iSight vs. iMac build in "iSight" quality?

anders

Afaik the iSight has a build in CCD sensor compared to the CMOS in the iMac. This probably means a difference in quality. Real world experience tells that the CCD is normally superiour to CMOS but it doesn´t have to be that way.



So do anyone have both the iMac with an "iSight" build in AND a real iSight that could make some test?

curiousuburb

Found a few good sources of info comparing CCD to CMOS technology. Not enough detail on each model of Apple sensor yet to compare.



IIRC from the keynote, the other issues worth considering are:



standalone iSight: Glass lens, FW connection, autofocus, portable/adjustable angle

integrated iSight: Plastic lens, USB connection (internal), fixed focus, fixed location/angle



YMMV, and I'd also be curious to see some benchmarking, but I'm inclined to think the standalone iSight has a few advantages over the newer version, independent of any technical differences between CCD and CMOS

rok

ask wil shipley how much he likes the new isights (there's a write-up online for a recent interview). i mean, he'd never say anything outright bad, and he's doing his best to compensate, but in order to make the isight small enough to fit in the display bezel, they had to make it fixed focus... which means it focuses just about right for someone sitting a comfortable distance away from the computer. but bar codes at such a distance are illegible. bring the bar code up to the isight, and it's a blurred mess (which wil is currently trying to develop algorithms to fix... kpt's old convolver algorithms would work. pity kai's hung up his hat and the licensing of that programming would be impossible to get).



anyway, another problem with fixed focus is that it pretty much relegates the view field of the built-in isights to "photobooth" area (and i don't mean the mac app, i mean an actual photo booth). so, for instance, the christmas party i had with my friends in ohio, where the camera was set far enough back to capture a living room full of people would be a blurry slurry except those who were approximately 2-3 feet away from the camera, and within the camera's fix field of view.



i know some people have issues with the firewire external isight cameras, but i suggest you get one while they're still around, because it is still a damn fine camera (and super-configurable with the $8 shareware plug-in iGlasses), and a GREAT microphone for a consumer-level webcam. i've really liked mine, the few times i have used it.

neutrino23

In general I agree with the above comments. However, I did notice at MWSF someone holding their badge up close to the camera and it was quite readable. Perhaps not clear enough for barcodes.