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720p webcam for PowerBook G4

W

Wildy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
323
1
I'm looking to buy a webcam to use with Skype - my only requirements are that it handles low light conditions well and has a reasonable image and build quality.

While I would go for an iSight, it's really just too expensive (even now). My budget is around £20.

Does anyone know if my 1.67 GHz PB G4 would be able to handle the 720p feed from a camera? QuickTime just about manages to decode 720p videos, so I'm a little worried about how it will handle the webcam.

Any comments would be appreciated - thanks.
 
ybz90

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
No, you're out of luck. The processor stands no chance of handling that, especially since it'd be a USB webcam instead of Firewire in your budget. Try to find an iSight, they can be easily had for 20USD depending on when and where you look. It's not 720p, but again, it's Firewire, so you can give the CPU a little breathing room.
 
W

Wildy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
323
1
Hmm I thought as much. I shall have a look on the UK version of Craigslist to see if I can score an iSight - but like I mentioned, they're quite a bit more expensive over here.

Failing that, anyone have a good alternative?
 
Intell

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
You can use most DV cameras as a webcam. Just connect them to the Mac with FireWire and open iChat to try it. You may have to get the settings right on the camera before it'll work. You can also try using a 720 or 1080 DV camera as well.
 
W

Wildy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
323
1
Heh, that's a neat tip - unfortunately one of my cameras is film, and the other is a DSLR - not exactly ideal for traveling!
 
Intell

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
Wildy said:
Heh, that's a neat tip - unfortunately one of my cameras is film, and the other is a DSLR - not exactly ideal for traveling!
Click to expand...

Only video cameras with a IEEE 1394/FireWire/iLink port can do that, not still cameras.
 
W

Wildy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
323
1
I know many of the newer DSLRs support video pass-through (DSLRs are becoming a popular option for filming), so if all fails I might try and see if I can get that working.

That said, I just found a couple of reviews for 720p webcams from owners of PowerBooks saying that it works fine. I should really check out a datasheet - but is the encoding not done on a chip in the webcam? Granted this might then have to be decoded again for the preview.
 
ybz90

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
Wildy said:
I know many of the newer DSLRs support video pass-through (DSLRs are becoming a popular option for filming), so if all fails I might try and see if I can get that working.

That said, I just found a couple of reviews for 720p webcams from owners of PowerBooks saying that it works fine. I should really check out a datasheet - but is the encoding not done on a chip in the webcam? Granted this might then have to be decoded again for the preview.
Click to expand...

I discourage you from doing that if you plan to use the webcam for any extended period of time, or you'll risk burning out your sensor.
 
W

Wildy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
323
1
That's some good advice actually - fortunately it auto-poweroffs if the sensor gets too hot. But thanks for the heads up.

Anyway, I should have done this first. The Apple USB video driver will only take uncompressed video streams - thus it is impossible to pipe 720p over USB 2.0 without some form of compression (which we've established already). In this case, the camera defaults to something lower, like 480p. To get 720p, proprietary drivers need to be installed to handle the decompression.

Bottom line, I'm really not bothered about the resolution so 480p will be just fine.
 
Intell

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
Wildy said:
I know many of the newer DSLRs support video pass-through (DSLRs are becoming a popular option for filming), so if all fails I might try and see if I can get that working.

That said, I just found a couple of reviews for 720p webcams from owners of PowerBooks saying that it works fine. I should really check out a datasheet - but is the encoding not done on a chip in the webcam? Granted this might then have to be decoded again for the preview.
Click to expand...

DSLR's will do that over USB. You need something that will do it over FireWire. Only mini-DV cameras can do that.
 
Jethryn Freyman

Jethryn Freyman

macrumors 68020
Aug 9, 2007
2,329
2
Australia
Oh man, I have an original FireWire iSight with all the original packaging in perfect condition, one day this sexy baby will be worth something more :)

Random FYI: The resolutions and codecs Quicktime records at with it depends mostly on the version of Mac OS X installed.

EDIT: The FireWire 400 to FW400 cable has proven awesome over the past decade :)
 
K

kalel77

macrumors member
Oct 18, 2012
34
0
Well I have your same powerbook and I used for years the Logitech Quickcam Vision pro for mac, it's a usb webcam and it works great with both ichat and skype.
The only thing it will be find one used under £20. if you can find it you're done!
Cheers
 
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