How to Look Good on Webcam

Most bad webcam pictures aren't the camera's fault. A cheap 720p webcam in good light beats an expensive one in a dark room, every time. Here's the order to fix things in, from free to not-free.

Why do I look bad on webcam?

Usually it's one of these, roughly in order of how often:

1. 1.Not enough light on your face. The camera boosts the signal, which adds grain, and slows down to catch more light.
2. 2.Light behind you. A window at your back turns you into a silhouette.
3. 3.The camera is below your face. Laptop cameras look up your nose.
4. 4.The wrong resolution or a struggling computer. The picture looks soft, or motion stutters.

What does good webcam lighting look like?

Here's our test clip as it was: an evenly lit face, 1280 × 720 at 30 frames per second. Every check passed, including "Lighting: good".

Then we darkened the same clip. Same camera settings, same resolution, same frame rate. The test failed it: "Lighting: too dark. Turn on a light in front of you."

Our Webcam Test measures the average brightness of the picture on a 0 to 255 scale. Under 45 is too dark, under 80 is dim, and if the edges of the frame are much brighter than the middle it says you're backlit. You don't need to remember the numbers. Just know that "dim" is worth fixing, and "too dark" will make you look grainy in every call.

How should you light your face for a webcam?

1. 1

   Face the light

   Sit facing a window, or put a lamp behind your screen pointing at you, a little above eye level. Daylight from the side works too.

2. 2

   Turn off the light behind you

   Or close the curtain. A bright background makes the camera darken your face.

3. 3

   Soften it

   A bare bulb close to your face is harsh. Bounce it off a wall, or put it further back.

4. 4

   Check again

   Run the Webcam Test and look for "Lighting: good".

Where should the camera be, and what should you wear?

• At eye level or a little above. Stack books under a laptop.
• About an arm's length away.
• Head and shoulders in frame, with a little space above your head.
• Look at the camera when you talk, not at people's faces on the screen.
• Wear plain, mid-tone clothes. Bright white makes the camera darken your face, and thin stripes or tight checks shimmer on a webcam.

Does resolution or frame rate matter?

Less than light, but check them. 1280 × 720 (720p) is enough for calls and most streams; our test passes anything 720p or higher. Thirty frames per second looks smooth. If your camera says 30 but the test measures 15, it's usually slowing down for low light, so the fix is light again. Dropped frames and uneven timing point at a busy computer or USB hub instead.

Which webcam settings are worth changing?

Most webcams come with a settings app from their maker, and a few options there fix problems light alone won't:

• Anti-flicker (or power line frequency). If you see rolling bands or flicker under LED or fluorescent lights, set it to your mains frequency: 60 Hz in North America, 50 Hz in most of Europe, Asia and Africa.
• White balance. If your skin turns orange or blue as the daylight changes, switch white balance from auto to a fixed setting that looks right.
• Low-light boost. It brightens a dark room by slowing the camera down. Turn it off once your face is lit; motion looks smoother.

What about your background?

A tidy, slightly darker background makes you stand out. If you can't tidy, blur it. Most call apps have a blur; our Webcam Effects can blur or replace it in a browser tab and send it to calls in Chrome with the Facecam extension. And if you'd rather not show your own face at all, you can appear as an avatar with the VTuber Maker, or as anyone you want with Live Face Swap. Both still look better with your face lit, because tracking needs to see it.

What didn't this test cover?

Our test clip was recorded, so it couldn't show what a real webcam does in a dark room: lower frame rate, grain and smeared motion. It also doesn't judge focus: when we fed it a heavily blurred clip, it raised no sharpness warning. So if your picture looks soft, clean the lens and check that the camera isn't set to a lower resolution.