iSight is a
webcamA webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
, both external and internal, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. The external iSight was sold retail for US$149, connected to a computer via a FireWire cable, and came with a set of mounts to place it atop any then-current Apple display, laptop computer, all-in-one desktop computer, or flat surface.
Apple introduced iSight at the 2003
Worldwide Developers ConferenceThe Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
, intended to be used with iChat AV, Apple's video-conferencing client.
iMovieiMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
(version 4 and later) could also be used to capture video from the device. In April 2005, Apple released a
firmwareIn electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
update for the iSight to improve audio performance. As of December 16, 2006, the external iSight was no longer for sale in the Apple online store or in retail locations.
Meanwhile, Apple began using the term to refer to the camera built into Apple's
iMacThe iMac is a series of Macintosh desktop computers offered by Apple Inc. The current Apple iMac features either an Intel Core i5, or Intel Core i7 processor, ATI HD 6750M graphics or an ATI Radeon HD 6770M with options to upgrade to the ATI Radeon HD 6970M , and a choice of glossy 21.5" or 27" LCD...
,
MacBookThe MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
,
MacBook AirThe MacBook Air family is a line of Apple ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers.The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU...
, and
MacBook ProThe MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
computers, and Cinema Display. In November 2010, Apple began transitioning to calling them "
FaceTimeFaceTime is a video calling software application and related protocol developed by Apple for supported mobile devices running the iOS, in addition to Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.6.6 and higher...
cameras".
Design
The external iSight's ¼-inch color
CCDA charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
sensor has 640×480-pixel
VGAVideo Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
resolution, with a custom-designed three-part
F/2.8In optics, the f-number of an optical system expresses the diameter of the entrance pupil in terms of the focal length of the lens; in simpler terms, the f-number is the focal length divided by the "effective" aperture diameter...
lensA lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
with two aspherical elements. It features autoexposure, autofocusing from 50 mm to infinity, and video capture at 30 frames per second in 24-bit color with a variety of shutter speeds. However, the iSight has an image delay of approximately 120
msA millisecond is a thousandth of a second.10 milliseconds are called a centisecond....
..
The iSight incorporates internal
microphoneA microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s with dual-element noise suppression. The actual camera only takes up one-quarter of the unit; the remaining space is primarily occupied by its two microphones and mounting socket.
The iSight camera weighs 2.3 ounces (63.8 grams). It uses a single FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a) cable (included) for audio, video, and power.
Four camera mounts, a plastic tube carrying case, and a FireWire camera mount adapter are also included. The user can select the mounting bracket most appropriate for their monitor or other mounting surface. It is fully compatible with its
nativeThe term native mode or native code is used in computing in two related senses.*to describe something running on a computer natively or in native mode meaning that it is running without any external support as contrasted to running in emulation....
Mac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, as well as partially compatible with the
Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and
LinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating systems.
The iSight has a small green
LEDA light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
that illuminates when the camera is in use. It also has an iris that closes by twisting the front of the camera.
Built-in iSight
Although external and internal iSights have significant differences, Apple has used the "iSight" name to brand its built-in video camera found in their
MacBookThe MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
,
MacBook AirThe MacBook Air family is a line of Apple ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers.The first-generation MacBook Air was a 13.3"-only model, previously promoted as the World's Thinnest Notebook, introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 15, 2008. It featured a custom Intel Merom CPU...
and
MacBook ProThe MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
notebook computers,
iMacThe iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
desktop computers produced since late 2005 and the
LEDLEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
Cinema Display. While the external iSight is similar to the built-in iSight, the built-in iSight uses an internal USB 2.0 interface and not the FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a) interface used by the external iSight camera. Further, the built-in iSight has a plastic lens, is fixed-focus, and uses a CMOS
Active pixel sensorAn active-pixel sensor is an image sensor consisting of an integrated circuit containing an array of pixel sensors, each pixel containing a photodetector and an active amplifier. There are many types of active pixel sensors including the CMOS APS used most commonly in cell phone cameras, web...
, rather than the
CCDA charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
used in the external iSight. With the LED-Backlit MacBook Pros, Apple has moved to using a sensor capable of 1280x1024 pixels. The built-in iSight can also be used in the
Photo BoothPhoto Booth is a small software application for taking photos and videos with an iSight camera by Apple Inc. for Mac OS X and iOS .-Photo Booth:...
application. The FaceTime cameras included with the 2011 versions of the MacBook Pro and iMac can output high definition video.
External iSight
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
XP, Windows 7, and Windows Vista will autodetect an external iSight camera as "1394 Desktop Video Camera", but no specific iSight driver exists for Windows. Video can be operated via a
driver from Unibrain.
Built-in iSight
Version 1.1 of Apple's Boot Camp added
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Windows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
drivers for the built-in iSight. Version 1.2 implemented support for the built-in iSight in
Windows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
as well.
iSight on Linux
Linux kernelThe Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
3.0+ internally contains the driver for the iSight camera.
For previous versions of the kernel, one has to manually take out the firmware from Apple's driver through a specific program. This is because the Apple driver cannot be legally deployed inside a Linux distribution, because of legal issues.
Bugs have been reported about running the extracted firmware under Ubuntu 11.04.
Controversy
Apple's older external iSight cameras include lens covers to thwart surreptitious remote activation and viewing of the user by others, but the newer iSight relies on a green light to warn the user that the webcam has been activated.
In the 2010
Robbins v. Lower Merion School District "WebcamGate" case, plaintiffs charged two suburban Philadelphia high schools with secretly spying on students – by surreptitiously remotely activating iSight webcams embedded in school-issued
MacBookThe MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
laptops the students were using at home – and therefore infringed on their privacy rights. The schools admitted to secretly snapping over 66,000 webshots and screenshots, including webcam shots of students in their bedrooms. Similar cases have popped up in many schools as computers with webcams are integrated into education systems.
External links