Of course, not all webcams have free software – but there are other free options available. All of these programs will allow you to change things like the hue, brightness, and contrast of your webcam footage to better compliment your environment, and optimizing your video in this way will improve your overall result. Some webcams will come with their own software, such as Logitech Capture (opens in new tab) for Logitech webcams, CamEngine for AverMedia or even Synapse for Razer webcam devices. In fact, both Windows and Mac users would benefit from using downloadable programs to improve the default camera footage.

Sadly there is no preinstalled camera app for Mac users, but that doesn't mean you can't alter your settings. Even a HD broadcast will look terrible if the footage stutters on the screen, so make sure your webcam is set to the highest FPS if the option is available. Generally speaking, your FPS is more important than your resolution when you get over 720p as it affects how smooth your video quality looks.

The resolution of your webcam should be clearly displayed on the product box, alongside the maximum achievable frames-per-second (or FPS) that the camera can capture. When plugging in your webcam for the first time, it should default to the highest available resolution, with the standard options being 720p or 1080p. It's still important to understand that these changes can also have an impact of course.

Windows-based PCs and laptops come with a preinstalled app that can be found by simply searching for 'camera' in the lower-left search bar of your desktop, but the changes that you can make on this are restricted to adjusting your camera resolution and enabling anti-flicker features. (Image credit: Future)Ĭhanging your webcam settings may feel like an obvious solution, but both Windows and Mac devices actually make this a lot harder than it should be. Logitech Capture permits some video quality alterations.

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