video quality issue using skype

[MiltonDammers]

Model Name - iMac

Model Ident. - iMac7,1

os x ver. - 10.5.8

processor - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory - 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

camera - Built-in iSight

Software fully updated

speedtest.net results:

Download Speed - 14.08 Mbps

Upload Speed - 5.57 Mbps

 

Model Name - MacBook Pro 13-inch, Late 2011

Model Ident. - MacBookPro8,1

os x ver. - 10.7.5

processor - 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory - 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

camera - FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Software fully updated

Speedtest.net results

Download Speed - 12.52 Mbps

Upload Speed - 5.43

 

 

I've begun to travel as part of my job, so my wife and I decided to use Skype when I'm on the road (and just to be clear, I take the MacBook Pro with me, and she uses the iMac at home). Our first try resulted in my seeing and hearing her perfectly, while she could hear me perfectly but could only see a poor video. Cleaning the screen over the built-in cameras didn't help.

 

When I got home, we Skyped each other from different parts of the house so I could see what she was describing. I, using the iMac, heard her perfectly, but the video quality was pixelated and blurry. She, using the MacBook Pro, could hear and see perfectly. If she waived her hand in front of the MacBook's camera, the video on the iMac would get dramatically worse and even freeze for a half second.

 

It appears there's some problem causing pixelation and blurring between the time the light enters the lens of the camera on the MacBook Pro to the time the video image is displayed on the iMac.

 

Is there anything I can do, like changing configuration settings or something else, to make the video on the iMac as good as the video on the MacBook Pro?