Quality of 1080p FaceTime Camera on 14/16inch models

[jsm94]

Hi there,

I just got a 16in base MBP and while the quality of the camera is much better in low light and white balance than my previous 16in, I can't help but feel like there's a very strong machine learning filtering effect going on that makes me look very watercolor/painterly in effect. This is present even in very good lighting, and is particularly apparent in hair and skin, with noticeable smoothing effects. Is there any way to dial back this filtering - I'd rather have a bit more image noise than look like a wax dummy.

 

[Cameraman12]

I'm wondering the same thing. I've never seen a filter like this on any Apple computer. They need to dial this filter waaaay down.

 

[jungleghost]

Yes, for me the camera is worse than that in iMac M1.

 

[slowanimal]

okay, i was looking to see if anyone else had this issue. it looks wayyy too smoothed out and blurry.

 

[Coolio1234]

So is m1 ipad better in terms of camera?

 

[jsm94]

So is m1 ipad better in terms of camera?

Yes since it has a 12 megapixel front facing camera. The new MacBook Pros are an improvement, going to 1080p from 720p last generation, but I would say the improvements here are oversold.

 

[bill-p]

Yeah, there is a denoise filter going on. I can't seem to be able to extract raw camera footage reliably to see how strong the filter is, but... if you pay close attention when the camera just turns on (just launch Photo Booth and pay very close attention), then you'll see noise and grain the feed for a split second before it becomes all smoothed out.

Honestly, I... don't care enough to be bothered. The footage will be smothered by compression during a video call anyway. I'm just wondering why we need to have a notch to have this kind of a camera. 720p with smaller bezels would have been better.

 

[Jára Tyky]

Hi there,

I just got a 16in base MBP and while the quality of the camera is much better in low light and white balance than my previous 16in, I can't help but feel like there's a very strong machine learning filtering effect going on that makes me look very watercolor/painterly in effect. This is present even in very good lighting, and is particularly apparent in hair and skin, with noticeable smoothing effects. Is there any way to dial back this filtering - I'd rather have a bit more image noise than look like a wax dummy.

You look more handsome, so enjoy it! You will not have better chance..

 

[Coolio1234]

Yes since it has a 12 megapixel front facing camera. The new MacBook Pros are an improvement, going to 1080p from 720p last generation, but I would say the improvements here are oversold.

Any spec listing for new mbp camera?

 

[Cameraman12]

The more I use FaceTime on my 16in Max the more I hate it. The de noise software is WAY over the top. I was talking to someone on a new iPad Pro this morning and they were super sharp with excellent contrast and I had dancing pixels all over the place and looked very soft in comparison. Not sure what's going on here but someone at Apple needs to take a closer look at the quality. It almost looks like something from a Mac 15 years ago.

 

[cababah]

It does look a bit artificial to me at times but the low light performance is sooo much better than the barely 720p junk camera on my Intel 15” MBP.

 

[Cameraman12]

Th low light performance is much better but it would be nice if the de noise filter wasn't on when it wasn't needed.