In today’s day and age, Laptops and PCs have become increasingly useful, since most tasks, be it schooling or office work, have been moved to the online medium. Due to this, lots of tasks that were done physically are now done via the internet and, in doing so, at times at least, people choose to communicate via video conferencing rather than a plain audio call. Whilst doing so, at least in your Windows laptop, you might have noticed that even the best laptops often lack decent cameras, with good webcams being a distant dream. Well, that is set to change with Windows 11, as it will supposedly mandate the use of a good, high res camera for ODMs and Laptop manufacturers. In two years time, your future Windows 11 based laptop will be required to feature a camera on it, since Microsoft has demanded the same with Windows 11. As part of the news that comes with the operating system, Microsoft recently declared that from January 1, 2023, all new laptops that will be running on Windows 11 will be mandated to offer a front-facing camera.
What Does the Policy Specify?
For privacy nerds, it might be time to go to the store and pick up a piece of tape, in case you are a bit concerned about all of this, but, for the more rationale consumer, this is great news, especially if they do remote work or have multiple meetings to attend and are tired of using the USB-based webcam that they had to splurge for, given the lack of an integrated module on their laptops. This policy is actually quite beneficial and will influence the quality of the cameras that will be equipped on laptops starting 2023, as it has been specified that they must have a resolution of High-Definition (HD) or higher, Auto Exposure (AE) and Auto White Balance (AWB). This will inadvertently bring a close to the days of 480p cameras, since a massive company like Microsoft is demanding an end to the outdated and substandard cameras, it is but a matter of time before inferior products no longer exist. Don’t get too ecstatic however, as has been mentioned earlier, this requirement will be applicable to new laptops being sold by OEMs in 2023 and not today, so you will have to wait for two years for this to become a standard rule.
