It's a go! (Well, nearly...)

High Quality Video on Skype brings the resolution of video calling on Skype up to 640 x 480 pixels (from 320 x 240) and up to 30 frames per second (from a max of 15) when you meet the necessary hardware and software requirements.

The difference is pretty amazing--it's the sort of quality that was previously only available to big businesses (for lots of money), but now it's available to everyone on Skype (for free)!

High Quality Video been kicking around since the last Skype 3.6 beta, but today is the full announcement (with a very cool dual event in New York and London), and the necessary software will be out of beta later in November.

What does it take to get High Quality Video? It's not easy to transfer video at such a high resolution--more pixels and more frames per second mean at the very least more data needs to be transferred.

Skype and Logitech have teamed up with an optimized version of Skype (3.6, which will be out of beta in November) and an optimized version of Logitech's webcam drivers (version 11.5, also out of beta in November) for several of Logitech's webcams. This ensures you'll have a high quality experience with High Quality Video. You'll also need a broadband connection to the internet (384 kbps connection or higher) and a PC with a dual core processor.

Which webcams work? Well there are three to start:

• Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000

• Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks

• Logitech QuickCam Sphere AF (Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF in the US)

All three have Carl Zeiss lenses and a premium autofocus system that refocuses images in less than three seconds so you look good even during EXTREME CLOSEUPS. Pretty cool, eh? They're all available in the Skype Store: there's currently a promotion going on in Europe with free shipping and free SkypeOut credit with HQV webcams, and there's a $20 rebate available in the US.

Check out Peter's post about High Quality Video on the main blog here. If you've already got one of these webcams, you can try it out early by downloading the Skype beta here and a beta version of Logitech's driver's for High Quality Video here.

Are you already using High Quality Video and does it really make a difference? Tell me in the comments.