Skype Webcam Settings

[Oliver Parkes]

Thereis a webcam settings dialog in Windows which can be accessed inside Skype and some other apps, but I want to be able to open it directly. How can I open it directly? I have attached screenshot of dialog for reference.

Thanks to Fishcake's answer, I was able to find a program that offers command-line access to the same ISpecifyPropertyPages interface as AForge's DisplayPropertyPage, and thus allows us to open the dialog: ffmpeg.

Using AForge.Net might be overkill for just displaying the property page (I was using it already for some image manipulation) but you can view the source to see what it is doing under the hood. The DisplayPropertyPage method is in the class VideoCaptureDevice.cs

I just wrote my own simple script to quickly let me access the webcam settings for both my cameras, as the option to access the settings in most other applications are missing, except in Lync/Skype for Business (which hopefully nobody uses anymore.)

Its a mixed Winbatch and PowerShell script that enumerates all cameras and opens the Camera Property dialog for each of them using ffmpeg. Its mixed because I didn't want to modify my ExecutionPolicy-settings, where a regular .ps1-script would otherwise halt on confirming a ExecutionPolicy Change.

I have been using the integrated webcam on my laptop without any problems with Skype (bin32-skype installed from aur on x64 Arch). However the image is very dark (looks better on windows). I can't seem to figure out a way to increase the brightness and gamma settings. Best way to do this?

no change on the video - still dark. Correct me if I am wrong. Also the post gives syntax accoridng to driver name. I just used gspca. Am I using the right driver name / how do i find the correct driver name?

There appears to be a workaround for people who have Skype. I have seen some workarounds proposed for using the camera app to change settings while Teams is open, but as far as I'm concerned this is a myth - firstly you cannot have the camera being accessed by two apps at once, and secondly it juts doesn't work. My camera app looks completely different to my Teams camera feed.

Teams desperately needs camera settings, this is really basic functionality.

@JHarris-FIT - our org is now fully on Teams and skype is decommissioned. I noticed that camera settings are now accessible in Teams (O365), including zoom, brightness, contrast etc. I can now change my settings directly in Teams. Click the three dots, Settings, Devices, scroll down, click Open camera settings. I use a Logitech C930e. Good luck!

The ability to zoom on the video still doesn, but theres already a way to change a few settings of your webcam on teams, such as brightness, saturation, white balance, etc.

To do so, open the teams app> ... (3 dots right next to your picture on the top right corner)>settings>devices (on the left panel)>scroll down all the way to camera>"open camera settings"

Most recent webcams are UVC (USB Video Class) compliant and are supported by the generic uvcvideo kernel driver module. To check that your webcam is recognized, see the journal just after you plug the webcam in. You should see something like this:

Otherwise, if your webcam is not supported by the kernel's drivers, an external driver is necessary. The first step is to identify the name of the webcam, using for example lsusb. Then you can check webcam devices for information and resources about webcams. Once you find a driver compatible with the webcam, you can load the module at boot.

If you want to configure brightness, color and other webcam parameters (e.g. in the case when out-of-the-box colors are too bluish/reddish/greenish) you may use a variety of applications. Some specific webcams such as the Logitech Brio or the Razer Kiyo Pro might require a specific application for some of their specific options such as HDR. Changing any settings in an application that configures V4L settings will generally change those settings for all applications using those cameras unless they override those settings themselves.

For generic graphical webcam configuration tools your can use either qv4l2 from v4l-utils or guvcview. In addition to this, cameractrls contains cameractrlsgtk4 which allows you to configure some camera-specific features for the Logitech Brio as well as the Razer Kiyo Pro on top of supporting all the other v4l options.

Configuration made via V4L2 does not persist after the webcam is disconnected and reconnected. It is possible to use v4l2-ctl with Udev rules in order to set some configuration each time a particular camera is connected.

Sometimes we might want to disable a laptop's internal webcam so that only the one attachedvia USB is showing. This can be done with a udev rule.First we will need the device's vendor id and the product id from lsusb

VLC can also be used to view and record your webcam. In VLC's Media menu, open the Capture Device... dialog and enter the video and audio device files. Or from the command line, for example:

For laptops without a webcam, an IP camera can be used as an alternative to droidcam which does not keep the extra webcam device hanging around. For android, something like IP webcam can be hosted on the phone, then use the IP camera as a video input for the laptop. First, install linux-headers and v4l2loopback-dkms, then connect to the video source as /dev/video0 using v4l2loopback with 192.168.1.xxx being the IP address of the phone:

Version 2.6.27 of the Linux kernel dropped support for the legacy Video4Linux (1) API. Pixel format decoding has been pushed to user space, since Video4Linux version 2 does not support kernel space decoding. The libv4l library provides userland applications with pixel decoding services and will be used by most programs. Other compatibility layers are also available.

Under certain configurations, the Microsoft lifecam studio/cinema may request too much usb bandwidth and fail see Uvcvideo FAQ. In this case, change the buffering by loading the uvcvideo driver with quirks=0x80. Add it to /etc/modprobe.d/uvcvideo.conf :

Creality webcam is based on the Fullhan FH8852 chip used in many cheap 2MP cameras (USB ID 1d6c:0103), but its firmware requires a special sequence to enable it, otherwise you'll get a black screen. Trying to grab a frame using FFmpeg seems to properly initialize the device, making it work on other apps. You might have to try the following on both /dev/video0 and /dev/video2, and see which one produces a correct /tmp/test_img.jpg image:

The first step is to plug in the power supply using the supplied power adapter. However most 12V power supplies will work fine, or even a 12V DC battery source will work fine. If you have a locking DC connector, then make sure to tighten it firmly.

If you have an ATEM Mini Pro or Extreme, these models have a multiview so you can see it if you connect a monitor to the HDMI out. Make sure you press the M/V button on the video output selection. Now you can see all your sources as you plug in cameras!

Next, plug your HDMI cameras and computers into ATEM Mini's HDMI inputs. This gives you 4 or 8 different video sources depending on your model, to switch between when creating your program. All the HDMI inputs are standards converted so don't worry about video settings!

If you're streaming, then all models use USB as a webcam. First connect the USB to a computer. Your computer will recognize ATEM Mini as a webcam and you can then select it as the webcam source in your streaming software, such as Skype.

Skype is a good app for testing, so let's configure it for ATEM Mini. In Skype audio and video settings select Blackmagic Design as the video and audio sources. You will see the ATEM Mini video in the preview window and you can make calls!

If you need to narrate or add commentary to your production, plug a microphone into one of the 3.5mm mic inputs. Or use two microphones for broadcasting interviews so you can individually control how loud or quiet they are. Above each video input button is the smaller audio control buttons where you can turn on and off each audio source. There are many types of microphones available, such as tiny, wireless collar microphones so the presenter can move freely without cables or larger desktop ones for presenters. Using dedicated microphones as well as using the audio page in the ATEM Software Control to add EQ and some compression can dramatically improve the clarity of presenters.

If you really want to access all the power of your ATEM Mini, then you can run ATEM Software Control and get access to many more features than are available on the front panel. There are pages that let you run the switcher and pallets that have settings for every feature in the switcher. There are also pages in the software for changing settings, uploading and managing graphics, mixing audio and controlling cameras. Just connect the USB to a Mac or PC and run the software, as it uses the same USB connection that the ATEM Mini's webcam output uses. You can also use ATEM Software Control via ethernet if you have more than one operator working on the same job at the same time.

You can use any graphics software to create titles for ATEM Mini. If the graphic has an alpha channel, ATEM Mini will output the alpha as a key channel to allow graphics layering. Graphics with alpha channels can be created in software such as Photoshop. To use a still graphic, simply drag and drop it into one of the positions in the media pool in ATEM Software Control. Now go to the keyer settings in the switcher page, where you will need to set the media player source to be the still you just loaded. Then in the keyer settings, select the video and key sources to be the media player. Now turn on the keyer and you'll get professional titles overlaid in real time on your live video.

You can create professional mastered audio using the Fairlight audio mixer in ATEM Mini and controlled through ATEM Software Control. By clicking and dragging the mixer faders you can adjust the sound levels for each camera so they are louder or quieter, or adjust the microphone levels so voices are clearer and stand out. If a music player is plugged into the second mic input, you can even fade music in and out of your broadcast because each mic input has its own audio mixer inputs and effects! If you want to go even further, you can add Fairlight EQ, audio compression and limiting to tailor the sound of presenters to get them sounding clear and to keep the audio levels under control.

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