iSight quality on the MacBook Pro

[tinydragon123]

Last night I was talking to my friend in iChat on my MacBook Pro and I noticed the iSight video quality was not that great. There was distortion and the picture was unclear.

Is there a way for me to iChat like the way Apple depicts in their advertisements? Like this:

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/isight.html

Also, could the picture quality depends on the bandwidth? What should I set my bandwidth to in iChat?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[squeeks]

its not a freaking 400 dollar digital camera have you seen how big the thing is? do you have a screen shot to show this "HORRID" quality you describe? I personally think its quite good...

 

[Cybix]

picture quality certainly depends on bandwidth at the time of connection.

iChat does a little "check" so to speak... that checks your connections speed (at the time of initiating the iChat).

If you get a bad quality connection, try disconnect, reconnect, etc.

There's a way to stop the "check" from happening, forcing a high quality call. I forget, maybe do a search. Also install "chax" it's very good at bandaiding iChat for more functionality.

I personally use Skype more than iChat, there's a small text hack you can do in a skype config file that gives exceptional video quality too.

have fun

 

[pufftissue]

however bad the isight camera is to you, other webcams built-in to notebooks are worse.

So the isight is the best one out there.

 

[Sbrocket]

The quality of video chatting in iChat using your built-in iSight is determined by your network bandwidth at the time when you start the chat. iChat isn't going to send out video captured using the iSight at its highest resolution if your network can't handle it, in which case it will tone down the video quality to a level where you can still chat in realtime.

 

[carsncars]

...and no, it's not possible to have the same quality as the iSight in Apple's image . It's obvious, because even if the iSight did deliver that clarity and colour, there is no way it could attain that depth-of-field.

 

[Mgkwho]

Clearly, Apple's images are not from the iSight. They're a marketing scheme, not really a bad thing though.

In addition to appropriate bandwidth, make sure the lighting is okay. I tend to vchat at night as it is, and lamps and such aren't always the best, especially if they are just out of line with the camera's "mood."

-=|Mgkwho

 

[AstrayCliche]

What kind of lighting is it being used in? Little cameras in low light levels usually yield terrible results.

 

[Stang68]

personally, i think the quality is excellent. My parents have a $75 logitech one and the quality is horrendous. Be happy with what you got.

 

[deadpixels]

there's a small text hack you can do in a skype config file that gives exceptional video quality too.

any link/info on this? thks.

 

[garybUK]

I agree with the original poster, the quality of the built in camera on the MBP is horrible compared to the old Firewire iSights, i thought i could ditch carrying it around, anything less than daylight and the built in one is really unacceptable.

 

[sircutbreaker]

macbook pro camera

I recently came into the mac.. and i really do love the machine...

but my girlfriend has a new hp pavillion and when we put the machines side by side... with the cameras on... hers isnt just better.. it is MUCH better....

I have a 3000 dollar machine.. and i was shocked to see this..

her machine was approx 1700...

I installed iglasses and tried screwing around with the settings to make the camera brighter.. to no avail...

It is in a semi dark room.. and my camera makes the picture extremely dark.. where the hp's is still colorful and bright.

 

[Freyqq]

the isight is 1.3 MP i believe. Some laptops have a 2 MP camera, like dell xps i think. Some have less than 1.3 MP.

 

[darfel]

To get the best results you should have strong light in the immediate area. If the light is low the camera reduces resolution as needed to compensate.

Get an adjustable table lamp and face the light toward your face. That will give you the results your looking for.

 

[Jenbugg11]

I also agree with the original poster!! Listen folks bottom line, I was always a PC girl but now my work requires me to use a Mac to simplify certain aspects, ok already not thrilled but I go out and spend $3100 on a top of the line macbook pro!!! Freaking OUCH!! Ok so it should have some perks right?? Because soending this much money on something that wasnt giving me any of my pc standards is choking me! Not even a disk drive and I even have to pay an extra 50+ for the damn mouse! Serial ATA or not this is getting stupid! Ok so I absolutely love AppleTV and the functionality of what I can do through airplay between AppleTV my MacBook Pro my iPad and my iPhone is insane!! Definite bonus!! But then I get to the quality of the camera and it is just pitiful!! Anyone above who said just deal with it is out of their freaking gourd! Like the original poster I saw great ads that show a beautiful display okay false advertisement anyone??? My seven-year-old Dell laptop has a better built-in camera than my MacBook Pro!!! And when I bought it it cost me $800 go figure! I just think there should be more options for at least adjusting the quality or something this was supposed to be a built in HD camera, there is nothing HD about it!

 

[johnnnw]

I also agree with the original poster!! Listen folks bottom line, I was always a PC girl but now my work requires me to use a Mac to simplify certain aspects, ok already not thrilled but I go out and spend $3100 on a top of the line macbook pro!!! Freaking OUCH!! Ok so it should have some perks right?? Because soending this much money on something that wasnt giving me any of my pc standards is choking me! Not even a disk drive and I even have to pay an extra 50+ for the damn mouse! Serial ATA or not this is getting stupid! Ok so I absolutely love AppleTV and the functionality of what I can do through airplay between AppleTV my MacBook Pro my iPad and my iPhone is insane!! Definite bonus!! But then I get to the quality of the camera and it is just pitiful!! Anyone above who said just deal with it is out of their freaking gourd! Like the original poster I saw great ads that show a beautiful display okay false advertisement anyone??? My seven-year-old Dell laptop has a better built-in camera than my MacBook Pro!!! And when I bought it it cost me $800 go figure! I just think there should be more options for at least adjusting the quality or something this was supposed to be a built in HD camera, there is nothing HD about it!

You may have a good point somewhere in there and I'd love to know it, but you gotta use some paragraphs!

 

[thekb]

My seven-year-old Dell laptop has a better built-in camera than my MacBook Pro!!! And when I bought it it cost me $800 go figure!

Which computer would you rather have? It is unfortunate when there is a feature you find disappointing, but it is, after all, only one feature. Do you video chat a lot?

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Get an adjustable table lamp and face the light toward your face. That will give you the results your looking for.

I use the MBP screen to my advantage. I open a blank text file in the background that is solid white and then turn the brightness way up to increase the illumination on my face.