The rise in home working and video meetings means more people now regularly use a webcam.
A flickering webcam isn’t likely to ruin your life, but it can be incredibly frustrating.
Here’s how to diagnose why your webcam is flickering and how to stop it from happening.
What Causes Webcam Flicker?
Constant flickering on your webcam can have several potential causes.
One of the most likely causes is a conflict between the shutter speed and the lighting in the room.
This is a very simplistic explanation, but hopefully, you get the idea.
you’ve got the option to test this by turning off the lights.
If that stops the flickering, you have found the cause.
How to stop the flickering is explained below.
Other potential causes include out-of-date drivers and incorrect parameters in apps that reach the webcam.
Using a low-speed USB port could even cause it.
Luckily, there is usually another way to solve this problem.
Some video chat/conferencing software will override that change with its own preset frequency setting.
Most allow you to adjust the shutter speed or tweak the power frequency.
Check for any waitingWindows System Updates.
There could be a Camera app revision within a cumulative or quality update that will fix the problem.
You should also check in theOptional Updatessection, as webcam software updates can sometimes be hidden in there.
Install all available updates and cycle your machine.
you might then test the webcam to see if there is any improvement in the flickering problem.
Here are more reasons whykeeping software updatedis essential to ensure Windows and your rig work as expected.
Update the Webcam Drivers
Next, check that the webcam drivers are updated.
If you are using external webcam software, check for any updates for this as well.
The USB port you are using could be failing or be too slow.
USB 3.0 ports are usually blue on the inside.
If you have more than one appropriate USB port available, try the webcam in a different port.
Disable Low Light Compensation
Your webcam properties may include the option to enable low light compensation.
This will automatically brighten the image if the environmental lighting is poor.
Disabling this optional feature can stop webcam flicker.
Your internal webcam may also have this feature, but availability varies between laptop models.
For example, Battery Saver mode may reduce the amount of power used by certain features.
This can include the webcam.
Try disabling the power-saving features.
Thankfully, there is usually an easy way to stop this frustrating but common problem.
