Instrument 03 · camera
Webcam test
One click and the feed appears, with the resolution and frame rate your camera actually delivers.
Your browser will ask permission. Video stays on your device.
resolution: … frame rate: … device: …
Live feed confirmed. If a call app shows black, the fault is that app's camera pick or another app holding the camera.
Test the rest of your setup
How to read your results
You should see yourself within a second or two, with the resolution and frame rate your camera actually negotiated printed below the feed. Most laptop cameras settle at 1280×720 and 30 fps; external 1080p cameras should report 1920×1080. A large gap between the box and the readout usually means poor lighting forcing the camera down, or a USB 2.0 port throttling an ambitious camera.
Common fixes
- Black frame here: another app is holding the camera. Close every video app (they linger in trays), then reload.
- Works here, black in your call app: that app is pointed at a different camera, including virtual ones installed by streaming software. Pick the physical camera in the app's settings.
- Grainy or dark: cameras live and die by light. Face a window or lamp; no setting rescues a backlit face.
- Choppy feed: check the fps readout. If it reports 30 but calls stutter, the bottleneck is bandwidth or CPU during encoding, not the camera.
- Laptop shows nothing anywhere: check the physical privacy shutter and the keyboard's camera-kill toggle before anything else.