Another trailer forArkane Studios’Preyis out, and its primary focus isn’t on protagonist Morgan Yu. Instead, the spotlight is on the enemies you’ll face throughout theTalos Ispace station.
The trailer takes the form of a Transtar Corporation internal video that provides a little more information about the Typhon aliens imprisoned within the station. Based on a small chart shown near the beginning of the video, it seems that the Typhon can involve into larger, more lethal forms by consuming organic matter. In an isolated space station, this usually means they will gobble up any human they see.
Typhons start out as the small-yet-sneaky Mimics, which can disguise themselves as inanimate objects such as chairs or boxes. Once they consume organic matter, they evolve into Weavers, which didn’t make an appearance in the video. However, its two evolved variants make an appearance.
Phantoms take on human-like forms and can prove to be elusive enemies because they can quickly teleport around the space station. They can also hurl damaging orbs of energy from a distance or use their limbs for close-quarters combat. One of the more possibly lethal Typhons are the Telepaths. Rather than fighting you direclty, they can use their psychic abilities to control “weaker-willed organisms.” However, it seems that you can also be affected by its abilities, and you’ll have to use a “Psychic Nullwave” device if you see one in the field.
We’re bound to see more dossiers on the Typhon in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can check out our hands-on impressions of the game from last month.Preyarrives on May 5.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) issued a report in which it warned companies and other organizations against using HTTPS or TLS interception products. CERT said that such products often make those companies’ communications less secure, because the products don’t properly validate server connections and may use weaker cryptography.
TLS Interception
Intercepting encrypted TLS connections is quite a common occurrence within organizations as part of their security solutions. The idea is that it’s better to decrypt all encrypted communications internally to check for malware and spam. However, according to CERT, this kind of thinking may expose companies to other dangers.
The way HTTPS inspection works is by intercepting HTTPS traffic and performing a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack on the network connection. In MITM attacks, sensitive data is transmitted to a (usually malicious) party spoofing the server the client intends to reach. However, browsers may show warnings when this happens because the client certificate and the spoofed server certificate don’t match.
To avoid these warnings, when organizations do MITM attacks against their own connections, they install “trusted” certificates on the client machines that match up with the interception product. However, the problem with this solution is that the client can no longer validate the certificate of the server.
Therefore, even if the connection between the interception product and the client machine is secure, both the interception product and the clients may be receiving data from a spoofed server.
According to CERT, many interception products do not properly validate the certificate chain of the server before re-encrypting the data and forwarding it to the clients. CERT found that many of the interception products don’t forward the certificate chain errors to the clients, so the clients would be unaware that the data was sent to a spoofed server.
CERT Recommendations
If for whatever reason companies refuse to drop HTTPS interception products from their enterprise security architecture, CERT recommends they use sites such as BadSSL.com to test the security of their connections. The tests should show whether or not their HTTPS inspection products are properly verifying the certificate chains of the servers and if they are using weak cryptography when re-encrypting the connections.
At a minimum, if the BadSSL.com certificate tests prevent clients with access to the internet from connecting, then the clients should also refuse the connections done through the HTTPS inspection products.
Nvidia announced that it has partnered with Bosch and Paccar to work on self-driving vehicles. The partnership with Bosch is devoted to building “artificial intelligence self-driving systems for mass market cars,” while the partnership with Paccar will focus on autonomous semi-tractor trailers. Between the two of them, along with its other self-driving vehicle efforts, Nvidia has positioned itself as a key participant in our driverless future.
Bosch Wants Self-Driving Cars For Everyone
Bosch’s system will use the Xavier SoC announced by Nvidia in September 2016. Xavier was made specifically to handle the deep learning functions that self-driving cars rely on to learn the rules of the road, determine if something is a threat, and otherwise keep the people inside and around them safe. Nvidia said that Xavier will feature an 8-core ARM65 CPU and a 512-core Volta GPU and will be based on the 16nm FinFET manufacturing process.
The unprecedented level of performance of Xavier is necessary to handle the massive amount of computation required for the tasks self-driving vehicles must perform. These include running deep neural nets to sense surroundings, understanding the 3D environment, localizing themselves on an HD map, predicting the behavior and position of other objects, as well as computing car dynamics and a safe path forward.
It will be interesting to see how Xavier compares to previous iterations of Nvidia’s Drive PX systems. We noted when Xavier was announced that the SoC would have about the same level of performance as Nvidia’s Drive PX 2. The main difference was that Xavier will require just 25% of the power (20W) as its predecessor. That should make it easier for auto manufacturers to stick the system in a car’s dash even though doing so limits heat dissipation.
Nvidia didn’t say when it expects Bosch’s system to debut in a vehicle, but given the rapid rate at which auto manufacturers are rushing to introduce self-driving cars, it wouldn’t be a surprise if a vehicle with the Nvidia-Bosch AI system built in debuts sooner than you might expect. The main question is how autonomous the vehicle will be: Xavier is aimed at Level 4 autonomy, which means a vehicle is fully autonomous, but Bosch might aim lower.
Paccar Makes Life Easier For Truck Drivers
Paccar has a different focus: It wants to make autonomous semi-tractor trailers capable of responding to a variety of situations. Nvidia said in its announcement of the partnership with Paccar that this will “improve driver productivity, enhance transportation efficiency, and increase safety.” That won’t require Xavier–Paccar will use the Drive PX 2 instead–but it could have a bigger impact on its target audience before Bosch’s system does.
That’s partly because Paccar has already built a proof-of-concept truck with Nvidia’s technology. It can handle various problems, albeit on a closed course, and the focus on making drivers more productive and safe indicates that a human driver will be there to take the wheel if the system falters. Having those drivers at the ready will also reduce the need for the guidance system to be able to handle any situation that can be thrown at it.
NVIDIA and PACCAR Developing Self-Driving Trucks
This is part of the reason why companies like Tesla, Uber, and others have focused on autonomous trucks–instead of having to navigate city streets, like they would with consumer-focused vehicles, the trucks will mostly handle the tedium of driving hundreds of miles on the highway before handing control back off to a human driver once it approaches its destination. Despite their size, trucks can be easier to automate than consumer vehicles.
Nvidia Won’t Stop There
Bosch and Paccar aren’t the only ones turning to Nvidia for their self-driving technology. Tesla also uses the Drive PX 2 in its Autopilot feature, and at CES, automotive parts supplier ZF announced the ProAI system based on Nvidia’s tech. The company is basically trying to make sure its hardware and software are used in as many self-driving vehicles as possible. All the partnerships announced so far will doubtless help Nvidia reach that goal.
Whether you’re using a phone, a compact camera or a DSLR – or even a drone – these expert photography techniques will help you take better photos
Our expert advice will help you make your photos stand out
By Mark Pickavance
Unlike the film photography era, it doesn’t cost anything to take pictures, unless you count the price of your phone or DSLR. Not having to worry about how many shots you’re taking is a major advantage, because it allows for practically unlimited experimentation. The more of this you, do the greater understanding you’ll have of what your DSLR (and in some cases your phone) can do, how the controls work, and how to get the best out of what technology is to hand.
Most of our tips cost little or nothing, so you’ve no excuse for not trying them out. While our advice is primarily aimed at those with a digital SLR camera, many of the tips apply equally to any camera, including those on phones. And phone cameras are getting surprisingly good these days. See best phone camera for more, and also best camera deals.
Aperture priority
The aperture priority is enabled by using ‘A’ or ‘Av’ mode on most DSLR camera dials. Selecting this mode will empower the DSLR to decide ISO and shutter speed, but leaving aperture as the single feature that’s not camera controlled.
The function of the aperture is to control the amount of light entering the sensor, and control depth of field. Doing this allows you to blur out the background and drive the focus entirely where the images are sharpest.
A high aperture setting or f/1.4 or f2.0 (which lets in a lot of light) will give a very narrow depth of field, where a low one like f/22 (which is a tiny hole that lets in much less light) will make a deep one with much of the scene in focus. The more expensive lenses offer high aperture settings, allowing for more overall focus control.
When using aperture priority keep an eye on the shutter speed, because should it get below 1/30 second, it will become difficult to shoot handheld and avoid blurry photos.
Here’s a photo shot with a high aperture:
Sporting shots
Unless you’re photographing Crown Green Bowls, the speed of those taking part becomes a critical factor in how you approach getting decent sports photographs.
Ideally, you usually want to freeze the subject in action, requiring a high shutter speed in preference to aperture control.
Using shutter priority mode is the obvious choice, usually the S setting on the mode dial. The beauty of shutter priority is that you can set 1/500 of a second, and know that you’ll get precisely that.
However, a high shutter speed doesn’t suit all sports. Photographing racing cars, for example, is best done at a slower shutter, tracking the car to create motion blur around it, while leaving the vehicle sharp.
Conversely; any sport with water is often best shot at the very highest possible speed, capturing all the liquid surface details.
What you can’t ignore is what the camera does with the aperture. With a high f/22 setting the background will be as detailed as the foreground competitor/vehicle, unhelpfully.
Those wanting to shoot sports on a regular basis will need a big 400mm (or longer) lens, a supporting monopod, and be happy to sift through many hundreds of images that never quite caught the moment.
Long exposures
Using long exposure times you can capture the movement of stars, cars on the road at night and the airliners on final approach.
The trick with doing them is balancing the light entering the lens with the length of exposure. The timing a bit of guesswork because the light metering in most DSLRs just doesn’t work well for multi-second or minute long exposures.
The mode you need to use is called ‘Bulb’, and it allows you to hold the shutter open for as long as is necessary.
Depending what you’re trying to capture, that might be a few seconds or hours.
To avoid movement of the camera, you’ll also need a sturdy tripod and a release cable to operate the shutter.
It’s worth noting that some traditional long exposure effects, like star trails, are often easier to achieve by taking multiple short exposure sequential shots and combining them in post-production.
The Thirds rule
This notion might seem highly unscientific, but humans like the composition of things where objects and transitions happen at approximately 1/3 from the sides of the image, vertically and horizontally.
Known as the ‘Rule of thirds’, photography students are taught to place those things they’d like the viewer to focus on along these lines and the intersections between the horizontal and vertical lines.
To help in this most cameras will provide a grid, but oddly most DSLR cameras have a grid with quarters or ‘fourths’, not thirds. (Most smartphone camera apps also have a grid overlay which can be enabled.)
The answer for DSLRs is to buy an extra screen protector and mark it with your own ‘thirds’ lines, solving the problem for minimal outlay.
On some cameras, it is possible to replace the focusing screen element with one marked with thirds. But that isn’t an exercise for the faint-hearted, and these replacements cost much more than a plastic screen protector.
Many images have symmetry where important elements seem to align with the rule of thirds, even if some people don’t accept it’s a thing:
Thirds on Photoshop
If you want to see a ‘thirds’ grid overlaying any image in Photoshop, here’s the procedure:
Open Photoshop
Press Ctrl-K (Option-K on the Mac)
Select ‘Guides, Grid & Slices’
Set Gridline Every to ‘100’ and ‘Percent.’
Set subdivisions to 3
Make sure that Grid is ‘shown’, and you’ll see where the thirds are on any image.
How to shoot sunsets
Great sunset shots are about preparation, and not just being there when the sun goes down. But first, be safe. Always use ‘live view’ on the camera display and not direct or optical viewing, as you can damage your eyesight should the clouds suddenly part.
Those wanting to shoot the setting sun in detail will need at least a 200mm lens, and a tripod to avoid camera shake or high grain (ISO 800 or higher) images.
Those who want to capture a landscape at sunset have two basic options; accept a silhouette or use multiple combined exposures.
In a silhouetted sky that region becomes the critical exposure concern Unless you’ve got lots of water to reflect it. Alternatively, you can shoot bracketed exposures to bring out the detail and colour in the landscape lost on those frames where the sun and sky look amazing.
The best modes for sunset shots are either with an aperture or shutter priority. Pick one of these and then keep adjusting that control while shooting a spread of different settings. Using exposure locking onto dark areas is often a good plan, and always shoot RAW files so you can reclaim lost detail where needed.
For each amazing sunset shot a photographer gets, there are usually hundreds that didn’t quite work. It’s mostly about perseverance.
Better Sea shots
Photographing the ocean can be a real challenge, mostly because so much of what you see in the water is reflected sky. If the sky isn’t interesting, then the sea generally won’t be either.
One way to get an interesting seascape is to wait for an especially windy day, and one that has the odd break in the clouds is ideal.
Shooting at high shutter speed should pull some great detail out of the churning surf. But please be mindful of safety. Don’t stand anywhere that could get your equipment might get wet, or you swept away!
How to photograph children
For obvious reasons, when photographing youngsters make sure you have the permission of those responsible for them to do that. Great shots of them usually involve capturing those moments when they’re engrossed in what they’re doing and oblivious to the camera.
Staged shots often look like they are, because children aren’t naturally still, posed or perfectly behaved. Children look best being natural, so aim to show that. The best shots of children are usually taken with a reasonably wide angle lens and at short range when they’re least aware of you.
Shooting in burst mode is also a good way to catch the fleeting expressions that children often make.
How to photograph landscapes
Capturing a great landscape shot is usually a combination of the right light, the best location and a good composition. Light is best during the ‘golden hours’ (see our tip on How to get good lighting), and you can enhance any location by knowing the terrain and discovering the best aspects.
And, a good composition is about seeing a balance in the framing or at least capturing enough of what’s there to allow you to crop it perfectly when you get home.
Just make sure to a narrow (f/22) aperture to make sure the entire shot is in focus. Don’t be tempted to use a very wide angle lens that misses what’s interesting or dramatic in a scene, and think about the foreground as much as the most distant objects. Creating depth in a landscape provides a context and scale.
How to take a better group portrait
With each added person to a group, the statistical possibility of them all doing what you want at the same time becomes increasingly small. The real trick is, therefore, organisation. Telling everyone where they should be, and possibly where they should look.
Never take just one picture, take lots in burst mode, because you might even need to stitch the best together to get everyone to look their best at the same time.
Don’t be concerned about getting in close, as unless it’s a fashion shoot very few people will be concerned if their shoes aren’t in shot.
Don’t buy cheap flash cards
There was a time when flash memory was expensive, and large capacity cards could be outrageous. They’re not any longer, so don’t skimp on getting a decent brand and a high-speed specification.
Buy Class 10 cards, even if you’re camera will work with lower spec ones.
It will make saving the shots quicker, allowing for faster burst speeds, and it will also increase the speed of transfer to the computer. See also: Best microSD cards.
How to take a better selfie
The problem with phone selfies is that most phones screen facing cameras are entirely rubbish compared with the rear facing one. That’s because they were designed mostly for live video conversations, and not taking still images.
There a few ways you can get around this, the most obvious being to shoot into a mirror. Alternatively, on Android and iOS, there are plenty of apps that can identify a face and will tell you when you’ve aligned the phone correctly to take a picture without having a screen to see. This method can work, but not reliably.
Another method to improve your results is to buy a selfie lens.
These can either give your front facing camera a wide-angle/fisheye modification, enabling you can see more of your surroundings and less of you in the frame.
How to improve low light or night photos
It might seem obvious, but you should disable the flash unless you want to illuminate something nearby. And then, if you do then use a flash extension cable and flash from the side rather than from the camera. All night/dark photos are a fine balance between capturing a clear image, shutter speed and the graininess that high ISO values can introduce.
Use shutter priority to set 1/30 speed, ISO to 800, and use the f-stop as the flexible parameter. If you have something to rest the camera on you can go to 1/15 and depending on the camera push the ISO even higher. In general, don’t use a flash, even if the camera will always use one in automatic mode.
Turning the flash off vastly improved this scene taken in a cave. With flash:
Without flash:
How to get good lighting
Shooting on an overcast day with indistinct shadows can suck all the life out of any amazing vista. The best times of the day to shoot are the ‘golden hours’, just after dawn and before dusk. At this time you should still get plenty of light, moody long shadows and an attractive colour component due to the atmosphere.
Avoid midday, when the sun is directly overhead, and also consider that when you’ve plenty of reflective surfaces (like the seaside) the amount of light bouncing around can send shutter speeds very high even at 100 ISO settings.
Professional photographers are always pursuing ‘good light’, and that’s mostly about being prepared to get up early or wait for the right conditions to prevail.
How to use reflections
When shooting reflections you need to focus on exactly what the reflective surface is presenting, often that being the sky.
If the sky or background isn’t interesting, then it doesn’t matter how perfect the water or shiny the chrome, it won’t generate anything visually exciting. You just might need to wait for the weather to change, or alter your viewpoint.
Being able to see these possibilities is part of becoming a photographer.
Here’s a nice shot of geese, but very little interest in the water reflections.
Contrasted with one where the sky and background provide a wonderfully colourful backdrop to the feeding bird.
When to use a polariser
Some photographers always have a polarising filter installed, but there are only limited situations where they’re a necessity. Its job is to cut down light that’s scattered by atmospherics or is coming in at sharp angles causing glare.
They work best when the sun is either direction behind you up to 90 left of right, while in the direction of the sun they have no impact at all. Shooting water, misty landscapes and delicate cloud formations benefit most.
The downside of using them is that along with diffused light reduction they also tend to notch the colour saturation down too. Because of this avoid using one to capture a sunset or fireworks.
The best results from using a polariser come from water photography, where you can rotate the filter to provide the perfect amount of refracted light removal. Just watch out for zoom lenses that rotate the end of the lens as they extend/retract, because that will alter the amount of polarisation you see. Below is with no polariser:
Using a polarising filter makes the sky extra blue and gives cloud details much more punch:
How to shoot HDR on a DSLR
HDR or High-dynamic-range is a technique that’s become very popular since the inception of the digital photography. The idea is to capture multiple exposures and then combine them in post-production to provide a much wider dynamic range than the sensor could achieve in a single shot.
Most cameras have an inbuilt HDR mode, but the best results come from using exposure bracketing and assembling the image away from the camera.
Typically exposure bracketing allows 3, 5 or 7 images to be fired off in rapid succession, with a different exposure on each. The exact increment and centre point of exposure are usually definable in the camera settings, as is the increment.
When the images are recombined on the PC (or Mac) using Photoshop or the many free HDR tools available, you should end up with detailed shadows without blown-out highlights.
Because of the time delay between shots, it is best to restrict this technique to static scenes and avoid moving subjects. And, unless you’ve got a very rapid burst mode and strong light, using a tripod is also a necessity.
Here are three photos taken at different exposures:
The three shots are recombined in software to create one image with enhanced dynamic range:
HDR from a single image
If you’ve only a single image, you can still process it to get the very best out of the captured data within it, especially if you use a RAW file format.
Using a Photoshop plugin like HDR Efex Pro 2 (free from Google) or standalone PC applications such as Luminance HDR, significant amounts of detail can be extracted from one image.
Alternatively, you can take any image and alter the levels to bring out the shadow and highlight details, saving them as separate images, and then recombine them for HDR processing.
Even using a single RAW image, you’ll be impressed with what tone mapping can pull out of what looks like a rather unexciting and flat image.
Processing a single image using tonal mapping tools can exploit the hidden data in an image:
How to shoot in black and white
Truthfully, digital B&W is shooting colour with the intention to eliminate it later, even if you use the hue data in post processing.
Most cameras offer a B&W viewfinder mode or in-camera processing. Nikon, for example, will convert the JPG to B&W, while shooting in RAW+JPG, but the RAW will still contain colour. It then shows you the mono JPG on the viewfinder, helpfully.
These features help, but it’s also down to the photographer’s eye to see the light and dark within the frame and understand how that might work in monochrome.
Photoshop has excellent control over the conversion process, allowing you to reduce or enhance different channels, making it one of the best tools for B&W work.
You can do this at the camera with coloured filters (ironically), but that limits the options available to you in post processing.
However skilled you are with using these features, the real trick is to pick subjects with naturally high contrast that don’t rely on colour for composition or impact.
As shown below, low contrast scenes or ones with strong colour don’t convert well to Black and White.
However, those with high contrast can look spectacular:
The Tilt-shift technique
The use of perspective control lenses goes back a long time, with Nikon selling the first one for their SLR cameras back in 1962. You can still buy these devices, and they’ve often used by architecture photographers to shoot tall buildings.
However, most digital photographers use a software simulation of the effect on the computer to take an image and tinker with the perspective and focus. The common use is to fake miniature scenes with real locations, but they can also solve the perspective issue of shooting large objects from relatively low level.
Many tilt-shift shots are often taken from an elevated location, simulating a viewing angle is the one that you’d experience looking down on a model city/scene.
You can buy a proper tilt shifting lens, or use software (such as Photoshop or Lightroom) instead that usually offers more control. Plenty of phone apps have a tilt-shift effect, too.
Here’s a photo without the effect applied in software:
And this is after processing:
Shooting Panoramas on a DSLR
The most basic requirement for doing good panoramas with a camera is a tripod. Using one allows the camera to pan accurately, and avoid unintentional pitch angle changes.
At least a third of each frame should overlap the next, and much more overlap if there are foreground objects close to you.
Having a grid with ‘thirds’ active is good if you have that, and any viewfinder grid is a useful reference.
For those wanting the very best quality creating a horizontal panorama should consider shooting in portrait mode, as it will give you the best vertical resolution. And, always use exposure lock, so that all the images end up with the same light levels.
There are special tripod mounts available to help shoot panoramic, though you’d need to be very keen on them to invest in one of these. Those with even greater resources should buy a drone, for the ultimate panoramic results.
A Panorama can be vertical and not horizontal, especially if you’ve got access to a drone.
No macro lens, no problem
Shooting small objects is problematic because most standard lenses won’t focus on anything very close. The answer is a Macro lens, although even these have limits as to exactly how close they will work.
A cheap workaround that offers amazing results is a reversing ring that allows you to attach a lens backwards to the DSLR. These cost very little, less than $5, and can allow you to capture stunning macro shots without a macro lens.
These rings work best with old manual focus lenses. These can also be found very cheaply online if you need one. The other prerequisites include a good tripod, a shutter release to avoid shake and a DSLR that will still shoot when it thinks no lens is attached.
As the lens won’t be electronically connected to the camera, focusing will be manual, and you’ll need to adjust shutter speed to achieve the perfect exposure. Top get enough light into the lens wedge out the aperture control with something stable, a blob of blu-tack comes in handy.
The rest is about experimentation, and dealing with having a very small part of the object in perfect focus. Get all this right, and you can achieve some stunning results.
A normal 50mm prime can only focus so close:
Using a reversing ring and some blu-tack the lens can be flipped:
The same 50mm lens with a cheap expansion ring gets very close, and very small objects can look huge in the ultra-macro world:
When to use ND Filters
Neutral density filters appear to do something most photographers wouldn’t want, as they cut the amount of light entering the camera. However, there are some situations where you’ll require a short focal length at ISO 100 but not a high shutter speed. Because motion blur being visible on the wings of a hovering bee might be preferable, for example.
The ND filter enables you to reduce the incoming light without altering the aperture and ending up with a deeper than intended depth of field.
They’re also very useful on drone cameras to avoid choppy video caused by high shutter speeds removing all the motion blur. It might seem counter-intuitive, but reducing the light entering the lens can be useful.
Use a wide-angle, prime or telephoto lens
It’s tempting when many DSLR cameras come with a very good kit lens to just use that and entirely negate the real reason for owning a DSLR over a bridge camera. After the outlay on a DSLR starter kit, further immediate investment is often the issue.
However, having a decent wide angle, telephoto and a good prime lens are essential for anyone wanting to take photography seriously. What many don’t realise is that you can get good lenses for many systems at very low prices, if they accept a few limitations.
Older lenses, some even pre-DSLR, will usually fit onto a modern body, with the limitations being that the autofocus won’t work and the automatic aperture control might also be disabled. For prime lenses, in particular, these aren’t massive issues, and the result of using a cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens over the stock 18-70mm f/3.5 is huge when shooting portraits. And when we say cheap, you really can pick these up for around £60-70.
Get cheaper old or lower quality new lenses to start, and then when you’ve learned to appreciate what they can do it’s easier to justify an investment in better glass.
Experiment with framing
We’ve all seen enough photos where people are half-in-shot or missing the tops of their heads to realise how important framing can be.
But, sometimes picking an interesting angle or cropping the subject can improve a photo rather than detract from it.
Here are three images of a hot air balloon. The first is the balloon in its entirety, nice but not very exciting.
The second is better because the burner creates extra interest.
The third is equally pleasing because the angle says something about how balloons travel, up-up-and-away:
You have very little to lose by framing in less obvious ways, so try it.
Zalman outed a new version of its ZM-K900M keyboard. It’s identical to theprevious ZM-K900M(save for the switches) but now comes in white. We first saw different color options for the ZM-K900Mat Computex last summer; there was the familiar black one, but also white, blue, and yellow.
At the time, it seems Zalman was just testing the waters on the colors, but it’s apparently decided that the white model will appeal to users. This makes sense; people love to match their peripherals with their systems, and though the pale blue and (almost) canary yellow look cool, those are not exactly common colors you’ll find on cases, lighting, and coolant.
And so, white it is.
One difference is that the black version of the ZM-K900M offers only Kailh Blue switches, whereas the white version comes with Kailh Brown. You can buy the black versionon Newegg for $80. The white version is now listed on Newegg as well;currently it costs $100, but there will be a launch promotion starting March 24 when it will drop to $80. That will be a Newegg exclusive.
If you’re keen on a white model, then, you might want to set a reminder to hit up Newegg on March 24.
Microsoft suspended updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with Intel’s 7th generation (Kaby Lake) processors, AMD’s 7th generation (Bristol Ridge) processors, and Qualcomm’s 8996 processor or newer. The company said before that it wouldn’t release new drivers for older Windows versions to support new hardware, but now it’s stopped Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with these new CPUs from scanning or downloading from Windows Update.
The decision makes sense for Microsoft. Windows 7 debuted in 2009, and Windows 8.1 was released in 2013. Neither was made with current generation processors in mind, and in the years since, Microsoft has shifted its focus away from those older operating systems and towards Windows 10. But as we explained in our review of Intel’s Kaby Lake lineup after we experienced problems with HD Graphics 630 on both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1:
This may be a minor concern to enthusiasts who already keep up to date. But the estimated 47% of worldwide computer users who still use Windows 7 (and the 8% on Windows 8.1) need to account for the cost of Windows 10 as part of a Kaby Lake upgrade. Microsoft allows a limited number of component changes before invalidating your OS license, so it is a valid concern if you plan to upgrade an existing system with a 100-series chipset. It’s noteworthy that Microsoft’s official mainstream support for Windows 7 expired in January 2015, but the company has obviously not convinced a majority of users to upgrade. Interestingly, Microsoft still offers ‘mainstream support’ for the unpopular Windows 8 until Jan 2018, though that’s misleading since it isn’t supporting modern processors with the OS.
Not that Microsoft hasn’t tried to warn those people about its decision. The company said in a January 2016 blog post that it would only support new silicon with Windows 10–older operating systems would be restricted to older processors. Here’s what the company said about its plans:
Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon. For example, Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming ‘Kaby Lake’ silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming ‘8996’ silicon, and AMD’s upcoming ‘Bristol Ridge’ silicon.
Microsoft reiterated that point in August 2016. The question is how many Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users read the company’s blog posts–many of which are unlikely to appeal to the average consumer–or care about the company’s seemingly arbitrary decision not to update currently supported operating systems to support the latest-and-greatest processors. And the problem is exacerbated by the company’s messaging via Windows Update.
Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with new processors who try to scan or download updates via the Windows Update tool are greeted with one of two messages. The first is straightforward: “Unsupported Hardware […] Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows and you won’t receive updates.” The second message isn’t quite as clear:
Windows could not search for new updates An error occurred while checking for new updates for your computer. Error(s) found: Code 80240037 Windows Update encountered an unknown error.
So the company published a support article to explain that the way its new support policy was implemented means that “Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 devices that have a seventh generation or a later generation processor may no longer be able to scan or download updates through Windows Update or Microsoft Update.” The company (naturally) advised users affected by this problem to upgrade from their current operating system to Windows 10.
If you planned to upgrade to Kaby Lake, AMD’s Ryzen, or another new processor, then you’ll also finally have to move to Windows 10. This might have been implied by Microsoft’s previous statements–it has repeatedly said that Windows 10 would be the only operating system to support the new processors–but now it’s clear that some people didn’t get the message (hence the support article) and that “will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support” really means “you won’t even be able to search for updates if you buy a new CPU without moving to Windows 10.”
It may be 2017, but the physical keyboard still has a long life ahead of it – at least in the gaming sector. Though it’s now easier than ever to pair a controller with your prized gaming rig, nothing beats the sheer precision of a good gaming keyboard.
Take the Logitech G Pro, for example. It’s graced with such fancy trimmings as full pallets of LED color arrangements, nippy actuation and the virtually silent keys necessary to prevent misguided disturbance of roommates.
In no time at all, with the proper keyboard equipped, you’ll go from consistent losing streaks to “Play of the Game” in Overwatch, given you have the skill to match the prowess of your hardware.
Even as a casual gamer on a budget, there’s no need to worry about spending a fortune. Because keyboard lingo can be gratuitously convoluted, what with macros, actuation points and the like, we’ve devised a list of the 10 best gaming keyboards, mechanical and membrane included.
Although we haven’t posted complete reviews of each of the best gaming keyboards listed below, don’t assume we haven’t tried them out for ourselves. In fact, we’ve tested each of these keyboards extensively before selecting them for our buying guide.
The Realforce RGB from Japanese company Topre brings so many innovations that it’s difficult to know where to start. This is a multi-talented keyboard that feels incredible to type on thanks to its capacitive Topre keyswitches, which offer superior tactile feedback compared to Cherry MX variants (they’re closest to MX Whites in feeling.) You can type for an entire day and experience minimal finger fatigure on the Realforce RGB, though you should pick up a decent wrist rest to go with it.
The Realforce RGB, which comes with high-quality (and thick) PBT keycaps, is equally primed for gaming thanks to Topre’s clever software which allows you to change the actuation (or distance you have to press keys before they register) depth from 1.5mm (for gamers with fast reflexes) to 2.2mm and 3mm (for improved typing accuracy). The result is a hugely versatile keyboard that suits whatever task you’re doing at the time. And, like Cooler Master’s Novatouch, the Realforce RGB has keyswitch stems that are compatible with both Topre and Cherry MX keycaps, allowing you to chop and change your keycaps at will.
Like the Corsair K70 Rapidfire before it, the K95 RGB Platinum is a gaming-first mechanical keyboard with plenty of versatility to get the job done, whatever that job may be. The simple arrangement of a single row of six macro keys keeps this QWERTY neat and organized without a whole lot of unnecessary reaching involved. The software may be sloppy, but if all you’re doing is assigning macros, you may not even need it. Because the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum packs in 8MB of memory dedicated to storing profiles, you don’t have to worry about using the same computer through to the end of its career. This keyboard is not only backlit by up to 16.8 million colors, but it’s the perfect travel buddy too, made better by its military-grade aluminum finish, including the wrist rest.
3. Razer Ornata
Combining mechanical and membrane into one
Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Full color | Programmable keys: No
Tactile and clicky actuation
Magnetic plush wrist rest
Short key throw won’t jive with everyone
For too long there’s been a divide between mechanical and membrane keys but now Razer has finally brought the two together with its ‘Mecha-Membrane’ Ornata keyboard. These new switches pull from everything Razer has learned over the years. The result is a grand typing experience with shorter keys, the tactile feel of the green switches from the Blackwidow X Chroma and a loud audible click. Just like its other products, the Ornata features a fully customizable, per-key backlight and it comes with a plush pleather wrist rest too.
Billed as the fastest keyboard in the west (and the rest of the world for that matter), the Apex M800 feels different to type on than just about every other keyboard out there. That’s because of its incredibly responsive QS1 keyswitch featuring 1.5mm key travel and 45cN actuation force. Its low travel and linearity lend it a similar feel to Cherry MX Reds, but with less effort to strike each key. This makes the Apex M800 a great keyboard for gaming, but its membrane-like keyswitch means you’ll need to take some time adjusting to it when it comes to typing – especially if you’ve come from a tactile keyboard with Cherry’s MX switches inside. The M800’s individually-lit keycaps are easy on the eye and the M800’s six left-positioned macro keys help you fire off spells and switch weapons in a snap.
Cherry’s flagship MX Board 6.0 features a lower profile than other gaming keyboards like the Razer BlackWidow X Chroma, making it perfect if you prefer to type and game using a wrist rest. Cherry’s MX Red switches under the keys lend the MX Board 6.0 fast response times, but because the keys are positioned fairly close together they’re excellent for typing too. Housed in an eye-catching aluminum chassis, the MX Board 6.0 certainly doesn’t feel cheap and its blood-red key lighting is deliciously ominous. It’s a mechanical keyboard that’s also suited for the office.
Logitech has followed up its Orion Spark G910 mechanical keyboard with the G810, which arrives with a refreshingly grown-up feel. Sporting Logitech’s own Romer G switches, which aren’t quite as squishy as Cherry’s various switches, the G810 possesses a snappier feel than other gaming keyboards whether typing or gaming. Featuring smart media keys that work equally well on both Windows and OS X, Logitech’s latest keyboard is a solid all-round offering. If you’re fed up of the weird markings, LCD screens and strange parts that come with competing “gamer-focused” keyboards, the G810 might be for you.
Many mechanical keyboards are gaudy and unwieldy, aimed at gamers on the, err, ostentatious side. That’s not the case with the SteelSeries Apex M500. Like the Logitech G810, the Apex M500 eschews unnecessary bells and whistles in favor of clean design and bare essentials. While it’s lacking media keys, macros and other such extras, it benefits from a compact design that wastes no space. Tailored towards e-Sports, its minimal leanings are refreshing and it looks great sat on a desk, accompanied by the right monitor and mouse of course.
Known primarily for its brand of professionally-geared keyboards, the X40 stems from Das Keyboard’s latest Division Zero gaming line. With the option of silent or clicky, tactile keys, the Division Zero X40 takes advantage of Das’ own custom Alpha-Zulu switches. For those accustomed to Cherry MX Reds, these will seem eerily familiar. Other functions include an arrangement of five programmable macro keys, LED backlighting, USB pass-through and even a gaming mode designed to disable that pesky Windows key when you’re in your zone. Making this a deal you can’t ignore, the X40 is one of the hardiest, most rigid keyboards around, thanks to its swappable aluminum panels.
Cougar’s Attack X3 was one of the better affordable mechanical gaming keyboards of recent times thanks to its rugged aluminum body. Its successor, which is also forged from a block of aluminum, is every bit as robust and is once again available with Cherry MX Black, Brown, Red or Blue keyswitches depending on your typing preference. Its durability is aided by a braided cable, which sports two USB connections which are used for input and lighting. Features include N-Key rollover, a 1,000Hz polling rate and rubber feet on the bottom that prevents slipping. Corsair’s software is a little rough around the edges and the Attack X3 RGB only comes in a US keyboard layout, but if you’re seeking an affordable alternative to flagship keyboards like the Corsair K70 RGBs of this world then it’s a tempting option.
10. G.Skill Ripjaws KM570
A solid entry-level offering with Cherry Reds
Interface: Wired | Keyboard: backlighting: Yes | Programmable: keys: No
Affordable
Cherry MX keys
Red backlighting only
Although not quite as compact as the HyperX Alloy FPS, the latest mechanical keyboard to come from relative gaming peripherals newcomer G.Skill won’t hog all of your desk. Delightfully minimalist, the RipJaws KM570 brings a solid basic feature set, one that includes N-key rollover (allowing multiple keys to be pressed simultaneously, only-the-fly macro recording to any key), and Cherry MX Red keyswitches with a 45-gram actuation force and 2mm actuation point, all at a reasonable price. Its affordable nature means you’ll only get red backlighting, rather than full-RGB, and you won’t find any programmable macro keys here either. Still, for the full Cherry MX experience at this cost, we’re prepared to let that slide.