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Blazer5913

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 20, 2004
386
14
Just wondering how the Facetime HD camera on the new imacs is? I have the latest revision of the MacBook Air, and while I still gawk over it and its speed/performance/size, I can't help but feel ripped off by the less than average camera they put in it. I understand with such a thin screen bezel it's difficult, but still disappointed. I read on Apple's website that the new camera is "HD" and new/improved, blah blah. But how is it? Especially for iChatting on a high speed WiFi network? Good quality? Excellent quality? THanks
 
Not sure the answer to this but my real question is real world effect. If you FaceTime or iChat or video Skype with it, what is the real benefit. It says it supports full screen resolution up to 30" 2560x or something. However, if the person you are chatting with is using an iPhone or iPad with VGA, or an older iMac, MacBook Pro/Air etc. then the camera they have is not as high a resolution. So it sounds like the end result is that the person on the other end benefits from your camera, but you still see their pixelated behind?

The other issue is bandwidth, though as people go higher speed, you would thing this less of an issue. Truth be told, Apple needs to release Apps for the Apple TV and include a USB connected TV attachable cam or put one in the Apple TV unit, and turn out TVs into our video webcam experience.

Panasonic and other manufacturers are already doing this with Skype enabled TVs and cam add ons.
 
So it sounds like the end result is that the person on the other end benefits from your camera, but you still see their pixelated behind?

Yes, clearly the fact that the new iMac has a great camera does not benefit the user of the iMac unless they're looking back at themselves. The idea would be that everyone owning an Apple will have the HD camera, then video chatting will be more reasonable. That is of course if you have a great internet connection!
 
Yes, clearly the fact that the new iMac has a great camera does not benefit the user of the iMac unless they're looking back at themselves. The idea would be that everyone owning an Apple will have the HD camera, then video chatting will be more reasonable. That is of course if you have a great internet connection!

The problem with that is that even the relatively new iPhone 4, and even newer iPad 2 only use VGA front cameras, so unless you use the back cam to show the person with the new iMac what you are seeing, which doesn't really work for a conversation, then, they will see your VGA res while you see them in nicely.
 
I went from a late 2009 iMac to the new iMacs and while the camera is better, I wouldn't say it is a whole lot better. Kind of hard to explain. Picture is a bit sharper with slighly less noise but its really nothing to write home about.
 
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