iSight

red dot
red dot award: product design 2004

iSight is a web camera that provides high-quality video and audio and is constructed with an aluminium-alloyed exterior. A single FireWire cable streams the video and audio signals and delivers power to the camera. Three stands and a tilt-and-swivel mechanism allow video images to be captured from many different angles. The camera focuses on a 1/4" CCD sensor with 640 x 480 pixel (VGA) resolution. The lens aperture is a wide F/2.8, delivering smooth full-motion video at 30 frames per second in 24-bit colour. Sound is captured by both parts of a dual element microphone: a special algorithm then analyses and filters out extraneous noise. As soon as the camera connects to the computer, the iChat software automatically recognises the camera and a small green light on the camera signals "on air". One simple twist of the lens cap turns off the camera.