Scott Hanselman
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Windows Edge Light tries to improve your look on video calls.
- The app places a light ring around your screen with more ambient light.
- Edge Light works best in an area without other forms of lighting.
I never like the way I look on video calls. I’m fair-skinned and not easy to light properly. Plus, my office isn’t arranged well, so I can’t easily set up light sources in the most optimal positions. That’s why I was eager to try a new Windows app that promises to make me look better on video.
‘Vibed’ for Windows
Known as Windows Edge Light, this free app places a fake glowing circular light ring around the edges of your laptop screen or PC monitor. By providing a certain level of brightness that you control, the app offers ambient lighting that can kick in during video calls, streaming, or other instances where you want to look your best.
The app is the creation of Microsoft developer Scott Hanselman, who revealed how he got the idea.
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“I saw this article about a new Mac feature called ‘Edge Light’ that literally puts a fake white ring light around your screen,” Hanselman wrote in a recent post on X. “It’s kinda insane and genius. So I vibed it for Windows.”
How to try
To give it a whirl, head to the app’s releases page on GitHub. Download the correct version for your edition of Windows 10 or 11 –ARM or x64. Unzip the downloaded ZIP file, and then run the WindowsEdgeLight executable file — no installation required.
It helps a bit
The light source automatically appears and detects the size of your screen to adjust accordingly. The light even works on 4K monitors. Plus, a small toolbar pops up at the bottom. Here, you can increase or decrease the brightness, turn the light on and off, or close the source when you no longer need it.
You can also access the tool from the Windows system tray and use specific hotkeys to control the light.
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The light won’t interfere with your activity in Windows, though you can easily tone it down or turn it off. The main challenge is to see whether it improves your appearance on a video call.
On my end, the light helped a bit. I still didn’t like the way I look, as I appear too fair-skinned. But I could see how the edge light would help other people, especially if you’re in a dark room without other lighting available. If you’ve tried other tricks to look better on a video call, Windows Edge Light is certainly worth a shot.
