Apple Studio Display on Windows

E

enc0re

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
146
For my specific situation, I could really use a monitor with a quality webcam, mic(s), and speakers in the 27-32 inch range with at least 4K resolution. I am unfamiliar with what kind of connection you need to hook up a new Apple Studio Display to a Windows machine. My GPU is a Zotac RTX 2070 Amp Extreme, which does have a USB-C connector on it. Is that sufficient or do I need a graphics card that has Thunderbolt 4 output?

Disclaimers, i.e. "I know":
1. The Studio Display is a little expensive for what it is.
2. I already have a Logi Brio, a Rode NTG USB mic, and Behringer MS40 active speakers. Sticking with my current 32" 144Hz GSync 1440p display would be cheaper. I am willing to pay extra for an integrated solution. If one with a superior webcam (most important part) is available from not-Apple, I'd love to consider it.
3. The Studio Display is shipping with a seriously buggy webcam. I wouldn't buy until that's provably fixed. Never buy a promise of a future software upgrade.

Thanks for any advice on how to hook up a Studio Display on Windows!
 
pendragon1 said:
if you have a tb3/4 port or add-in card its pnp but the fancy a13 processed stuff doesnt work. i also wouldnt count on the webcam getting better, im not even sure i but the 12mp claim from what ive seen of it.
https://screenrant.com/apple-studio-display-windows-pc-compatibility/#:~:text=The short answer to the Windows compatibility question,desktops and PCs as well, at least technically.
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Are you saying that the USB-C on my GPU would not work but if I got a PCIe Thunderbolt card my GPU could output through that port? If so, thank you very much that’s what I needed to know.

I am aware that on Windows I would loose Centerstage. While I would love to have it, that’s OK. And again, I wouldn’t buy until the webcam issue is fixed.
 
enc0re said:
Are you saying that the USB-C on my GPU would not work but if I got a PCIe Thunderbolt card my GPU could output through that port? If so, thank you very much that’s what I needed to know.

I am aware that on Windows I would loose Centerstage. While I would love to have it, that’s OK. And again, I wouldn’t buy until the webcam issue is fixed.
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idk about gpu outputting through the tb port, i havent ever tried that and do not have this combo to try it. apple just says that it will pnp on a tb3/4 port.
like i said, not sure if that will or not, to me it looks like a garbage sensor not software.
 
You probably can't use it in a reasonable way because the Studio Display has no OSD and brightness etc controls only work on MacOS. I don't know if it supports standard DDC or not so you could use a monitor control app to perform those tasks. I think it's in any case a very bad choice for Windows users and is generally an overpriced display. If this was a 4K display there would be no reason to buy it over other options.

Built in speakers are also always garbage and even some cheap little speakers will outperform them.
 
kasakka said:
Built in speakers are also always garbage and even some cheap little speakers will outperform them
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that is one area that this thing is supposed to really shine though. not enough to justify the price though.
 
It looks like an alternative is emerging on the non-Apple side. Samsung M8. Bigger, dimmer, lower res, and much cheaper ($729). No VESA kind of blows.

No reviews I can find yet. Although I'm a little skeptical of how well Samsung will do a high quality webcam with a 1080p sensor. I expect that Apple will patch the Studio Display and end up with iPhone 11 level TrueDepth camera level quality, since it's literally the same hardware and processor.
 
- The built in webcam so far is crap. Apple is promising an update as you mentioned... but no word if you will even be able to do that update without a Mac(See pendragon1's post. Looks like no) AND none of that processing works if connected to a PC anyway. So it will always look terrible if connected to a PC.
- The speakers. They are good, for built ins. Actual desktop speakers will blow it away.
- As already mentioned, no brightness control possible without a Mac.

So no... definitely look else where on PC. Like say the Dell S2722QC.
 
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If brightness controls aren’t available through a Windows program, as in my experience had been the case with other Apple monitors, that would of course be a dealbreaker.

I’m looking for a monitor with a built-in webcam that is superior to my Logi Brio. Unless I misunderstand it, that Dell S2722QC doesn’t meet my needs.

If I can’t find a monitor that meets my needs, I might try an Opal C1 on Windows but that still presents me with workflow problems which is why I want an integrated webcam. Or maybe I’ll have to jump the PC ship and get a Mac Studio. Never thought the day would come where I would contemplate a Mac desktop.
 
pendragon1 said:
that is one area that this thing is supposed to really shine though. not enough to justify the price though.
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Built in speakers can't get around simple physics. The category here is "good for built in speakers" but even almost any cheap BT speaker will sound better.
 
enc0re said:
If brightness controls aren’t available through a Windows program, as in my experience had been the case with other Apple monitors, that would of course be a dealbreaker.

I’m looking for a monitor with a built-in webcam that is superior to my Logi Brio. Unless I misunderstand it, that Dell S2722QC doesn’t meet my needs.

If I can’t find a monitor that meets my needs, I might try an Opal C1 on Windows but that still presents me with workflow problems which is why I want an integrated webcam. Or maybe I’ll have to jump the PC ship and get a Mac Studio. Never thought the day would come where I would contemplate a Mac desktop.
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Whats the use case where switching to MacOS is less of work flow problem than an external webcam?
 
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TrunksZero said:
Whats the use case where switching to MacOS is less of work flow problem than an external webcam?
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Zoom teaching, lecture recording, editing, and rendering, and meetings from my home office. I'm completely comfortable using MacOS, have it on my work desktop, and tend to buy Mac laptops. But I'm also a gamer and have been building my own PCs for over 30 years. Plus rendering hour plus long lectures in 4K60 takes days on my work computer. So I put together a 9900K+RTX2070 setup that takes only an hour or two.

I have been upgrading my setup step-by-step during the pandemic and can now produce decent quality. The weakness is the Logi Brio. Even after learning about all the settings, it's not nearly as good as its paper specs would have you believe. Also, now that I have decent gear well-rigged, I find that on-the-spot adjustments take more time.

Teaching on Zoom, you're performing, but you are also managing your supplementals on the computer at the same time. It actually reminds me of playing RTS in terms of workload. If I could move my screen, webcam, and mic as one metal solid unit from a monitor arm; I think I'd be more nimble. Also, you want your camera as close to the screen as possible. Again, I have the Brio rigged closely at the moment, but in the bezel would be ideal.

Assuming the webcam gets fixed to iPhone 11 levels, the Studio Display would make my life easier.
 
If you're not happy with the Brio, I don't see how you will be happy with the apple webcam. How is your lighting situation?

I have the Brio myself and pleased with it. But, like any camera ever made (including the pro stuff), it needs proper lighting.

That Apple display is too comprised the way it stands now. Sounds like you just want it and are trying your best to justify the purchase despite the numerous and obvious limitations.
 
kasakka said:
Built in speakers can't get around simple physics. The category here is "good for built in speakers" but even almost any cheap BT speaker will sound better.
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uh no shit?! it has 6 down-firing speakers and is surprisingly good for built in, plenty of people saying it and showing it but yes as they all said too, stand alone are better.
timestamped to speaker talk.
 
slavie said:
If you're not happy with the Brio, I don't see how you will be happy with the apple webcam. How is your lighting situation?

I have the Brio myself and pleased with it. But, like any camera ever made (including the pro stuff), it needs proper lighting.

That Apple display is too comprised the way it stands now. Sounds like you just want it and are trying your best to justify the purchase despite the numerous and obvious limitations.
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I am filming during daylight in front of three ceiling height bay windows. I use two, bi-color, diffused LED panel lights in front to help depending on how the outside lighting is. I use the ceiling lamp, where I switched out the three LED bulbs to higher CRI and the color temp I need for a hair light. When greenscreening, I have a couple of smaller LED lights that help with evening out the green screen.

I have a handful of Apple products that have TrueDepth cameras equivalent to the hardware in the Apple Studio Display. They easily outperform the Brio in my testing. I'm considering for lecture recording switching to using my iPhone rear camera to record myself. But that creates more work for me. Now I have three-way sync between my personal video, audio, and screen feeds to worry about. And now I have two different set ups for live versus recorded.

Again, if the Studio Display's webcam gets to where I think it will be (and I won't buy it unless that's provably happened), it would make my life and desk so much easier. Respectfully, I've been "in it" for over 2 years now and I have a pretty good handle on my needs. I don't even like the Studio Display that much. Single zone, 60Hz display in 2022? Blech. But it fits my needs.
 
enc0re said:
I am filming during daylight in front of three ceiling height bay windows. I use two, bi-color, diffused LED panel lights in front to help depending on how the outside lighting is. I use the ceiling lamp, where I switched out the three LED bulbs to higher CRI and the color temp I need for a hair light. When greenscreening, I have a couple of smaller LED lights that help with evening out the green screen.

I have a handful of Apple products that have TrueDepth cameras equivalent to the hardware in the Apple Studio Display. They easily outperform the Brio in my testing. I'm considering for lecture recording switching to using my iPhone rear camera to record myself. But that creates more work for me. Now I have three-way sync between my personal video, audio, and screen feeds to worry about. And now I have two different set ups for live versus recorded.

Again, if the Studio Display's webcam gets to where I think it will be (and I won't buy it unless that's provably happened), it would make my life and desk so much easier. Respectfully, I've been "in it" for over 2 years now and I have a pretty good handle on my needs. I don't even like the Studio Display that much. Single zone, 60Hz display in 2022? Blech. But it fits my needs.
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Ok, fair enough. If you're using it that much, why don't you instead invest into a decent camera, maybe even a DSLR, and a capture card to record the live feed right into your computer? I understand that a webcam is smaller and whatnot, but it doesn't sound like it's the right tool for the job in your case.
 
Guessing you already considered a webcam with real PTZ? Like an OBSBOT Tiny?.... although I guess that doesn't really fit your idea of keeping the camera and screen together :(

Fair enough. I mean using a any phone as a webcam(especially the rear cameras) is going to outperform most stuff till you get in real camera's. It's a common solution to getting a nicer image without breaking the bank.
 
Yeah, a year ago a mirrorless camera plus capture card was where I thought I would end up. Gods everything gets so expensive so quickly. However, I’ve been upgrading slowly so that my purchases don’t run ahead of my experience level.

And now I’m at a point where I would rather have the integration in the monitor for easy, one-handed adjustment of everything during a presentation, or if for example my daughter has a Zoom day because of a COVID closure, and the faster time to product of a webcam versus syncing a capture card and a mic.
 
pendragon1 said:
uh no shit?! it has 6 down-firing speakers and is surprisingly good for built in, plenty of people saying it and showing it but yes as they all said too, stand alone are better.
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Which to me makes built in speakers largely pointless on devices that are not meant to be portable. You have to be really strapped for space or must absolutely hate seeing speakers on your desk to prefer built in ones. For office environments you would be using headphones unless you have a private office.

The Apple Studio monitor is like a weird "we were building an iMac and then they said to just turn it into a monitor" device. Built in speakers, having a full fledged iOS running Apple chip in there for only the webcam stuff is just so much stuff that makes it needlessly more expensive. While I get wanting a webcam, something far simpler would work. But maybe it is actually cost effective for Apple to make it like that.
 
TrunksZero said:
- The built in webcam so far is crap. Apple is promising an update as you mentioned... but no word if you will even be able to do that update without a Mac(See pendragon1's post. Looks like no) AND none of that processing works if connected to a PC anyway. So it will always look terrible if connected to a PC.
- The speakers. They are good, for built ins. Actual desktop speakers will blow it away.
- As already mentioned, no brightness control possible without a Mac.

So no... definitely look else where on PC. Like say the Dell S2722QC.
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It's the same webcam as the iPhone and it should be very good quality as it is on those. They need an update to fix it.
 
This doesn't help me figure out if I can hook up a Apple Studio Display to the USB-C out of my RTX 2070 Amp Extreme (reminder of what I actually need help with), but iFixit has a neat teardown. The internals are something else. Internal power supply in a display.

 
Even if it did...the webcam processing doesn't work, and likely never will, when connected to anything but a Mac. So... *shrug*?
 
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enc0re said:
This doesn't help me figure out if I can hook up a Apple Studio Display to the USB-C out of my RTX 2070 Amp Extreme (reminder of what I actually need help with), but iFixit has a neat teardown. The internals are something else. Internal power supply in a display.

Click to expand...

It's amazingly great engineering, but is completely dumb. It's a perfect example of great potential being nothing but wasted energy. Unless Apple is planning to unlock that potential later as a surprise.
 
TrunksZero said:
It's amazingly great engineering, but is completely dumb. It's a perfect example of great potential being nothing but wasted energy. Unless Apple is planning to unlock that potential later as a surprise.
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Agreed. Watching that teardown made me ask "why?" several times. What is the benefit of an internal power supply on a display? Why have one if it also means you need fans to cool it all? Apple has money to spend but this seems like a project where nobody stopped to question if they should do it in the first place.

To put things into perspective, the power supply of my old ASUS PG278Q failed some time ago. If it was built in, I couldn't have simply bought a new one and sold the display later.
 
For seo and those it concerns--

This $28 cable connects the Apple Studio Display tm to Windows computer w modern gpu. I've stopped using the monitor with my macbook and now use it for my desktop. All ports and camera/mic work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNX7MS6N aka "WJESOG DisplayPort to USB C Cable 6.6ft 4K@60Hz with USB Cable Adapter,DP Male to Type-C Male Converter Support Touch with Nreal Air VR, MacBook Pro/Air 2020/2018, iPad Pro/Air, XPS"
 
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