Will iChat in Tiger feature improved audio?

[doowrehs]

Hi there,

While I'm very happy to hear that iChat in Tiger will feature much improved video quality, thanks to the new codec - does anyone know if audio quality will likewise follow suit? Currently my experiences of using iChat, while generally positive, are consistently marred by the the audio dropping out occasionally, or volume level fluctuations. I had assumed it might be something to with my broadband provider, but having used various companies recently and at different locations, I now know different. So, does anyone know what the future holds for iChat in this regard?

Thanks.

 

[macdaddy23]

Hi there,

While I'm very happy to hear that iChat in Tiger will feature much improved video quality, thanks to the new codec - does anyone know if audio quality will likewise follow suit? Currently my experiences of using iChat, while generally positive, are consistently marred by the the audio dropping out occasionally, or volume level fluctuations. I had assumed it might be something to with my broadband provider, but having used various companies recently and at different locations, I now know different. So, does anyone know what the future holds for iChat in this regard?

Thanks.

iChat should be better over all, however the audio won't improve like the video will (Core Image & Video) and in panther we already have Core Audio so, sure they can make it a little better but like I said, nothing like, how the video will be improved..

 

[rendezvouscp]

CoreImage and CoreVideo have nothing, or very little, to do with the quality in iChat. What is going to make the video in Tiger so spectacular is the new H.264 codec that uses approximately a quarter of the bandwidth to create the same picture quality as the currently used H.263. This new codec allows for the picture quality to be better, and for four-way conferencing to be available.
-Chase

 

[macdaddy23]

you asked about audio, and yes I know that H.264 will be the bigger improvment but without that imaging / video library it wouldn't be the same.

 

[shidoshi]

I wonder if maybe it is a problem with your service or something. I use iChat on a weekly basis to talk to my girlfriend in Japan, and I think the quality of the audio is pretty damn good. It's not perfect, but I don't typically have the kinds of problems that you are describing.

 

[dolphin842]

Throwing my $0.02 in...

The few times I've used iChat's audio, the quality was more than acceptable, though the time lag was about 1/2 a second (both were on broadband, less than 40 miles away from the other), so conversation was far from natural.

I've also used Skype on OS X and the quality was much better, and the lag was much less, so it is apparent that Apple has room to improve in this regard.

I haven't heard much lately about AAC+/HE... perhaps Apple can use this in the future to improve the quality?

 

[Zim Bargo]

Hi Dolphin,

I've been using Skype also, and have been really impressed with the quality. I haven't seen anything as yet that would suggest you can do video conferencing over Skype. Anyone seen anything about this or recommend the best quality way of video conferencing if iChat is not quite up to it yet?

Thanks

Zim

 

[MacVault]

Hi Dolphin,

I've been using Skype also, and have been really impressed with the quality. I haven't seen anything as yet that would suggest you can do video conferencing over Skype. Anyone seen anything about this or recommend the best quality way of video conferencing if iChat is not quite up to it yet?

Thanks

Zim

Yea! Skype ROCKS for audio!!! Why can't Apple make it work so well?

I've read things suggesting that Skype may have video in the future! If they do video as well as their audio then Video conferencing really will be possible, and not just a vaporware kind of thing.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I would like to see Apple using Speex (an OGG-based codec designed for speech) for iChat-to-iChat conversations in Tiger. From what I've heard, Speex does an excellent job of using relatively little bandwidth and maintaining great quality. It's open-source, which may pose some problems...but I'm sure Apple can find a workable solution.