History Main / VideoPhone

* These showed up almost everywhere in ''[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]''.

* General Beckman's interchanges with the ''{{Chuck}}'' team mostly happen this way, as do liaisons between the 'Castle' and various field operatives

An ''extremely'' common trope found in any stories told in [[TheFuture future]] or [[ScienceFiction high-tech]] settings, a VideoPhone (Sometimes also referred to as a [[WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture VidPhone]]) is a telecommunications device that functions exactly like a telephone but distinctly comes with a video screen which allows for the individuals on both ends of the call to see each other.

Like {{Flying Car}}s, {{Ray Gun}}s, and, of course, {{Jet Pack}}s, this is one of the most frequently observed tropes in depictions of TheFuture and originally popularized in the RaygunGothic era of ScienceFiction, but where most of these ubiquitous genre tropes [[IWantMyJetPack remain absent from our reality]], the VideoPhone is one that has been made possible and is slowly becoming more commercially available around the world (although it's not very likely to ever see as much prevalent usage in our world as it does in fiction).

** Interoperability, however, is another matter[[hottip:*:Video calling outside of home operators is a hit-or-miss affair, as some operators do allow voice calls but not video calls to leave their home network. Also, while most cellphones adhere by the ITU 3G video call specification, Apple boneheadedly chose to implement their own Facetime system on the iPhone instead, meaning that an iPhone can ''never'' accept video calls from any other phones, nor can it place direct video calls to 3G video-compliant phones]]...

** Interoperability, however, is another matter...

* CUE NET and similar devices.

[[caption-width-right:324:The technology sure looks neat, but it's a shame [[{{Zeerust}} we couldn't find ways to improve those annoying rotary dials.]]]]

* These showed up almost everywhere in ''[[{{Anime/Ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokémon]]''.

* These showed up almost everywhere in early seasons of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''.

* Apple's iPhone allows for two people with the phone to engage face-to-face calls, incorporating both the device's camera and speaker phone capabilities, when both operators are connected to Wi-Fi.

* In ''DeadSpace'', Isaac has an ultra hi-tech video phone with a projected holographic screen as part of RIG suit's [[CommLinks Comm Link]].

* DeadSpace has an ultra hi-tech video phone as part of RIG's CommLink, shame it only works in blue.

* DeadSpace has a ultra hi-tech holographic video phone as part of RIG's comm link, shame it only works in blue.

* DeadSpace has a ultra hi-tech holographic video phone as part of RIG's comm link, shame is only works in blue.

* Seemed commonplace in ''{{Robocop}} [[RecycledTheSeries the series]]''.

* Mocked in a passage in ''InfiniteJest'' which describes how widespread videophone use made people increasingly concerned about their physical appearance, which eventually led to most people wearing elaborate masks whenever they used the phone (and, later, just switching back to normal phones).

* Mocked in a passage in ''InfiniteJest'', which describes how widespread videophone use made people increasingly concerned about their physical appearance, which eventually led to most people wearing elaborate masks whenever they used the phone (and, later, just switching back to normal phones).

* In ''StarshipTroopers'', Johnny Rico is talking to his parents in Buenos Aires via VideoPhone [[spoiler: when the Bug asteroid hits the city.]]

* These showed up almost everywhere in early seasons of ''{{Pokemon}}''.