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    Webcam Flicker...whats going on?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by kazaam55555, Mar 18, 2009.

  1. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    Ok, i have no idea why my crappy integrated webcam on my E6400 does this, but here it goes...all drivers are updated.

    There are like, horizontal lines that constantly flicker, or more like keep on going in a downward fashion. It seems to vary with light, and its most notable on light areas like my face. It seems like if it is too bright, it does it, and if the light is too low it does it. It seems like 60hz is worse, and 50hz is much better. Sometimes its not even there.

    Heres what i dont understand...i can see it if i record the video on my laptop (or view it after recording), but when i send it to another computer or view it on another computer it is not there. Also, it seems like if the backlight is all the way high i dont see it at all, and the higher it goes the less it flickers...and i think when its really low it flickers too.

    Any ideas? using integrated creative drivers (1.05 or something) through windows update...theyre newer than the dell ones (which also do it). any help is appreciated!

    Its not a huge deal but i'd like to fix it...although i think its related to backlight.
     
    kazaam55555, Mar 18, 2009
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  2. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    bump...anyone have any advice?

    ive definitely deduced that webcam flicker is somehow dependent on the backlighting and lighting outside. maybe im some sort of freak of nature, but the lower the backlighting is (or lighting), the more it flickers. seems like theres also some sort of auto adjust for brightness thats annoying. anyone else have any input?

    it definitely seems worse at 60hz than 50hz.
     
    kazaam55555, Mar 25, 2009
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  3. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    All notebook webcams use the USB interface.
    Chances are your webcam settings are maxxing out the USB hub.
    Try setting it to 50Hz, and a lower resolution

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Mar 25, 2009
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  4. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    it seems like my sisters on her laptop (toshiba E105) is much better. Its like 1.3mp and doesnt have these problems. This E6400 has a crap webcam, and it seems like it tries to adjust the brightness which is odd.

    What can be done about the USB hub? Also, these integrated webcams are not very configurable.
     
    kazaam55555, Mar 26, 2009
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  5. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    Hello...any way i can give more power to it? such a weird issue.

    something else i found out...when i turn up the backlight and im skyping with somone, the actual image on THEIR computer gets brighter too. i dont understand why the backlight is tied into the webcam, or how. my sisters and no other ones are definitely like that. thats odd. same thing with facebook. this makes no sense.
     
    kazaam55555, Mar 29, 2009
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  6. kazaam55555

    kazaam55555 Notebook Evangelist

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    something else that is weird...although its much better, when the webcam starts up there is no flicker, everything is fine. if i move my face really close (= brightness change i guess) it starts flickering, and if i move back it doesnt stop flickering. seems like the drivers are just weird and it compensates for brightness, and for some reason uses the laptop backlight as a source of brightness.
     
    kazaam55555, Apr 4, 2009
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  7. stevezachtech

    stevezachtech Notebook Evangelist

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    Maybe the flicker has something to do with your monitor's refresh rate and other settings or it could also be Skype and the site you are visiting.
     
    stevezachtech, Apr 6, 2009
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