Meanwhile, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Polycom Inc. will introduce a line of three high-definition videoconferencing systems designed to support telemedicine, education and other applications.

Polycom's new HDX 9000 series ranges in price from US$13,999 to $19,999, plus $4,999 for an HD camera. Those costs are a fraction of the list pricing of $79,000 to $299,000 that Cisco has set for the TelePresence 1000 and TelePresence 3000, the two videoconferencing systems it is rolling out.

But Randy Harrell, director of TelePresence product marketing, said Cisco believes its technology will provide higher-quality performance than traditional room-based teleconferencing equipment does. Cisco claims that its video screen resolution is 1,080p in a progressive-scan format, about four times the quality of a standard interlaced TV and higher than the 720p resolution supported by Polycom's new products.

Cisco built all of its videoconferencing components in-house, including an echo-canceling microphone, an HD camera, a plasma screen video display and a coder/decoder device that translates analog signals to digital ones and back again.

Harrell said it would cost about $250,000 to set up a conference room capable of handling virtual meetings for a dozen people. That price includes a three-display TelePresence 3000 system and a year of maintenance from Cisco.