New Dell Monitor with built in Webcam

Having tried out a few things and searched the web a little I suspect that the problem is related to another issue that I had not picked up on immediately which is that the video and audio are out of sync.

As far as I can tell iChat software handles the echo cancellation and it is not part of the webcam. Current the audio is being picked up about a second after I have spoken, i.e. when I look at the bars in the video preferences in iChat they respond about 1 second after I have said something. The same delay appears in the system preference sound input pane. The video is a little delayed too, but not as much as the video. I suspect this has something to do with the echo.

Does anyone know how to fix an external microphone that has a delay problem? I'm trying to determine whether I need to send this monitor back or whether it can be fixed in software.

Thanks

Ralph,

Thanks for the response, you are quite a trooper on this forum!

I had my quicktime speed set for Cable (1Mbps) since that is what I have. On your suggestion I upped it to 1.5Mbps and in the video preview window it looks like the audio response from the mic is a little more 'snappy'. I will need to connect with someone to determine if this has really occurred though and I'll get back to you. Hopefully I made it clear before, but I am experiencing this delay in response even when I am not connected to anyone (just using the preview window in iChat), its almost like there is a delay in the mic picking up sound. I'd be surprised if changing the quicktime bandwidth helped, but I have to confess it does look better, so I have to give you credit.

Even though this monitor is a Dell, I really want it to work as I have been looking for an integrated solution for the Mac Pro for some time and Apple just doesn't appear to be coming out with it. The video is great, but the echo is very annoying. Hopefully if the delay is eliminated then the iChat software will do a better job of filtering out the echo. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the first post but the echo only appears on the other end of the iChat, everything on my end is perfect, no echo at all. However, the only new component in the mix from previous iChats is my new Dell monitor.

Thanks again for your help, I'll post back if this works.

Mark

OK. So I tested out with the different bandwidth setting and it's still a problem (both the out of sync audio and the echo).

I did try using a bluetooth headset as just the microphone with the audio output still going to my speakers connected to the digital out and it cleared up the problem, so it does appear to be an issue with the microphone in the Dell monitor.

I was wondering if it had anything to do with the way I have it set up. I currently have the monitor connected to the Mac Pro USB 2.0 ports on the back and then I connect the mouse and keyboard to the USB port on the monitor. Could this be a bandwidth issue with USB where it is having problems sending both the video and audio down the same pipe? It may be time to call Dell although I don't look forward to that.

Any last ideas at this point?

I certainly have a temporary solution that bypasses the webcam microphone, but it isn't what the solution I'd like. I called Dell and they didn't have a clue, and of course blamed it on the fact that I was using a mac, and I can't get the webcam to work at all on Parallels with the Dell software.

The only other thing I thought of was that the monitor has what it describes as a 'dual microphone', so I wonder whether the iChat software just can't handle that without the right drivers and gets two signals (hence the echo).

I'll probably just end up getting a cheap microphone and connecting it directly to the line in on the Mac Pro.

Anyway, thanks for your help. If anyone else out there gets the SP2008WFP and manages to get it working please post so I can see how you do it.

I ended up sending it back. I also wrote a review on the Dell website that they did not publish. It wasn't particularly bad it just said that the audio didn't work on MacOS as far as I could tell. Anyway, looks like Dell only posts glowing reviews of their products which is worth knowing in the future. There is a review posted there that says that it works fine with the Mac, but I wouldn't trust it given my experience.

I would recommend that people stay away from this monitor until we start seeing mulitple posts that say it works fine on a web site other than Dells.