During this extensive period of pandemic that we suffer caused by the coronavirus, computer webcams have become a vital element for anyone who wants to make video calls with family or friends.
What's more, for months, techwadia. Video calls have been the safest option to keep in touch with clients and co-workers if you have found yourself in the need to resort to telecommuting from home.
In some ways, we've
all become experts in video calling with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet
(formerly Hangouts). If not, we invite you to reading our special on the
best apps to make group video calls.
But, what happens if
the webcam of your PC or laptop fails? Laptops have been integrating
low-quality 720p webcams for years, something that is changing in the wake of
this new trend and need.
Hardware
manufacturers are now adopting Full HD (1080p) resolution sensors as the new
standard, in order to offer a robust front-facing camera as standard for
quality video calls.
Whether your webcam
is built into the laptop, or connected externally to the PC via USB, here are
several factors you can try on your Windows computer if it turns out that the
webcam signal is not displaying the image.
1) Test the webcam with other equipment
If you have an
external webcam that fails, trying another computer should be the first
recommendation. Connecting it to another PC (ideally a form factor similar
to the main one) is one way to find out which product is failing; The
computer or the webcam.
Go through the full
setup process again, and even try a video call to verify that there is nothing
preventing your webcam hardware from working properly.
2) Make sure the device is enabled
Even if you have just
connected a webcam, computers have a strange habit of not selecting new devices
as the default input, confusing the laptop camera with the external one you may
have connected.
Make sure that the
application that you are going to use for the video call is configured with the
image of the webcam you want.
3) Check your webcam settings
There are some
settings that may be preventing your webcam from working properly. Here's
how to check it and change it if necessary:
Go to 'Settings>
Privacy' and select 'Camera' from the left panel.
Make sure both
'Camera access for this device' and 'Allow apps to access this camera' are
enabled.
Scroll down to where
it says 'Choose which Microsoft Store apps can access the camera' and make sure
the software you're using is turned on. The 'Camera' application as well
as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or others must have access.
4) Update the webcam drivers
Some devices stop
working properly if the drivers are
not up to date. Here's how to update them, whether your webcam is built-in
or external:
1. Right-click
on the Start menu icon at the bottom left of the screen and select 'Device
Manager'.
2. Double
click on 'Cameras' in the window that appears and find the appropriate device
(some external webcams may also appear under 'Sound, video and game
controllers' or under 'Imaging devices' instead).
3. Right
click and check the options that appear. If you see the option 'Enable
device', click on it, but if it says 'Disable device', you don't need to do
anything.
4. In
the same context menu, select 'Update driver'
5. Choose
'Search automatically for updated driver software'
6. After
a few seconds of searching, Windows will ask you to download any updates that
are available. If you see a message that says 'The best drivers for your
device are already installed', you don't need any further attention.
5) Check the connection (wired or wireless)
An unreliable
connection can cause the external device not to connect to the computer with
sufficient bandwidth. For wired connections, this is not a problem: wiggle
the cable to see if your PC recognizes it, or just pull it out of the USB port
and plug it back in.
A wireless webcam
usually connects via Bluetooth, so it's worth going to the settings menu to
check if you can connect to your computer. If you don't see anything, try
turning both your PC and webcam on and off.
6) Check the USB ports
If you've connected
an external webcam to the USB port, the port itself may be causing the problem. Insert
another device and check if the computer recognizes it. You can also try
connecting the webcam through another USB port.
Otherwise, cleaning
the inside of the port with a brush or compressed air can help with the
situation. If you continue without solving the problem, the money used in
the compressed air can not be wasted, since you can also clean your keyboard.
7) Seek technical support from the manufacturer
Often times, the
webcam manufacturer will have model-specific information for troubleshooting
purposes. Check the user manual that came with them or the official
website for further guidance.
Once you have your
webcam operational again, we will show you in this article how to change
the wallpaper of your video calls with Zoom , if it is the tool you
usually use.
