Webcam test
What your camera is really sending, and how you look through it.
Everything happens on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
Blocked
Camera access is blocked
Waiting
Allow camera access
Your browser will ask. The preview starts as soon as you allow it.
Starting
Opening the camera
The preview appears below once frames start arriving.
Preview
Camera
Record
Readings
- Resolution
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- Aspect ratio
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- Frame rate
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- Camera maximum
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- Facing
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How to test your webcam
Allow the prompt and the preview starts. If you have more than one camera, check the right one is chosen under Camera. Turn Mirror off to see yourself the way other people do, use the thirds grid to judge where you sit in the frame, and go fullscreen to see the picture at size. Record a few seconds to watch yourself back with sound, or save a still. A camera test comes down to what you can see. The readings say what the camera is sending, and the picture says whether it looks right.
Questions
Do you record or upload my video?
No. The picture is shown by your own browser and never leaves the tab. Nothing reaches a server, and closing the page ends it. If you record or save a still, your browser writes the file straight to your device.
Why is my webcam not working?
Four things cause this, and a broken camera is the rarest. The browser was never given permission, which this page says outright. Another app has the camera open, usually Zoom or Teams, which it also says. A privacy cover is shut, which shows as a black picture rather than no picture at all. Or the wrong camera is chosen, which no page can know, so check the name under Camera.
How do I allow camera access?
On a computer, click the padlock at the left of the address bar and set Camera to Allow, then reload. On an iPhone the browser app itself needs permission before any website can ask. Open Settings, scroll to Safari, Chrome or Brave, and turn Camera on. On Android, use the browser menu, then Site settings, then Camera. If you refused once, the browser remembers and will not ask again until you change it there.
Why is my picture black?
Check for a sliding privacy cover or a lens cap first, because it is easy to miss on a laptop and costs nothing to rule out. If the cover is open, another app may still be holding the camera, so quit it completely rather than closing its window.
Why is my webcam dark or grainy?
A webcam sensor is far smaller than your eye and needs much more light than a room feels like it has. The single biggest change is a lamp in front of you at face height. Grain is the camera brightening a dark picture after the fact, so adding light removes it and no setting will.
Why do I look like a silhouette?
There is a window or a lamp behind you. The camera exposes for the bright thing and gives up on your face, and no brightness slider undoes it. Turn so the light is in front of you, or close the blinds and put a lamp on your side of the desk.
Why is my picture mirrored?
Because the preview starts mirrored, the same way every video call shows your own view of yourself. Other people see the unmirrored version. Turn Mirror off before judging how you are framed, or before holding anything with writing on it up to the lens.
Why is the resolution lower than my camera supports?
This page asks for 1080p and takes the nearest the camera will give. The readings show both what arrived and the most the camera offers, so you can see the gap. It usually means something else opened the camera first at a smaller size and is still running, or that a dock is sharing one USB link between several devices.