Apple Releases Second Studio Display 15.5 Firmware Beta With Webcam Update

[alexandr]

Saw it also last week (matte next to glossy) - I think the glossy is nice, although at the end the old LG ultra-Fine with minor upgrades and an integrated iDevice

Same — that's what killed me, I think — how poor the matte option looked next to the glossy one. I don't want a glossy display, but that matte option just looked sad. I also can't say I was blown away by the amazing design, like a lot of reviewers said — it was just fine imho.

 

[OS X Dude]

I get that sentiment but I don't recall people complaining about iPad's Center Stage camera this much. Looking at several comparisons between Studio Display and iPad Pro/Air with the same camera, both are almost equally subpar, significant downgrade from iPhone 12/13's front camera.

The iPad has an, at best 12.9" display. The issue is much more pronounced when the display in question is over twice as large.

 

[JPack]

I get that sentiment but I don't recall people complaining about iPad's Center Stage camera this much. Looking at several comparisons between Studio Display and iPad Pro/Air with the same camera, both are almost equally subpar, significant downgrade from iPhone 12/13's front camera.

The reviews of M1 iPad Pro clearly showed the decrease in image quality due to Center Stage. Some reviews highlighted that problem (7MP iPad Pro 2020 outperforms 12MP iPad Pro 2021). Most reviewers just cared about the M1 chip and mini LED. But on the Studio Display, there's nothing really to talk about. It's a conventional LCD with a sub-par camera.

Apple iPad Pro (2021) vs iPad Pro (2020): review

Is the iPad Pro (2021) better than the iPad Pro (2020)? Should you upgrade? Should you buy the old iPad to save money?

www.phonearena.com

 

[OaktownBdon]

This is exactly why you don't want Center Stage on MacBook.

With an ultrawide camera, you have to zoom and crop for selfies, which means the 12MP camera becomes 6MP.

Center Stage isn't some magic feature. You can either choose wide angle and low quality or regular angle and full quality.

I agree with you in principle, but I just looked up the tech specs and it seems like it should allow for better quality compared to something like the current iMac (depending on the level of zoom).

• The iMac and Macbook Pro have a 1080p HD camera. 1920x1080 = 2.1 megapixels
• The Studio Display has a 12 megapixel camera. Assuming the same aspect ratio, that should be about 4622x2600.

So unless the zoom is more than 2.4x, the quality should at least equal that of the current iMac, yeah? (In terms of raw pixel count, which doesn't consider the quality of the sensor of course.)

 

[odHbo]

*** Ignoring all comments until someone says they have actually done the update so we can talk about the actual results of the update. ***

 

[dugbug]

Because there's nothing to fix. Apple took an image sensor from a device that, relatively, is far smaller than the Studio Display. You blow up that image, it's obviously going to magnify the pixels and produce worse image quality on a larger screen. But they didn't just stop there, they actually used a wide-angle lens and need to crop the image just to keep one person in the centre of the frame - whilst using AI to alter the perspective.

The real question is why Apple didn't use a higher quality sensor, such as the selfie camera from their iPhones.

they should be able to improve contrast and a few other areas not related to resolution

 

[maxsquared]

which doesn't consider the quality of the sensor of course.)

I think it's a lot to do with hardware (sensor) as well. If the same sensor size, if it's mapped to 1080 will be much better quality than if it's mapped to 12mp. It's using 16% of the sensor, hence poor quality.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

they should be able to improve contrast and a few other areas not related to resolution

True, but that's not 'fixing' the problem, it's simply damage control from the original complaints.

 

[JPack]

I agree with you in principle, but I just looked up the tech specs and it seems like it should allow for better quality compared to something like the current iMac (depending on the level of zoom).

• The iMac and Macbook Pro have a 1080p HD camera. 1920x1080 = 2.1 megapixels
• The Studio Display has a 12 megapixel camera. Assuming the same aspect ratio, that should be about 4622x2600.

So unless the zoom is more than 2.4x, the quality should at least equal that of the current iMac, yeah? (In terms of raw pixel count, which doesn't consider the quality of the sensor of course.)

Mac = video resolution
Studio Display = still image resolution

When you compare the video resolution of both, which is 1080P, the Studio Display has terrible resolution because of cropping and zooming. This all comes down to the use of ultrawide lens.

 

[jimbobb24]

Women in photo look like they were told to make fake smiles

 

[KPOM]

I finally saw the Studio Display in-person this weekend. I left surprisingly unimpressed.

It’s a display. There’s not much to it.

 

[KPOM]

*** Ignoring all comments until someone says they have actually done the update so we can talk about the actual results of the update. ***

It’s updating right now. Though I’m not expecting a major change. They are probably just addressing bugs identified in the first beta.

 

[alexandr]

It’s a display. There’s not much to it.

No, it's an overpriced display, given the specs/outdated technology. Which I would've been ok with, but I was not impressed with its quality.

 

[JPack]

*** Ignoring all comments until someone says they have actually done the update so we can talk about the actual results of the update. ***

Reviewers already reported disappointing results from Beta 1.

Apple isn't going to magically fix a hardware limitation one week later with Beta 2.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Reviewers already reported disappointing results from Beta 1.

Apple isn't going to magically fix a hardware limitation one week later with Beta 2.

I agree with that from a pragmatic point of view. Too bad they can't better harness all that compute power from the A13 for some better image processing.

 

[erikkfi]

Ultrawide on a monitor? What the heck were you thinking, Apple?

 

[KPOM]

*** Ignoring all comments until someone says they have actually done the update so we can talk about the actual results of the update. ***

So far it looks about the same to me.

 

[Macative]

How do you know this?

Because it is a sub-par 12 MP ultra wide sensor, that is being cropped and zoomed. You can't fix that. It's a poor sensor as far as front cameras go, and definitely not one you would want to zoom in on...and that's the default behavior. It's unfixable. It is a bad camera.

 

[sigamy]

True, but that's not 'fixing' the problem, it's simply damage control from the original complaints.

Apple can tweak the software to address (fix?) *some* of the problems--noise, contrast, over smoothing, etc. These can all be adjusted and IMHO will lead to many folks being much happier with the Studio Display's webcam.

I posted a thread the other day but got no replies...I'm not running the Beta, but I was doing some testing and I see a change in exposure/contrast in FaceTime when I toggle Center Stage on and off. and the image looks better (better exposed) with CS off. I see no reason why Apple would be doing that, and that should be able to be fixed.

 

[constructor]

Same — that's what killed me, I think — how poor the matte option looked next to the glossy one. I don't want a glossy display, but that matte option just looked sad. I also can't say I was blown away by the amazing design, like a lot of reviewers said — it was just fine imho.

Strange expectations: When there is a matte and a glossy version of the same display the matte version is always and by definition less brilliant than the glossy one – that is the whole point!

The matte surface always by necessity reduces sharpness and contrast because that is part of how it makes reflections less visible.

Normally you just don't get that choice and comparison side by side but a particular monitor is usually only available in one of these forms.

I'm already using an iMac 5k, so I know pretty well what I'll be getting once it arrives and at long last having more than one of these screens is what is great about it (besides the further improved brightness etc.).

The camera is among the least relevant aspects of it to me, but improvements are still welcome even so.

 

[rforno]

If this second fix doesn't work, Apple PR will go out with a "you're looking at it wrong" statement...

 

[citysnaps]

Whoa! So many experts here - a real hoot!

 

[obamtl]

Maybe we’ll get a gen 2 sooner.

 

[jmonster]

Apple is now (the last 6+ years) a Marketing-led company.
That means the Marketing team gets to make these kind of decisions rather than the Engineering teams.
Center Stage is a marketing feature -- self-evidenced by the over-sensationalized way it's promoted on their own website.

Literally the second sentence on the site (https://www.apple.com/studio-display/) is:
12MP Ultra Wide camera
with Center Stage.
...
Sensational camera and audio.

The new book about Apple losing it's soul without Jony Ive kinda sums it up -- not that there haven't been some nice upsides to his departure. My friends @ Apple aren't thrilled about the situation, either, but we all still love Apple so...

 

[alexandr]

Strange expectations: When there is a matte and a glossy version of the same display the matte version is always and by definition less brilliant than the glossy one – that is the whole point!

The matte surface always by necessity reduces sharpness and contrast because that is part of how it makes reflections less visible.

Normally you just don't get that choice and comparison side by side but a particular monitor is usually only available in one of these forms.

I'm already using an iMac 5k, so I know pretty well what I'll be getting once it arrives and at long last having more than one of these screens is what is great about it (besides the further improved brightness etc.).

The camera is among the least relevant aspects of it to me, but improvements are still welcome even so.

I get that, but I feel like when Apple first introduced a glossy finish on MBPs(ages ago) the difference wasn't this drastic, but I could be wrong — it's been a while.

I also expected it to feel a bit bigger. I didn't think 27" would be that small, but that's my subjective expectation.