iChat video freezes
October 18, 2008 at 6:36 pm | In A/V, Mac OS X | Leave a CommentTags: 10.5, 10.5.5, freezes, freezing, iChat, Leopard, video
Lately, I’ve found that the video in iChat tends to freeze partway into a conversation. Curiously, audio is unaffected. Once the video has frozen, I can no longer access the iChat menus (clicking on a menu produces the spinning colored ball). However, I can continue conversing with the other party until I am ready to end the conversation, at which point I have to force quit iChat.
There are several active discussions on this topic on the Apple Support discussion board (see, for example, iChat freezes after 10.5.5 update). The resolution that has worked for me so far is the following:
- In the QuickTime System Preferences, click on the “Streaming” tab and then choose “1 Mbps Cable” for the streaming speed.
- In the Audio/Video iChat Preferences, choose “500 kbps” for the bandwidth limit.
- Relaunch iChat
You’ll notice that the size and quality of the video are reduced, but at least it works!
No sound from external microphone on Mac
May 20, 2006 at 1:23 pm | In A/V, Mac | 3 CommentsTags: external, input level, mic, microphone, preamplifier
I recently had occasion to attach an external microphone to my Mac. I plugged it in, went under “Sound” in System Preferences, and chose “Line In” as the sound input device. Then I said a couple of words to check the input level. Nothing. I tried increasing the input volume. Still nothing. I shouted. It barely registered. I thought perhaps the battery in the external mic was low, so I replaced it with a new one. Didn’t help.
Turns out the “audio in” port on most Macs takes line-level input. The problem is nearly all microphones output mic-level signals, which are weaker than line-level signals. Thus sound from a microphone connected to the analog “audio in” port on a Mac is either too quiet or inaudible.
The solution is to connect the external microphone to a microphone preamplifier and then connect that to the Mac. Unfortunately, microphone preamplifiers can be quite costly. I did find one that was reasonably inexpensive and did the job, though: Griffin’s iMic 2. The iMic 2 has the added advantage that it converts the analog signal to digital outside of the computer, which supposedly helps reduce noise.
DVD movies appear washed-out or distorted
January 8, 2006 at 4:17 pm | In A/V | Leave a CommentTags: distorted, DVD, movies, washed out, wavy lines
When you play a DVD in your DVD player are the colors washed out? Is the image distorted? Do wavy lines appear on the screen? If so, you may have a problem with signal degradation.
To discourage people from copying movies, some companies degrade the video signal just enough so that the video appears okay when it is played directly on a TV but it becomes distorted when the signal first passes through another device, such as a VCR. The solution is to connect the video-out from the DVD player directly to the video-in connectors on the back of your TV.
Speakers make buzzing sound
January 8, 2006 at 4:06 pm | In A/V | Leave a CommentTags: buzzing, noise, speakers
Do you hear a buzzing noise coming from your speakers every so often? If so, here are two things to try:
- Move your cell phone away from your speakers. Try keeping your cell phone in another room for a day or two and see if the problem goes away. If it does, the noise is due to interference from your cell phone. This is especially common with mobile phones that operate on a GSM network, such as Cingular (now AT&T). Once you’ve determined that your cell phone is the culprit, you can experiment with how far you must keep it away from your speakers.
- Move your wireless router away from your speakers. If you have a wireless router, it can create intermittent noise on your speakers, too. Move it away from your speakers and see if the noise stops.
Other possible causes of buzzing are electrical noise from your computer and ground loops.
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
