How to Configure a Laptop Webcam
- 1). Ensure that your webcam software is installed correctly by running the software. Verify that the video appears on the display. External webcam software is usually provided in the form of a CD and must be run prior to using the device. It will contain the drivers necessary to run the webcam. Internal webcams usually have the necessary software pre-installed on the system.
- 2). Set the resolution of the camera as required. Resolutions for Web cameras are as follows: 320 by 240, 640 by 480, 1280 by 800 and 1280 by 1024. The larger resolutions provide increased window size for the video. Set it to your personal preference.
- 3). Amend general settings on the webcam software. Various settings (depending on your software) can be changed, such as brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, sharpness, gamma, white balance, backlight, gain, color enable and power line frequency. If you are not sure what the settings do, try changing them and see the end result on the video output window. Always revert back to the defaults if the settings don't perform as you expect.
- 4). Change camera control settings in the configuration setup. Typically, these are zoom, focus, exposure, aperture, pan, tilt, roll and low-light compensation. Experiment with the settings to obtain the best result. Also, read the user manual for more information.
- 5). Click "OK" or "Apply" when you are satisfied with the settings. If there are problems, re-start the process by choosing the default values and start again.
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