Experimental features

Similarly as on [Windows](http://share.skype.com/sites/garage/2007/01/start_your_new_year_with_neard.html), the latest releases of Skype for Mac (2.5.0.85 or newer) support high-resolution video calls. You can call in 640x480 resolution, and with good computers and Internet connection, you can get very very decent picture and sound quality. I just tried it out with my buddy Andrus, with me being on a Macbook Pro, and him being (I think) on a regular Macbook. I haven't doctored this in any way, this shot came straight from the fullscreen call.

Want to get high-resolution calls with Skype for mac youself? Just follow [these instructions](https://developer.skype.com/SkypeGarage/SkypeForMacExperimental#head-614ba6c328ebfa62d382de84a9c029d0232dd84f).

Now there are two cool things about it on a Mac. First, the configuration is much easier. You just need to insert two lines in a configuration file when not running Skype. No extra software or muchos rocket science.

Second, the built-in iSights can do this, so you don't need any extra hardware. How cool is that You're good to go if you have a recent Mac (all Intel-based ones should qualify).

Here's a trick for kicking off your new year if you're into rocket science, and to get a taste of where Skype is heading. I just talked with our video engineers and got a demo of a flawless Skype video call with 640x480 resolution and 25 frames per second framerate. For comparison, the resolution of DVD video is 720x576 in PAL, and PAL framerate is equally 25 fps. The Skype video gets pretty close to that and this is why I call it "near-DVD" -- it's not fully DVD, but it's pretty close.

[See the Garage wiki for setup instructions](https://developer.skype.com/SkypeGarage/SkypeForWindowsExperimental/HighQualityVideoCalls) for hardware, software and configuration. Currently Windows-only.

Once everything was set up, the call was great. Right after starting the call, the quality wasn't actually that great, as it took a while for the systems to get set up and "calibrate" themselves. You could see the framerate and resolution improving until you reached the good quality.

We also looked at the effect of various settings on the quality. For example the ffdshow "deinterlace" option is really important -- if you don't turn that on, then you get an interlaced picture that sucks. So it's important that you follow the LINK instructions to the letter.

They have named the computers after composers in our testing lab I could see "Mozart", "Debussy", "Beethoven" and "Shostakovich".

[Let us know in the Garage forum](http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=73710) how it works for you.