Microsoft is trying to make Windows Studio Effects more accessible to its users and with the release of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25247, the company has now added them in the Quick Settings. While a limited number of devices support this feature right now, compatibility should slowly expand as newer devices start coming out. It should come in handy during meetings, online classes, and more.
Windows Studio Effects Are Making Their Way To Quick Settings
Windows 11 has these new Studio Effects in place that enhance several elements of live video footage to make the video calling experience better for the users. The new insider build adds a toggle in the quick settings from where you can then access all the studio features like “Background effect” which can create a blurred background, alongside other features like “Automatic framing“, “Eye contact“, and even “Voice focus” for the microphone.
The goal for Studio Effects is to reduce distractions during video calls, but even if you are running the mentioned Insider build, the availability of this feature may not be available to you just yet. Microsoft clearly mentions that the feature is only enabled in “devices that have a supported Neural Processing Unit (NPU)”.
That means the Surface Pro 9 5G (SQ3) is supported and some other ARM-based laptops (running Windows 11) with an NPU. Also, devices coming with the upcoming 12-core Qualcomm SOC (believed to be the Qualcomm Oryon) should support these out of the box.
Current x86-based Windows Laptops (Intel and AMD) aren’t eligible for this feature just yet and I have no idea if Microsoft will enable it in the future. However, if you have an eligible device, you can try this out by installing the Insider Preview Build 25247 or waiting for the public release.
Other Changes and Improvements
The update also brings several other changes and improvements including Energy Recommendations for better power efficiency, Suggested Actions for copied text (search in Microsoft Edge, available in the U.S. only for now), Cloud Storage (remaining) indicator on the Accounts page, and most importantly, the ability to show “Seconds” in the System Tray Clock in Taskbar.
If you’re on the latest Insider build and not seeing some of these features on your PC, that’s fine. Microsoft rolls out these features slowly, so they’re not available to everyone at the same time. In case you don’t have them, you should receive them soon unless Microsoft cancels ’em based on initial feedback or for some other specific reason.
Source: Microsoft
