24" LED ACD and MBP - using both iSights at once?

[foshizzle]

So im toying with the possibility of purchasing a new MBP over the summer. If I got the LED cinema display as well, could I use both iSights at once? for instance an iChat video chat with one and a skype video chat with the other? Or is there a weird apple thing that disables the macbook pro's internal iSight when the display is plugged in?

I guess I could run to the apple store to try it out but i really dont have time for that right now. I figure someone has this combo and can try it out (or already has?).

thanks.

 

[jlpoore89]

When you plug in the LED Cinema Display you have the option to pick which camera to use within the preferences for iChat. There is no system wide control for the camera. So from what I can tell you should be able to pick a different camera from within different programs.

Just confirmed that it is possible to run video chat with iChat and Skype simultaneously. You must use separate cameras for each program i.e. they both can't use the same camera at the same time. But you can use iChat with notebook camera and Skype with the LED Display camera at the same time and vice versa.

Here's a screenshot to show both of them working at the same time. Sry for the video on the right but it is from my UMBP which is on a shelf under my desk because I use my LED display with my UMBP in lid-closed mode.

 

[foshizzle]

thanks for this!

How about resources? what does activity monitor show your processors at when using both cameras in two separate apps? pretty much maxed out when using both at once?

thanks again

 

[jlpoore89]

Running both apps with both cameras leaves me with about 75%-60% idle. And I was also running Safari, iTunes, and Adium in the background. So they don't use up to much of the CPU. But I also wasn't actively sending the video over the net; I was just seeing if the cameras worked in the preferences pane for each app. So CPU usage will go up some more when you are actively sending the 2 video feeds over the net.

 

[Saladinos]

Interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to create a hologram or 3D image using the two cameras.