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For the first bit Sauron speaks to Pippin thinking he is Saruman, which makes it quite clear that the palantir isn't exactly the same as a video conference.
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Like
Fordim says though, why would Sauron assume that somebody else was using the palantir, other than Saruman? Sauron then realizes that it's not Saruman asks
'who's there'. I think also this was the first time Sauron came into contact with a Hobbit, or seen a hobbit. He just learned about them recently, and never saw one before, so he wouldn't know who Pippin was. Once Pippin responds that he's a Hobbit, Sauron then sees him and laughs:
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'Then suddenly he seemed to see me, and he laughed at me.'
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Pippin had to tell Sauron he was a hobbit.
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How would Sauron know what a hobbit looks like if he's never seen a Hobbit before?
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He thought he was in Isengard. If you can't even tell where the person is you are talking to, then the method of communication you are using is certainly less than perfect.
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What we are told from the
UT, this is where the problem occurs. Because objects were 'blinded' or blotted out unless there was some sort of light reflecting off them. This was in the dark, at night, there was the
'moonlight gleaming off its surface', but that's all. So, without the light on objects, you couldn't see any surroundings (but that doesn't mean you couldn't see another viewer) Now a person of significant willpower could do a 'shrouding' effect and cover up objects, or they could cause the palantir to concentrate one some point, but this took quite a bit of willpower and was extremely tiring. Pippin definitely wouldn't be able to do this.
Perhaps it was premature of me to say that Sauron saw exactly everything he wanted, because he obviously couldn't tell the stone wasn't in Orthanc anymore. But, I don't see how we can get a sense that Sauron didn't see Pippin. Pippin saw Sauron and was able to recognize him, it's just that Sauron saw Pippin and was unable to recognize him (hence the 'Who is it?'). Probably because:
1) He's got a recent and limitted knowledge on Hobbits, most likely never saw one before, so literally wouldn't know who it is.
2) Also wondering why it wasn't Saruman who was viewing it, and wanted to know who was.
Anyway, asking 'Who is it' doesn't mean Sauron wasn't able to see Pippin, he just didn't know who was using it.