FaceTime Camera Images Look Poor on New Macbook Pro Retina Models

this software is not free.

it's not full but it does its job and it never expires

unless there's something missing BTV pro is not freeware but shareware. not sure what you mean by "it's not full".

there is a trial period.

I also tried to use it, but somehow it will require to use iGlasses (that I now don't use anymore) - I couldn't find any way to tweak isight to solve the problem we are discussing here.

this is the tutorial check it

Late 2012 rMBP, Facetime 3 OSX 10.9.2 - The facetime HD camera is very poor quality until I call someone. After I connect up (let's say to a Iphone 5S) the clarity improves exponentially and the image quality is spectacular (easily HD). Also other features (such as full screen) become available depending on the other end of the facetime call.

I don't believe there is a hardware issue. If you're facetime camera seems fuzzy when you open the application, test facetime by connecting to a high quality device and the application should drastically ramp up the video quality. Hope this helps.

Nope. This did not fix it for me. Video quality stayed crappy as ever before or after the connection.

After I had Apple swap my machine for a new one, the issue was solved.

it works guys , i tried in many macs now , macbook pros and airs (no imacs yes) please test it and post your feedbacks

njrsey are you posting these results after installing BTV pro? are you saying this improvement is only due to BTV pro?

No this is without installing any software. I'm saying the image clarity fluctuates and is dependant on both devices as well as the connection. After connecting via facetime to different devices in good lighting conditions, the clarity of the camera video stream on both the sending and receiving side of my rMBP improved drastically...other functionality (like full screen mode) also depends on having that connection...

well then that certainly doesn't apply to my case. the image quality of the iSight camera on my 15 retina is not as good/sharp/clean as comparable Macbook Air from the same (latest late 2013 generation).

this issue is not an isolated case, and I have gone to several Apple Stores and compared them. there is just something wrong about how iSight works on the new retina MBPs- even Apple staff had to agree.

I have now lost hope about this and just accept this is non-fixable. but it's a shame

I agree with this previous post"

"Guys. We're screwed.

Just the way it goes.

Euroraver, you're right. It's not the Retina Display. This was obviously something that was either 1.) Made up. 2.) Over herd from fellow employees or some shop rumors.

The truth of the matter is, it's a defect that is burned into the board on the display and there is no way to fix it. If there was, they would of posted here already. If there was a fix we would of had a firmware update a LONG time ago.

Solution.

Go by the Logitec HD Pro Webcam C920 and stick it on the top of your Mac. Yes it might be "old school" but it's the way it goes."

the software doesn't work on recent MBPs (like mine, bought in November)

see this reply from BTV pro's customer team

"Sorry about the problem you are experiencing. It's not an incompatibility with Mavericks per se (we have many users using BTV Pro on Mavericks), but rather it's a recent change to the hardware of the FaceTime cameras in recent Macs that have rendered them incompatible with BTV Pro. Unfortunately BTV Pro is not in active development at the moment so I can't say for sure if/when we will be able to resolve this."

I would add that the "recent hardware change" could be the culprit here. maybe Apple has switched to cheaper camera hardware for iSight?

I agree that the issue is HW-related. Confirmed by the fact that Apple didn't deny my claim and instead swapped my 2012 rMBP out for a 2013 rMBP. There is no software fix for that and replacing the 2012 component with another 2012 component won't fix it either. You need to buy a new rMBP or hope Apple will replace it for you. Period.

I have documented the process that I went through here: http://www.michaelkummer.com/2013/09/12/poor-picture-quality-of-facetime-camera- and-apples-response/

Cheers

Mike

my MBPr is a 2013 one and they still have this problem

I should have been more specific 🙂 I meant to say LATE 2013...