inches of monitor maybe too much for some and as such Philips also has a smaller monitor that is perfect for home offices.
The Philips 242B1H is a 24 inch IPS monitor that also sports WLED backlighting. The monitor has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 which is fantastic for devices that aren’t as focused on graphical performance.
Like it’s big brother the Philips 242B1H sports a 2MP FullHD webcam with support for Windows Hello. The webcam can be accessed by pushing it down to release the storage mechanism. it can also then be flipped so that it can see you. When you’re done, the webcam can be easily folded and stored. This means that any ne’er-do-wells will now have a view of the roof and not your face. Philips also made sure that users know when the webcam is in use by way of an LED that lights up.
Both of the monitors above also feature a LowBlue mode which reduces the amount of blue light emitted by the monitor. One other highlight worth mentioning is that Philips includes every cable you could possibly need in the box. This small but meaningful gesture will save you the headache of heading to your local component store to find a compatible cable.
These feature rich monitors from Philips are available now. You can find out more about the Philips 242B1H or the larger Philips 346P1CRH on Wootware at the respective links.
