Recommended computer and video equipment

Support
Recommended computer and video equipment

updated 22 Jul 2024
updates to this page

Computer

Dell laptops mid or so price, are recommended for I suspect greater reliability relative to other brands, as they sell a lot of high end systems.

Biofield Viewer runs well on all normal edition Windows 11 computers. Here are suggestions to get the best machine. So long as the correct operating system type it will run well.

Windows 11 standard or Pro edition (not: Chromebook, Windows S mode*, Windows IoT)
We haven't yet confirmed whether the software runs well on Windows Copilot+ systems with ARM Snapdragon CPUs. Our software is designed and tested on Intel and AMD CPUs.
Apple Mac: The web edition of Biofield Viewer runs on all Apple devices directly.
The Windows edition running on Apple Mac isn't recommended due to DirectX 12 used by a future update may not be compatible with Parallels.
*Windows 11 S can be switched out of S mode to allow downloads such as Biofield Viewer, see support.microsoft.com/...

Display Full HD external monitors, IPS for wider viewing angle, are a more immersive and intuitive experience, also to extend a notebook.
If a notebook then Full HD 1920x1080 for high detail, ideally 17". A touchscreen is useful for pinch zoom of saved images.

SSD drive 1T ideally, or 500G is likely to be ok for the base system. Initially Windows uses only tens of gigabytes but likely to use far more over time. See USB ports below for how to expand drive space with fast access for large archives. 100G is likely to be used up in a few months to a year with videos. Older videos can be archived to external backup drives, providing more storage capacity later on. Remember to backup all files to independent storage.

System memory 8-16G ideal, 4G is fine for our software, but memory is fairly cheap so it could help to maximise memory at time of purchase. Memory can fill up and slow down a computer running many tabs in a web browser, so we recommend 8-16G.

CPU Retailers don't quote useful speed test results for CPUs and GPUs, so we recommend either sending me a few links to possible computers, or check CPU performance on cpubenchmark.net 'Search for your CPU model' for example i3-7130U and you can compare with others.
Our test machine has CPU Mark 3928, and it's easy to find 10,000+ at a reasonable price. 4000 is fine for full maximum camera speed and resolution for the Logitech c922 camera below.
CPU speed will affect Chakra Mode, but it may help other features in future too, such as saved video quality.

GPU NVidia and AMD tend to be faster, but performance varies greatly so compare actual speed tests on videocardbenchmark.net
DirectX shader model 5 may be needed by a future update if we change to DirectX 12. Most recent cards support this.

USB ports vary greatly in their speed. You may need ports for external devices: camera, keyboard, mouse, display, file storage. USB hubs are available to add ports. USB2 0.5 Gbps is ok for keyboard, mouse and the Logitech c920 camera. USB3 5-40 Gbps is needed for efficient external file storage, and if fast enough an external display. For an external display and fastest access to file storage Thunderbolt4 copmpatible USB is 40 Gbps. The medium to faster USB ports may use the new USB-C physical connector, but that connector doesn't imply the full speed is available. New laptops may only have USB-C, so ensure the webcam is compatible or get an adaptor for USB-C to USB-A.

Camera

We use the Logitech c920 webcam for accurate real time video.
There is a wide range of webcams but we find the quality of subtle details which are important for our software varies considerably.
Any standard USB interface camera will work including non visual frequency IR and UV cameras.
Since new notebooks may come only with USB-C ports ensure the webcam is compatible with that or use an adapter.
For camcorder prerecorded video from its SD card use a yellow/red cable to USB video digitiser converter.

Logitech webcams on logitech.com
The c920 is usually available on Amazon for reasonable prices.
Download Logitech c920 G HUB In G HUB 'Add new filter' to control the camera settings.

Lighting

Email Thornton or john@hugeaura.com for the latest lighting equipment advice, or consult Thornton's training. When you have access to our Light page there is the latest information there including for lighting.

Background screen

Ideally just a flat white wall will be fine.

Updates to this page

Jul 2024

Unrecommending Windows 10. Unknown performance on Copilot+ Snapdragon.

Jan 2023

Link to UK laptop recommendations and sales.

Dec 2022

Apple users recommended to use the web editions of Biofield Viewer. Reference computers section.

Dec 2022

SSD drives, CPUs, USB ports.

Oct 2022

Windows 11 has no reported problems. Download link for Logitech webcam G HUB.

Nov 2021

Windows 10 S can be switched to allow downloads such as Biofield Viewer.

Oct 2021

New notebooks may only have USB-C.

Sep 2021

Windows 11 isn't yet tested. Buy a Windows 10 computer that comes with a guaranteed free update to Windows 11 when ok.

Jan 2021

Windows 10 is required, as Windows 7 and 8 are no longer supported with required files updated by Microsoft.

Dec 2020

lists some non mainstream Windows editions that are not compatible.