Why do Laptop Webcams Suck??

[@harrisonbristow5650]

"Dell has not sold enough extended warranties" Im dying

[@TheObsesedAnimeFreaks]

on desktops it's pretty stupid unless you are buying the accidental damage protection and giving it to a kid... (it will save you money in that case) or you are getting a laptop, and still buying the accidental damage protection, it will always cost less then having to pay for a repair in the long run. That's the point of the accidental damaged protection. the warranty otherwise is just trash. And last time I checked, dell's accidental damage protection is essentially no questions asked, they will fix it. so... if you are hard on your laptops like I am... it's a good idea. every laptop I have had, I have broken the screen or otherwise caused damage to it in some way. and each time i was screwed by the warranty, either not having accidental damage, or being out of warranty.

[@oksowhat]

So don't die

[@Nephanor]

Yeah, the writer for this one was on point.

[@reyluna0]

They just can't roast em for it lmao

[@sanigdhaya2488]

@@TheObsesedAnimeFreaks not true for India at least, I bought a dell G5 last year October bought 3 years extended warranty+adp(there was some offer it was rather cheap for such a product) laptop stopped working after a week, took it to the service centre they asked bunch of questions, kept the laptop for 2 months coming up with new issues each time, despite me complaining to dell and them. Had to get it refunded, fast forward to today I still am waiting for a minor part of the money. Also I had upgraded ram at the official dell store itself and specifically mentioned that during refund but nobody told me to remove it so I sent the laptop as is and now dell won't pay me back for the ram as that happened at the vendor not the manufacturer Ps-not an isolated case but also happened to a friend of mine

[@ThisIsTechToday]

That insane iPhone rig intro was so worth it. That was awesome!!

[@johanneslinnemann6660]

Was wondering what it would be used for when they showed it in a shorts.

[@OreOmod]

and nostalgic too

[@chelsheet]

@relax sound 😍 👇 why is there a link

[@lamarshealey3332]

Watched it twice

[@Lamb666]

Mpho Netshimbupfe it's something people are doing now to bait people into killing into scams. (But that specific one is a guy who is just putting a shit load of ads just to get people to screw the system by spamming links everywhere)

[@mcid47]

i laughed so damn hard when he said "Dell isn't selling enough warranty.."

[@user-wl4qs8xl3r]

lmao

[@Mr.FastZombie]

When the touch screen broke on my first laptop, a Dell, they wouldn't fix it because my 1 year warranty expired a few months after i bought it. They started counting the warranty when they shipped it to Microcenter...

[@mbsfaridi]

@@Mr.FastZombie WOW!

[@jamesmnguyen]

They're never gonna let Dell forget Secret Shopper.

[@ninjatv4660]

I just got to that part of the video, and I had to pause so I can laugh and scroll to the comments section to see who else picked up on it LOL

[@jonathanwhittaker2887]

The unusual method of measuring image sensor sizes isn't totally intended to be misleading. By measuring this way, the sensor size doesn't change based on the aspect ratio of the image its capturing. Instead you know that a 2/3" lens (standard broadcast TV size) will cover an image circle of 2/3" and you can adjust the size of the sensor to fit that based on aspect ratio. Since basically everything video used this form of measurement, it continued on into the phone/webcam space.

[@L2M2K2]

Well, not quite. The image circle of a 2/3" sensor is 11 mm or about 0.43" instead of the expected 0.67". This is because the image circle of a 1" sensor is 16 mm, which is 63% of an inch, and all other sizes are derived from this measure. What is true, is that originally, this was not intended to mislead people. The name 1" comes from the fact that the outer diameter of the (glass) image tube was 1", which resulted in a usable image circle of about 0.63" for the 1" sensors. This naming convention was then extended for other sizes, so the 2/3" sensors have an image circle of 11 mm (or about 0.43") instead of the expected 0.67". On the non-interchangeable-lens cameras, the naming convention is just misleading, and especially the way it is used on consumer equipment is just intended to mislead the users.

[@royaldecreeforthechurchofm8409]

I like turtles

[@BHBalast]

Just use SI units guys, please

[@vulkandrache1928]

Then atleas they should have made up another unit instead of using the name of an already existing one and pretending its different.

[@CyberVirtual]

4K Built in Webcams will not be a thing yet because streaming services will use it to gauge the room to see how much people are using a Single Netflix Account. If they see more than one person in the room it will give you a notification asking them to register their face into your account. Law enforcement as well will have too much power and have unpermitted access to people's retina scans. Also the amount of peeping toms spying on girls is going to go wild which is why all computer companies make it 720p and below because they hardly give a shit about taking a risk in any of these conspiracies.

[@BerserkBrownie]

"dell hasnt sold enough extended warranty" still roasting them for last year's secret shopper XD

[@vesh]

Never seen a laptop with a good camera

[@arturooM131]

Ofc not lol they all 144p quality

[@psalman7435]

Hello

[@KushagraPratap]

True

[@ThyBoiledOne]

NOOOO

[@ThyBoiledOne]

YT DELETED MY COMMENT

[@thexgamer8240]

Phone companies: *We have the most state-of-the-art selfie camera.* Laptop companies: *Best I can do is RGB.*

[@LaskyLabs]

"You're lucky it's even in color!"

[@yourseification]

It's actually super frustrating that this video did NOT compare any of their arguments to phones. Phones deal with even more significant constraints than laptops, so why do they have better cameras? This question WASN'T answered, which is a bit disappointing. The video feels more like a propaganda piece.

[@xiuxiu1108]

@@yourseification It was addressed... The thickness of an average phone is much higher than that of a laptop display, and thus autofocus technology can actually be implemented in a phone underneath the display. The presence of autofocus allows for a wider aperture in phone cameras which allows for better light gathering. Maybe listen to the video first next time before leaving a complaint that is literally addressed within the video?

[@killertruth186]

@@hwfq34fajw9foiffawdiufhuaiwfhw Even if it is unnecessary for much more RAM than needed at the time. But things does change. And you can put in custom ROMs on it.

[@yourseification]

@@xiuxiu1108 That argument is for the main camera in phones, not the selfie camera, which operates under the same restrictions as laptop screens but is better exponentially. This was not addressed.

[@glk0728]

"Dell apparently has not sold enough extended warranties to match Apple and Google's R&D in this area..." That's some third degree burn right there Linus.

[@Benlyd]

But also quite strange, considering how Dell still snuck in extra warranty in the secret shopper episode despite being to "No" repeatedly. I also remember Gamers Nexus' Prebuilt report, where Dell tried to sneakily sell a warranty subscription.

[@neotozo3789]

damn, that hurts. Anyone got some aloe extract?

[@Benlyd]

@Team inT Good to know. English is not my native language and I thought they were talking about Apple Care + and Googles extended warranty. As much as I like LTT, it is not unusual for them to leave out some negative points against a company that might sponsor the video. And with the Dell webcam as the only example of a “good“ webcam, I thought there might be some hidden incentive by Dell.

[@666Tomato666]

@Team inT first degree is just skin redness, third degree is when the whole dermis is damaged

[@PsychicOracle]

Intro: “now, you might be assuming it’s due to thinness and cost-cutting” 6:30: it’s due to thinness and cost-cutting.

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

Well also why include something so cheap that is sub nominal compared to what you have in your pocket that you already paid for, Laptops cannot compete in the sub camera electronics market, and TBH there is no need for it...If you cannot do something right, than don't do it at all, you can buy a specialized product that will blow it away in quality. Mod Mic is a company that proved why buy a half assed set of headcans when you can buy a set of proper sennheisers and just use the modmic and have it all?

[@theramendutchman]

0:21 Intro: "Now, my assumption was, laptop makers figured, eh, it's an easy place to cut costs" The thinness was the extra info. As well as the size of the bezel.

[@brycedunlap]

@@nocturnal101ravenous6 So what we may need is a better way to hook up the phone to the laptop for use as a streaming camera?

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

@@brycedunlap I believe Samsung has an app for that if your using one of their products and there are some other apps that allow you to do it, Personally If I was a Laptop manufacturer I would just use a similar connection that the essential phone used for the 360 camera but on the laptop lid, where it magnetically attaches, that acts as data and power for the unit to hide it they can use a dummy plug attachment with the company logo on it, So when and if you need a camera it can be easily attached but for most people that don't need it they don't have to bother with it. That is if you absolutely need a camera on a laptop and cannot use your phone.....

[@frozenstarlight3132]

Linus: "I want better webcams on laptops!" Monkey's paw: gives him better webcams and a global pandemic

[@f-ckmyr0fil139]

S and i think the NEW 😍😀😁😃😉

[@Dukenukem]

Well, all of the IT people secretly thought "how to push normal people to use computers as necesity and not annoyance they can get away with" (like why use paper form if you can use email, why setup meetings anywhere when we can conferenceCall, and sooo...... many more examples). It took global pandemic, but I think anything lesser would not push our world nearly 10-15 years ahead in daylife internet/computer usage then it. Price might seem high, but it is very well worth it.

[@ottojagenstedt9740]

was that the joke he just said?

[@VitalVampyr]

@Spade That's exactly how the monkey's paw works. In the original story someone wishes for an amount of money then finds that their spouse died in a workplace accident and the company is offering that sum as compensation (or something like that, I don't feel like looking it up at the moment). People working from home during the pandemic leads to increased interest in consumer video-conferencing equipment and thus laptop manufacturers respond to this interest with better webcams.

[@DerrickRG]

"plandemic"

[@odw32]

"Why Laptops suck at everything: Too much stuff in tiny flat case"

[@david2438]

Do not insult my handwarmer

[@edgeblackstar7484]

@@david2438 my room warmer is trusting and realiable, but sometimes burn my legs

[@QuinchGaming]

Because mobile phones are huge and thick? 🤣

[@dumbbellenjoyer]

True though, I've removed speakers, ethernet and SD ports from mine

[@donovanleemurphy9349]

@@QuinchGaming Mobile phones don't have physical keyboards, touchpads, fans, or usually even headphone jacks these days.

[@LunarSpotlight]

We should have been asking for cameras that come with decent laptops this whole time.

[@bimisikocheng]

Surface has a really decent camera tbh

[@jstan5802]

@@bimisikocheng Yup, but that's thanks to its phone like thickness

[@i.c.wiener2750]

Did you even watch the video? Linus explains why it's not possible.

[@vancityevan]

@@i.c.wiener2750 did you even read his comment? Its a joke ya damn halfwit…

[@danporcaromusic]

if more people keep buying webcams, they might stop putting webcams on laptops in general. could be cool for larger laptop displays for pro stuff like gaming, production etc., but i could never see that catch on. i bet people who value their privacy might find that as a benefit as well; disconnecting the camera while not in use.

[@RolandsSh]

The fact that sensor manufacturers decided to essentially redefine measurement units solely for their marketing purposes is incredibly infuriating and downright fraudulent advertising.

[@joyfuflower]

Like hard drive capacity? Or dimensional lumber? Or how engine power used to be measured at the crank? Nothing new really

[@DoctorWhom]

I think they should redefine it to be the actual size. Write it like 3.5mm actual (8001 vidicon mm)

[@mcgetrekt2388]

@@joyfuflower The car example is much more common in the US. Asia and Europe more commonly use BHP.

[@guillaumejoop6437]

Everyone : an inch is an inch Sensor manufacturers : Yeah, but what if it wasn't ?

[@guillaumejoop6437]

@Photo Bunny best measurement is at the wheels anyway

[@E579Gaming]

I always felt it was weird with apple laptops, they are known for having the best smartphone camera but a $2000 MacBook has never gotten close to the iPhone

[@Teluric2]

They gotta slash cost like when they used 5400 rpm hdd in 2019 imacs.

[@nerd2544]

@@Teluric2 and ddr3 and tn panels on the mba up until 2018 lol

[@Teluric2]

@@nerd2544 yep,its true.

[@jg14gerhard_bar]

​@@nerd2544 LPDDRx(3)*....not the same was ddr3. the support is different which is something people seem to glance over. intel didn't finally support lpddr4 until later when the 10th gen came out. which was also why there were limits of only 16gb for lpddr3 intel products. but you're 100% right on TN panels😂 www.intel.ca/content/www/ca/en/support/articles/000007393/processors.html

[@CyberVirtual]

4K Built in Webcams will not be a thing yet because streaming services will use it to gauge the room to see how much people are using a Single Netflix Account. If they see more than one person in the room it will give you a notification asking them to register their face into your account. Law enforcement as well will have too much power and have unpermitted access to people's retina scans. Also the amount of peeping toms spying on girls is going to go wild which is why all computer companies make it 720p and below because they hardly give a shit about taking a risk in any of these conspiracies.

[@treswiss]

im an intel rep and I was literally just telling this to my upper how I could literally not recommend one webcam from any laptop at any price point EXCEPT for the Microsoft surface books

[@RyanRoadReaper]

Hey, just outta curiosity, do you know if its true that Intel is trying to dump as much of their current inventory ASAP? Cause I've seen some screenshots of Intel employees being able to buy i9s for $250 USD or less!

[@treswiss]

@@RyanRoadReaper Those employee prices screenshots are likely the summer or holiday sale Intel has specifically for employees that have completed certain trainings! although, general price drops have occurred on intel CPUs in order to stay competitive (with you know who) all while Intel tries to work out their 7nm process. New gen CPUs are inevitably coming and the race is currently on for the AM5 chip which should release in the next year or two or three or idk ask covid..

[@Manu-Official]

is that the same microsoft surface that you can't repair because it's all glued up?

[@naviimandiv8407]

Pixelbook Go

[@a_p_vox]

Dragonfly's looks good indeed

[@adrianmotzer4875]

It feels like he's taking any opportunity to flex his camera equipment.

[@WhyteLis21]

He should anyway, the guy pay a shit ton of money for them, though. Lol.

[@ultrasonic3368]

Not at 9:51 (quality control) lol

[@asdfghjklasdfghjkl6207]

so?

[@f-ckmyr0fil139]

But i have no choice in 😙👽😏🤩🤗

[@drdrago12]

Its a tech channel, I'd hope he is lol.. hopefully he does a video on it also sometime

[@zoovy7252]

Never seen a camera with a good laptop.

[@Ommarrie]

Lmaoooo

[@mattynek2]

wtf

[@hariharanb785]

True tho

[@devd3]

Zephyrus lineup got so fed up they stopped giving it,big brain move

[@enricod.7198]

and we get shitty cameras even on big bezels lol

[@madness1931]

The right move. Even in 2020/21, I don't know anyone who uses a webcam on a laptop. It's all done on a phone, or tablet.

[@raguram9343]

Tbh all the Rog laptops don't have it 😂

[@raguram9343]

@@madness1931 no people who work use laptops for meetings

[@madness1931]

@@raguram9343 Folks I work with use smart devices. I know because they don't bother changing their display name from things like "Beth's iPad", or "Stan's Galaxy Note10+ 5G". Edit: correction, one person does use a Mac.

[@ahumeniy]

Me, using my Sony Alpha camera for online meetings: "Why is your picture so sharp?!"

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

People are idiots, LOL, you already have in most cases a much better camera and mic in your pocket anyways, and a piece of software to make it work. Or you can do as you did because everybody went on a spending spree to get a good DLSR(especially when they hit under $2k) for that 1 trip they may use 2 to 5 times in their lifetime. You are a smart man, 2 Gold Stars.

[@theramendutchman]

Wait... You can?! I should've tried my Sony A9000 then for online classes (as a teach)

[@ahumeniy]

Yeah, it's pretty easy because they're mirrorless and have clean HDMI output. You just need a cheap HDMI to USB capture dongle and a micro HDMI to HDMI cable and maybe a power supply for longer sessions

[@666Tomato666]

@@ahumeniy that's a long long list of not exactly cheap items to be talking about "just" getting them

[@ShatteringKatana]

@@666Tomato666 Nah, HDMI capture cards can cost as low as 15$ nowadays with more than acceptable quality, micro HDMI to HDMI is probably 8$ and the power supply can be a dummy battery with a wall adapter, 100$ if you are scared of ruining your camera and want the official one. External batteries would also last long and cost less. Even then, a total 150$ expense wouldn't be a lot compared to what a Sony camera, or lens for that matter, goes for.

[@tams805]

Well, I never got onto the 'super thin bezel' boat. You lot dragged those who didn't with you. Oh. Nice that you're still roasting Dell, by the way.

[@jimmerjammy]

Liked the showcase of the iPhone cameras in the beginning. Cool transition!

[@pgplaysvidya]

linux: reaches arm (is it james' arm?): nope you'll drop it. here you go. right next to your face

[@brandonstevens6886]

Linus without a beard is literally like Riker in s1 of stng

[@josephh2796]

Hey, I understood that reference! 🖖

[@blueredbrick]

Nah more the male version of Tasha :)

[@MikhaelAhava]

Nice.

[@Octamed]

"You can't have good webcams because the screen is too thin". Just... don't do that then? Would anyone care about a camera bump on a giant laptop screen? (noone cares with phones)

[@TheSimArchitect]

Plus usb cameras suck too.

[@theramendutchman]

@@TheSimArchitect USB cameras tend to be a LOT better than built in laptop cameras. My laptop gives shitty, smudgy, 480p image. My low-prices (I think around €17) USB camera gives sharp-as-heck image... For 480p, but still

[@TheSimArchitect]

@@theramendutchman Yes, but much worse than the cameras from cell phones.

[@thermitekitty9070]

A camera bump on something that gets folded in half and squished regularly is gonna be dangerous for the camera.

[@Teluric2]

Just an excuse,like when apple said " who needs a big screen on phone?" when they galaxy note was popular. Apple and fans always dismiss things they cant do right .

[@Nooboroshi]

You can tell a "segue to the sponsor" is coming when the background music stops.

[@shinobu9414]

I've never skipped a sponsor from this man coz they catch me offguard.

[@spicysrirachamilkshake8167]

Lol fr, awhile back I discovered a chrome store add on that skips his ads automatically but for some reason it’s no longer supported and doesn’t work. I never really used it though tbh cause I don’t mind his ads at all but it was kinda a cool piece of software

[@RandomsDude]

Lol I know

[@matthewcarlson5885]

The dell XPS footage made me feel like I was in a zoom call. It wasn’t a great feeling.

[@FerralVideo]

Linus, you continue to earn respect from me. This time for being able to recognize when you were "wrong" or made a "mistake" - in this case realizing how the call for infinitesimal bezels was contributing to the poor quality of webcams. inb4 webcam camera bumps ... speaking of camera bumps, one of my older (c. 2007) laptops has a novel approach. The webcam is mounted to a swiveling pod at the top of the screen, that lets you flip it over and shoot whatever's behind the laptop, instead of just what's in front of it (you). You can also use this as a privacy feature by just flipping it down so it's pointed at the bezel. The main drawback is that this is big - it requires the rather substantial bezels that were common in 2007 era laptops (I don't think they're too bad, but I've been using this exact machine as my main up until very recently - call it Stockholm syndrome if you will), and a fairly thick screen - again common in that era, but unthinkable in a modern system. I think my screen is thicker than some peoples' entire laptops....

[@ajcoach]

The webcam's on the Microsoft Surface Pro's are the best I came across, probably because a laptop in a tablet form-factor is a bit bigger and allows for a bigger camera sensor.

[@mumafiedmustangs]

I love the "Cut in" from Alex about camera size measurements.

[@iviaverick52]

5:25 DoF is a factor directly influenced by sensor size. When you have sensors as tiny as 3.5-5mm, anything beyond a few inches is typically in focus, regardless of aperture size. However, aperture is also a direct relationship to the physical characteristics of the lens such as the depth and width. It's only physically possible to create such a side aperture for such a tiny lens, and f1.8 on a 3.5mm sensor is NOT the same as f1.8 on a 35mm sensor.#physics.

[@mahir7h]

Not to mention that the smartphone front cameras don't even have the autofocus that he complained about. The iPhone 12 has a fixed focus lens for the front camera.

[@mahir7h]

The video as a whole is just frustrating to watch. No autofocus mechanism on the market involves mems actuators. Even the smallest sensors with 0.64 micrometer sized pixels used in phones have phase detection autofocus. Why is he name-dropping jargon and unnecessary detail (which also happens to be wrong) for no reason whatsoever? It did not add to the explanation in any meaningful way.

[@dcphillips1991]

It would be good if it was made more easy to plug your phone into a laptop and use the phones camera, native Windows intergration for it would be great.

[@MasterGeekMX]

I was never a fan of thin bezels. Not only becasue of these problems with the webcam, but also becasue it adds other disadvantages for what, subjective "better look"?

[@Roxor128]

The accidental double-touch on a smartphone comes to mind for a problem that would be solved by a thicker bezel.

[@zooploop-checkmychannel4853]

The problem still remains is, if smartphone cameras can still doo with small bezels almost reaching to just a cut out, so can the laptops Secondly to the point saying laptop displays are thinner, the thing is i have got a gaming laptop of 8 mm thickness and there are phones like mi 11 lite with 6.8 mm thickness having much much better 4k selfie camera Even taking all this out the xps displays are more than 6mm and we had phones like moto z2 play and z2 force or oppo r5 with much better cameras The problem is people never look if there is and sony sensor of how many megapixel and how much aperture or things like that when buying a laptop, like they do on phones, here they would rather pay extra bucks to get a better rgb or graphics or storage than sensors unlike phones

[@mairacristian54]

Cant believe i had to scroll down this far to look at this kind of comment. 100% true, all the things you can say about a technological standpoint (lenses, sensor, focus, etc) are meaningless cause phones do it better while being smaller (yes, even without bezels). Screens being "thinner"? like, c'mon xD It all comes down to demand, marketing and all that money bs that is behind

[@higor129]

​@@mairacristian54 The point is that laptop cameras only have one axis to work with. If you make a phone thinner you can still make a larger sensor vertically and horizontally to compensate or add more cameras to the same small area. This is not an option on laptops - you can add cameras side by side but due to space/cabling constraints they probably won't be as close to each other as needed unless vendors are willing to pay billions for access to CPU/GPU-level fabrication processes (not worth it).

[@akankpattnaik]

@@higor129 Yes I agree with you

[@mairacristian54]

@@higor129 I dont get your point. Manufacturers can easly make a bulk out of the device, take for example the samsung a52, which is a budget smartphone with a great camera btw, and has a bulk just for the camera. Laptops have even more playing field and space, they just dont do it cause its not worth monetarily, the point still remains

[@zooploop-checkmychannel4853]

@@higor129 not true, reason you are siting for for two seperate camera which is not required. Intel and amd do support camera with 2 axis the problem regarding space constraint is also invalid as no one ever said we need the area to be that much only, they never went for an extra inch to provide even half inch sensors while now we have full 1 inch one from sony for mobile devices The thickness can also be compensated by adding a bump if needed but that was again not chosen by manufacturers

[@abelgeorge4953]

Phone front cameras with just a notch: monalisa Laptop front cameras with an entire bar of free space: garbage Theresa

[@computernerdinside]

The issue is how narrow that bar is.

[@abelgeorge4953]

@@computernerdinside good point buddy but aren't water drop notches thinner? Atleast that's what I feel like

[@pieceofshitzu2]

Kinda disappointed you didn't show the m1 image processing and show how software does matter, but okay

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

I mean, M1 MacBooks webcam quality is better… but not by a lot.

[@MoritzvonSchweinitz]

I'd just like to say thanks for the technical almost nit-picky corrections (like the sensor size measurements in this video) that you guys recently seem to do a bit more often. They really speak volumes about the fact-checking and technical aspects that seem to go on behind the videos!

[@azeezkorede7012]

The shade towards Dell's extended warranties 😂

[@djaneezy2504]

Let's hope this is among the 80% of comments Linus claims to read: That intro shot was insane. Great job.

[@sanders4362]

LINUS SAID THE THING “Well yes, but also no”

[@lxMaDnEsSxl]

the thing?

[@sanders4362]

@@lxMaDnEsSxl he said something along the lines of "well yes, but actually no"

[@deadlycucumber9020]

The last time I was this early, Linus hasn’t segwayed to the sponsor yet

[@aidanisntcursed]

Segwayed lol

[@devKazuto]

That's why I use my DSLR as a webcam instead of the MacBook's one 😅

[@sufferr2914]

With the added bonus of being able to move your camera with you

[@ThePointblank]

Yep, I did the same for one video meeting, and everyone remarked at how good the video feed I had. I was literally the sharpest looking person in the meeting.

[@namank5291]

If you have a DSLR and Mac you gotta be rich af

[@stefansson11]

yeah i mean, that's the whole point, a dslr with clean hdmi out is arount at least 400$, plus a reliable/good capture card is at least 50$

[@GiovanniRuffinengo]

@@stefansson11 Just use USB. Not as good looking, but considering the video has to be uploaded in real time anyway, it's fine

[@LetrixAR]

I was expecting a 10 years of iPhone selfie cameras to be full video not as an intro

[@Layarion]

i like the little "tidbits" you're including, and how you're doing it.

[@DctrGizmo]

The jab about Dell not selling enough warranty services was hilarious!

[@Gamingtechgg]

Its the trueth though look up alienware what they are doing on gamersnexus

[@justsomeperson5110]

I mean the short of the answer to "Why do laptop webcams suck?" is ... no one thought anyone cared? I guess? I mean they could have made a bump, "hidden" as a bezel overhang that, when folded, comes out past the base of the laptop. Then there'd be enough room for camera greatness. Phones get bumps and we deal with it. Laptops could have bumps too. Heck, the whole top bezel could be a bump with room for camera and speakers, even extra back-facing USB ports or folding WIFI antennas, and freeing up room in the base for more cooling or battery. It has always been possible. The imagination is endless. But no one wanted to do it.

[@zvxcvxcz]

My laptop from 2006 has a better camera than 99% of the stuff available today. Unfortunately the only working driver for it is for Windows XP only. There was an open source driver years ago but it stopped working when they went to the modern webcam standard and no one fixed it (because this camera predates the standard and requires its own tweak). Part of why they don't like putting that stuff in the lid is because they would need to actually use a good hinge to keep it open where people set it and may need a heavier base to keep it stable. But if they can solve those issues then the lid certainly seems like a more logical place speakers for sure.

[@Kamii_Kaze]

I feel like this should be a Techquickie Video lol

[@John69420]

I'd like to adress the depth of field issue with a larger aperture. 1. The wider the field of view of the lens, the less impact the aperture has. 2. The smaller the sensor, the less depth of field occurs with the same aperture compared to a larger sensor. That would mean on such a small sensor, you could probably go to f0.95 and would probably still be fine with a fixed focus.

[@chiefdenis]

Exactly

[@XorianVeres]

2 years ago, I would have said: "No one needs a camera on the Laptop" But time has changed....

[@georgelopez9411]

The "Reverse Notch" (like the Zenbook S13 or Yoga S940) maximizes screen realestate AND does not sacrifice webcam quality. It's one of the best things we're recently gotten in laptops and needs to be implemented more widely.

[@bigboom378]

seeing things through a webcam reminds you just how good the LTT cinema cameras are...

[@Frustratedfool]

Young Linus has a touch of ‘Dave Jones - EEblog’ about him.

[@F2_CPB]

More like Linus a year ago before he grew beard lol

[@henryviiifake8244]

Ngl, the camera transitions in the intro were just *

[@AmongUs-mb4qx]

Linus be reading my mind, I was wondering about this yesterday!

[@0xbenedikt]

Personally, I really don’t mind bad webcams in laptops. I’m getting sick of video calls and the connection will kill the resolution and quality anyway. I also find it uncomfortable that calls sometimes are recorded and that unlike meetings in real life, you don’t know when people look at you, so scratching your nose or leaning back becomes much more obvious.

[@ketmax2805]

I thank Linus for indirectly making laptop webcams worse. It's harder to see if I'm actually paying attention in class!

[@haowang3462]

the new girl makes me realize that I'm realy becoming last gen now

[@cls63amgwagon34]

Why? Also who is she?

[@soumilswapna]

Agree.

[@miyauchi6387]

she cute

[@nopers2223322]

She's fine as fuck holy shit

[@psstimbatman6646]

@@nopers2223322 virgin.

[@RichardHorpe]

chasing thin bezels is humanity's greatest mistake. plus most of these "thin bezel" laptops have enormous chins just keep up the silly 16:9

[@muditahlawat]

HEY!!! HOW DARE YOU!!! Thats the "Golden Ratio"!!

[@EliteSniperTV]

@@muditahlawat I'd prefer 16/10, 4/3 for photo editing etc

[@FroyourHistory]

What's even the point of a thin laptop bezel anyways? It's not like I'm gonna hook up 2 other laptops to it for a bezelless display.

[@MrAjithkv]

@@muditahlawat no it isn't. 16:10 is so close.

[@soejrd24978]

@@muditahlawat nope it isn't

[@DrSamsHealth]

Great video! I still can't fathom that cell phones manage videos much better than laptops with all their space constraints. And you've just dissuaded me from getting Dell's new camera :)

[@robenglish7475]

That first 15 seconds of shots was really well done, very cool.

[@agaal446]

"I didn't know that a smart phones had a bigger bezels then a laptop" for housing a better selfie cameras then laptop webcam. I can get a phone $200 that has better selfie camera then a laptop that cost ten times more. Don't forget how much staff and cabling is in a phone, not just a camera for all that thickness which is same times even thinner than a laptops screen panel.

[@imjody]

It just takes one company to get a seriously kick-ass camera in there... somehow. Then, the rest shall follow.

[@bshenlow882]

well, Apple barely have decent ones in their Macbooks. and that's despite the fact they have massive R&D resources they can throw at this problem.

[@flameshana9]

Samsung be like: "Oh? People buy our phones because we give them headphone jacks? Let's remove them then!"

[@morosis82]

Not even all the way through yet, but I am loving the annotations the editor has used. Good job guys.

[@Zayfod]

The extended campaign against bezels is also what's resulted in phones having parts of their screens cut away to fit the selfie camera, the death of user facing speakers, and phones you can't hold without accidentally touching the screen...

[@josephyang3260]

Okay hear me out, why don’t laptop manufactures just create a webcam bulge/camera bump that’s a little rectangular. And then have a matching rectangular cut out in the base. Thus when you close the laptop the bulge and the cut out interlock together. It could also stabilize the screen when closed. Although I’m not an engineer, based on current technology it should totally be possible to create a camera bump with the bigger sensor and lens and then just have it slot into a hole on the main body of the laptop

[@flameshana9]

You act like they want to make things better instead of worse.

[@Maverick-wq1pn]

A doubt: can't they use mobile phones camera in a laptop? Like Sony sencor or samsung sencor??

[@Maverick-wq1pn]

@Bruh Moment if design properly it can... even their are some slim phones 5-8 mm thick that comes with good set of cameras

[@mattynek2]

@@Maverick-wq1pn They want us to buy a laptop AND a phone... it's all because of $

[@katrinabryce]

My MacBook screen is about 1mm thick, my iPhone 8+ is about 7mm.

[@mattynek2]

@@katrinabryce overpriced tech user

[@Maverick-wq1pn]

@@katrinabryce 1 mm is too thin are you sure about it? I have a normal budget laptop (decent one) and it's screen is abot 6-7 mm thick

[@firexgodx980]

This isn't the entire story, Linus. You covered post processing, but you didn't cover the most important component: the Image Signal Processor, or ISP. The ISP are dedicated pieces of hardware that perform the software magic that makes smartphones look so good. The ISP controls HDR, auto white balancing, auto exposure, etc. Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple have invested huge amounts into their ISPs which is why they're so good. So why aren't these ISPs in laptops? Because they're integrated directly into the SoC(the CPU of your phone) and none of those companies have any plans to sell just the ISPs by themselves as far as I know. If you could talk to Qualcomm and ask them why they don't sell ISPs to webcam manufactures, that would be very cool.

[@LunaticCharade]

That would be very cool yeah.. but also sounds like would cost a few cents, so probably not?

[@Blue2x2x]

Users: "I want a thin laptop" Laptop manufacturer: **Make laptops thinner and a thin webcam** Users: "I want a good webcam laptop" Laptop manufacturer: **Make laptops thick to fit a good webcam** Users: "I want a thin laptop" Laptop manufacturer: **Make laptops thinner and a thin webcam** Users: "I want a good webcam laptop" Laptop manufacturer: **Make laptops thick to fit a good webcam** Users: **Trashes Laptop pulls out Tablet** "Nobody uses laptops anyways"

[@MohdQil]

Then make a thin good webcam ??? Is it that hard ???

[@Blue2x2x]

@@MohdQil Laptops manufacturers: **Makes Good thin webcams for thin laptops** Users: "Too Expensive!"

[@MohdQil]

@@Blue2x2x Then dont sell it for a high price

[@jkotka]

One thing that was kinda skipped in this video is the ISP pipeline that is used. The mobile phones have large areas of the chip dedicated to the isp pipeline which takes the raw bayer from the sensor, denoise, demosaic, white balance, local/global tone map, gamma correct, sharpen ect the image out to rgb. This requires two things, the actual ISP and a camera that pushes out raw bayer. What the laptop manufacutrers usually go for is a SOC camera, which has a very simple built in ISP and it pushes out already rgb or yuv, eliminating the possibility of using the ISP in the cpu. (atleast intel CPUs have comprehensive isps in them) The reason is that the SMIA cameras that push out the raw bayer have much higher bandwith requirements and the differential signal is not as easy to run from the lid to the cpu as the normal usb is. So even tough the modern CPUs have good amounts of silicon dedicated to Image Signal Processing, most of the manufacturers just choose to skip this part and rely on some janky basic stuff in the sensor. Like in this video, the "high" quality webcam in the laptop was utterly confused of the whitepoint in the scene and rendered the skin tones in very unappealling purple cast, basically ruining the image. Modern ISP is a extremely complicated piece of tech that requires special set of skills to design, if you look at the processor layouts for mobile chips, you can see that it can take more space in the silicon than the actual cpu cores. I would say that the isp development is easily the biggest factor in the increase of the image quality on smartphones over the development of the physical aspects of the sensor or module.

[@germanbarba4159]

Hi LTT, thanks for this video. I was hooked from the moment I read the title, it's one of those small thoughts that live inside of your brain and sometimes pop up and I dind't have an answer for it. I believe it's a great video, very insightful all the different camera changes (I'd like to see a making off scene of Linus in a "click farm" with all those phones haha), but I couldn't tell if in the future Laptop manufacturers will tend more to external camera devices or will improve the ones they have at all. Thanks guys!

[@asteroidrules]

Seems like the majority of things wrong with laptops can be blamed primarily on how obsessed marketing departments are with making everything thin.

[@max_955]

will people buy a laptop with big bezels and with a thick display only to have a decent webcam?

[@asteroidrules]

@@max_955 I already buy laptops with thick bodies for a decent keyboard and actually useful I/O ports. A bit of screen bezel never bothered me since it generally improves durability, which I value over appearance.

[@Teluric2]

Its known that looks is a major reason to pick a laptop. We re not apple teen fanboys

[@Roxor128]

@@asteroidrules Laptops with decent keyboards still exist? Last one I used was from 2006.

[@Novur]

Linus' heel-face turn on bezels lately is gratifying, but it's even more gratifying to see him acknowledge it here. It was MADDENING listening to him and his staff go ON AND ON about bezels, I hope they just kick it as a talking point from LMG altogether

[@yashpahariya9653]

I don't understand making bezels extremely small on laptops. On phones it makes sense, but laptops are inherently big. Unless the bezel is abnormally large, it doesn't matter to me.

[@InventorZahran]

By reducing the size of the bezels, the display can be made bigger without increasing the overall size of the laptop. This equates to more usable screen space, and less useless bezel space. While laptops (and by extension, large tablets) are inherently big, portability still matters, and any amount of size reduction without sacrificing screen area is worthwhile on a device that's meant to be carried around. It's literally the same logical thought process that phone makers apply.

[@yashpahariya9653]

@@InventorZahran True, I never thought of it that way.

[@Roxor128]

>On phones it makes sense Only to a point, though. You still need a few millimetres of bezel around the screen so your palm doesn't activate it when you reach across with your thumb when using the phone one-handed (as is often the case when you're out running an errand and have to carry something). My Samsung Galaxy S4 provides a decent demonstration of the problem, and newer phones are even worse (which is part of why I don't want to replace it, because I know how annoying its replacement will be).

[@averyrhinerson2892]

I don't know if anything was done differently in terms of production line, but this video just looks stelar. I can't say what in particular which aspect of the video it is, but this video is one of my favorite video LTT has produced. Hats off to Alex, Emily, Mark and Linus for this video, seriously guys great looking video. (Even with youtube's arguably aggressive compression)

[@e21big]

this is why we should move the mainboard from the bottle enclosure to the top enclosure, it will cool better and allow for the thicker space to be were they can mount more important stuffs

[@penguin32383]

Loving Alex's Hattie B's Nashville Hot Chicken shirt!

[@TheLaptopLagger]

Now I must admit I'm still somewhat confused, as modern phones often have pop-up cameras which are arguably limited by the exact same size constraints as Laptop webcams. Are we then to assume that the only difference is in the post processing? Or is this the tiny cost cutting peice you previously mentioned? Awesome video regardless.

[@kevinwong_2016]

*rarely 😅

[@critical_eye1]

What explains the outstanding webcam quality of the Microsoft surface pro lineup?

[@AnshulGuptaAG]

Probably software/post-processing, along with thiccer bezels in surface devices that allow for bigger sensors.

[@mini9503]

@@AnshulGuptaAG No its just spending a bit more on what they think matters, just like Apple with Speakers and Lenovo with Keyboard.

[@maxa2826]

It's a tablet, so it uses a much thicker cell-phone type module

[@M69392]

Good post processing also requires raw image access with a MIPI interface that many laptops don't have. Check your integrated webcam in the device manager, it will show up as a USB device with MJPEG output

[@Roxor128]

I suspected this might be the case. Thanks for confirming it when I wasn't near a laptop to check.

[@LloydZyanRUy]

"Shrinking the bezels is the reason why laptop's cameras suck" Future laptops: Behold, the NOTCH on bigger screeens!

[@RephaelMendoza]

3:39 is the best part of this video

[@hjphan1030]

Linus what a troll XD

[@kaczk_]

Yeah

[@bobbyaustralia8509]

So you’ll buy their full-sized accessory 🥴

[@FitzoPlays]

Seeing Linus without a beard really doesn't sit right with me now

[@mardochejulien9840]

@@nerfwalid9568 nop

[@dontaskforchanelname]

Normal to those who used to watch him before the beard arc. Looks good on him.

[@FitzoPlays]

@@dontaskforchanelname Yeah, he's had the beard for ages though. I've been watching for years so the beard was a change. Deffo looks better with it... slightly less nerdy. xD

[@flameshana9]

Are we watching the same video?

[@ivosiemelink4773]

Hahah. I really like the bridge to the sponsor LMAO!

[@someoneelse7629]

And that's why I prefer my laptop WITHOUTH webcam. I have a perfectly fine USB webcam, with bigger sensor, decent focus and absolutely stellar low light preformance. I can also put it a meter away on a tripod to get a decent picture that doesn't vibrate when I type on the keyboard. on top of that, I can get a bezel less laptop with a bigger screen on a smaller laptop.

[@julianaaronraj5574]

1:33 Linus: Size matters... Nobody: That's what she said! 😂

[@DaBeast34]

It’s impossible to beat the bots, they always comment first

[@MrPizzaTie]

Oh great, now we're going to get 3" bezels just to make Linus happy

[@IOSALive]

Linus Tech Tips, Subscribed because your videos always make me smile!

[@damirsencar3038]

Depth of field (DOF) is determined by focal length, aperture and size of sensor. Focal length is small, wide lens. Aperture is also very small, and sensor is so small that DOF is so big that everything is sharp from few centimeters to infinity. No shallow DOF.

[@AlexMercadoGo]

What was HP thinking when they named their computers “Max” when there are already “Macs” on the market?

[@michaelazubuike2476]

"There are no accidents" -unknown

[@ErimlRGG]

I really don't get Linus and other reviewers crying about display bezel. It not like it makes the devices that much bigger and also protects your screen and makes your laptop more robust most of the time...

[@jgcjgh]

I agree

[@SanDiego619RS]

Linus’s Thumbnail: “Why Does Your Webcam Suck” Me using my PCs webcam: “Always has been.” 🌎 💻👨🏻‍🚀 💥🔫💻👨🏻‍🚀 🛰 🌙

[@Gabriel-nk3um]

but our smartphones front camera's size is similar to the ones on laptops, it still looks good even if it isn't as big as a DSLR, if laptops improve their front camera, there can be potentially people around swinging their laptops and vlogging.

[@zyeborm]

A decent front camera has significantly more depth and sensor size than a laptop

[@uncanny_mac4660]

I've always wanted a smartphone company to try their hand a designing new discrete webcams.

[@zrixx123]

Imagine having a webcam which clipped to the top of the screen via magnets which could be stored in the body while not in use.

[@user-bp8yg3ko1r]

Best case scenario.

[@hashhacker2130]

That would be the most easiest one to lose

[@zrixx123]

A modern laptop has a thinner screen than body which if you watched the video you would understand. You only need to fit a sensor the size of your smartphone one with a housing to drastically improve the quality. You could probably fit it in the space taken by the Kensington lock. Although it would probably be smarter making it a bit larger so you could add decent microphones (forward and back facing) and it would also improve its ergonomics. I'm sure many designers would love the challenge of implementing and packaging a new technology. Not to mention the benefit that it would be unable to spy on you while stashed.

[@fricki1997]

"36mm sensor width is large" Laughs in medium format

[@MrMartinSchou]

Get yourself a medium format webcam that can do autofocus and 1k fps flowmo.

[@wafflestomper420]

hey thanks for gatekeeping which camera sensor is the largest, you're a really cool guy and i bet girls like you a lot.

[@fricki1997]

@@wafflestomper420 Those that do like medium format do :) Also there are plenty larger formats than medium format, as one might guess from the name.

[@-SP.]

Why do iPhone selfies distort faces so much? Like my face is fine on the preview, but when I actually take a picture, half of my facial features look super weird

[@thescreamingfish]

It's the flip. Preview is a mirror image, then you see the real image. Since our faces are not perfectly symmetrical, that looks weird to us. Our mirror image would look weird to everyone else.

[@jojoba_24]

Post processing or beauty filter

[@mohammadshirinzadehdastgir5572]

There are 2 more reasons. First, webcams use USB bandwidth to communicate with cpu that is not enough for live processing while on mobile phone the connection from camera to processor is so much faster. Second, lack of integrated AI processing in PC cpus makes image processing from camera to be so inefficient.

[@tld8102]

what about the camera on the ipad pro? it has a decent small camera

[@daniel_960_]

Same story as the phone