The latest Apple patent to draw the speculation of Mac fans is a new twist on the iSight camera, featuring the camera embedded within the display itself. Apple started out with its iSight perched atop its monitors, then later built the camera into the casing surrounding the screen. This latest idea calls for the camera to be integrated into the screen, behind the layer that displays the graphics.

Apple didn't go into much detail on how it intends for this process to work, besides that it drives the screen into an "inactive state" before taking a picture. LCD screens are already transparent, but an image taken through one will be discolored if taken while pixels are active. The real trick there doesn't seem to be finding a way for the camera to see you, but finding a way to keep you from seeing the camera and have it distort the image on-screen. Apple also mentions using the tech with OLED screens in the patent, but those may pose even more of an engineering challenge to work with.

The benefits from this idea are mainly for video conferencing, as it lets you meet the eye-line of the person you're talking to. With traditional screen-mounted cameras, both participants in a chat are seeing the other as if staring down from above. At the same time, this adds some new problems to using webcams. You're unable to aim the camera short of moving around the entire screen. There are also privacy issues at hand if rogue software ever tries to spy on you; there's no way to cover-up the camera, so it could potentially always be recording you. It's a bit early to start getting excited about the tech either way, as there's no indication Apple's working on any products using the patent in the immediate future.

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