4 ms·

Honestly? That would have to be a really crappy camera if it wasn't good enough for basic video chatting. You wont even notice unless the resolution is lower th

Honestly? That would have to be a really crappy camera if it wasn't good enough for basic video chatting. You wont even notice unless the resolution is lower than the resolution of the device (highly unlikely).

Tichy 16y ago
I read the camera is just VGA (640x480). My niece is on a MacBook, so I suppose her screen resolution is at least four times that.
- ars 16y ago
  He's trying to say you won't be able to upload such a high resolution over your internet connection, so it doesn't matter. Even 640x480 is tough to stream real time from most people's home internet connection. You also have to compress it real time, which may not be possible at a higher resolution.
  - Tichy 16y ago
    Why did Apple put HD webcams into their new MacBooks, then? They seem to be more optimistic about the resolution that can be transmitted.
    - ars 16y ago
      You can use the camera to record, and then upload non-realtime. Like youtube for example.
    - ars 16y ago
      You can use the camera to record (and compress), and then upload non-realtime. Like youtube for example. A small tablet probably doesn't have the CPU power to compress an HD stream, but a laptop should.
      - Tichy 16y ago
        The Apple specs say specifically "FaceTime HD camera", which seems to suggest they believe transmission of HD chat videos is possible http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html Also, who says I prefer framerates over picture quality? Perhaps a reduced framerate is the better tradeoff in exchange for high definition images.
        ars 16y ago
        You would need an upload speed of around 5Mbit/s to upload HD video (720p). Less for lower quality of course, but then why are you doing HD in the first place? It's doable, but not realistic for most people. You also need a monster CPU to compress video that much in realtime. With a slower CPU you'd get worse compression and need a faster connection (or lower quality). Reducing framerate doesn't help as much as reducing resolution because little changes between frames, so there anyway isn't much to upload. (You either upload a lot infrequently, or a little frequently. It doesn't matter a ton. You get some benefit, but not much.)
- Tichy 16y ago
  Why the downvotes? I want my mum to chat with my niece. Mum would have an iPad, niece a MacBook. Mum should look good on the MacBook. Also, Facetime has been a major element of recent Apple ads.
  - thenduks 16y ago
    The point is that mum and neice will look good -- you don't need a 12MP camera to do that.
    - Tichy 16y ago
      Not 12MP, but more than 0,3MP. A popular Logitech webcam has 2MP, and I have heard that it DOES make a difference for video chats compared to lower quality cameras.

Tichy 16y ago

I read the camera is just VGA (640x480). My niece is on a MacBook, so I suppose her screen resolution is at least four times that.

ars 16y ago
He's trying to say you won't be able to upload such a high resolution over your internet connection, so it doesn't matter. Even 640x480 is tough to stream real time from most people's home internet connection. You also have to compress it real time, which may not be possible at a higher resolution.
- Tichy 16y ago
  Why did Apple put HD webcams into their new MacBooks, then? They seem to be more optimistic about the resolution that can be transmitted.
  - ars 16y ago
    You can use the camera to record, and then upload non-realtime. Like youtube for example.
  - ars 16y ago
    You can use the camera to record (and compress), and then upload non-realtime. Like youtube for example. A small tablet probably doesn't have the CPU power to compress an HD stream, but a laptop should.
    - Tichy 16y ago
      The Apple specs say specifically "FaceTime HD camera", which seems to suggest they believe transmission of HD chat videos is possible http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html Also, who says I prefer framerates over picture quality? Perhaps a reduced framerate is the better tradeoff in exchange for high definition images.
      - ars 16y ago
        You would need an upload speed of around 5Mbit/s to upload HD video (720p). Less for lower quality of course, but then why are you doing HD in the first place? It's doable, but not realistic for most people. You also need a monster CPU to compress video that much in realtime. With a slower CPU you'd get worse compression and need a faster connection (or lower quality). Reducing framerate doesn't help as much as reducing resolution because little changes between frames, so there anyway isn't much to upload. (You either upload a lot infrequently, or a little frequently. It doesn't matter a ton. You get some benefit, but not much.)
Tichy 16y ago
Why the downvotes? I want my mum to chat with my niece. Mum would have an iPad, niece a MacBook. Mum should look good on the MacBook. Also, Facetime has been a major element of recent Apple ads.
- thenduks 16y ago
  The point is that mum and neice will look good -- you don't need a 12MP camera to do that.
  - Tichy 16y ago
    Not 12MP, but more than 0,3MP. A popular Logitech webcam has 2MP, and I have heard that it DOES make a difference for video chats compared to lower quality cameras.