Exclusive | Laptops coming in Holiday 2021 to have better webcams and mics, Microsoft mandates 1080p webcams in all premium Windows 11 laptops

According to what appears to be Microsoft's internal communication to OEMs, specific requirements have been provided for entry-level, mainstream, and premium laptops. The price ranges being assumed for this classification is not immediately apparent, however.

For entry-level devices, Microsoft recommends the webcam to have a dynamic range of ≥ 33 dB. The spatial and temporal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) should be ≥30 dB and ≥ 33 dB, respectively at 20 lux at a warm color temperature of 2700K. The camera should support 640 x 360 and 1280 x 720 resolutions at ≥ 15 fps at 20 lux and ≥ 30 fps at 80 lux. 

Mainstream laptops should have a dynamic range of ≥ 36 dB while premium devices should offer ≥ 40 dB. Spatial and temporal SNR for both mainstream and premium laptops at 20 lux, 2700K should be ≥ 33 dB and 36 dB, respectively.

Mainstream laptops can offer 720p webcams, but they should support ≥ 20 fps at 20 lux and ≥ 30 fps at 80 lux. Premium laptops, on the other hand, can offer three resolutions up to 1080p ≥ 30 fps at 20 lux and 80 lux.

Microsoft also specifies the mean chroma difference (Delta-C00) that impacts color accuracy to be ≤ 10 for entry-level devices and ≤ 5 for mainstream and premium ones. Also, all categories should offer user-facing features including auto white balance, acoustic echo cancelation (AEC), and auto gain control (AGC).

While entry-level and premium can offer a 4 m range fixed focus lens, premium laptops are expected to offer 4 m auto focus.

Coming to real-time collaboration (RTC) features for video calling and the likes, Microsoft recommends all categories of notebooks to have a visible LED when the webcam is on and that the camera should be at an eye-level height. Hopefully, this signals the official end of any upcoming "nose cam" attempts from OEMs.

OEMs should equip entry-level devices with at least a dual-mic array with a range of 0.8 m that also works when the lid is closed. Mainstream and premium laptops should offer quad-mic arrays, that are sensitive to up to 4 m and also work when the lid is closed. The SNR for entry-level laptop mics should be > 63 dB(A) while that for mainstream and premium should be > 65 dB(A) and > 67 dB(A), respectively.

Also, these mics should be able to reproduce a 1 kHz wave signal exactly at 94 dB sound pressure level (SPL). This is an indication of good sensitivity. In fact, the test equipment we use for determining speaker pink noise levels and fan noise in our reviews are calibrated to reproduce an exact 1 kHz signal using a 94 dB(A) SPL sound calibrator.

With respect to speaker quality, Microsoft recommends at least 67 dB(A) loudness during playback at a distance of 0.8m for entry-level laptops while this value goes up to 70 dB(A) and 73 db(A) for mainstream and premium segments, respectively.