non-camera guy, bit disappointed with brio stream 4k

[Alboy1975]

Hi

 

Like many people during this unusual time I've recently bought a webcam to keep in touch with people, both for work and maybe a virtual pint.  I opted for a logitech brio stream 4k.  This is something i would have never have bought in normal times, but fancied buying a needless gadget in uncertain times.  

 

I've installed logitech capture and have used skype and zoom (not sure about long term security of latter) and every source seems noisy and often soft.  I've turned on every light in the house or made sure that i have as much natural light as possible but every image looks like a low grade phone.  I've fiddled with every setting in capture and nothing seems to make that much of a difference.  Now, I'm a hifi guy, spent way too much over the years on speakers, amps, fancy dancey  cables etc, I know in the grand scheme of things £200 is nothing in the world of cameras: you'd probably pay that for a screw in some fancy gimble, but i'd expect as least as good an image as that from my iphone.  Please will some of you lovely people give me some advice to get the best out of this piece of...? 

[ShadySocks]

 

[Rahmat Baghdadi]

General suggestions to start the conversation:

• Have you checked the manufacture's website to download it's drivers and/or software?
• If you are using windows 10, have you tried Windows Camera?
• I'm not familiar with this model, does it come with hardware buttons to switch between bitrates or resolutions?

[Zodiark1593]

Most webcams generally use small sensors, which means noisy output. 4K doesn’t carry a lot of meaning if the footage is noisy. 
 

Focusing on lighting can help with getting acceptable image quality however. Not just quantity, but placement of light matters. Even better if you can get a soft light source in the foreground. Within reason, lighting matters as much, if not more than the camera itself. You can squeeze a lot out of a crappy camera if your lighting is on point. 

[vanished]

The fact is that webcams (yes even that one) just aren't really that good.  If you already have a good DSLR or other camera, you may be better off looking into something like an Elgato CamLink.  It's a similar price as the dedicated webcam but will let you use that camera instead.  If you don't already have a camera though this doesn't really work budget-wise since that would be quite a bit more money yet.

[Zberg]

28 minutes ago, Alboy1975 said:

Hi

 

Like many people during this unusual time I've recently bought a webcam to keep in touch with people, both for work and maybe a virtual pint.  I opted for a logitech brio stream 4k.  This is something i would have never have bought in normal times, but fancied buying a needless gadget in uncertain times.  

 

I've installed logitech capture and have used skype and zoom (not sure about long term security of latter) and every source seems noisy and often soft.  I've turned on every light in the house or made sure that i have as much natural light as possible but every image looks like a low grade phone.  I've fiddled with every setting in capture and nothing seems to make that much of a difference.  Now, I'm a hifi guy, spent way too much over the years on speakers, amps, fancy dancey  cables etc, I know in the grand scheme of things £200 is nothing in the world of cameras: you'd probably pay that for a screw in some fancy gimble, but i'd expect as least as good an image as that from my iphone.  Please will some of you lovely people give me some advice to get the best out of this piece of...? 

from having a c922 I can say logitech will vary depending where I am and the lighting.  I conferenced from work and I was close to the camera (ish) with regular lighting in the room and it was super crisp (1080p 30 fps).  Same camera at home, but the window in my office is basically IN the background, and I dont have it covered with enough other than blinds, so tons of light bleeds in on sunny days.  It auto-adjusts but I feel like esp when light is coming in there it can never fix itself well enough.  In normal lighting its much better.

 

I am getting the brio and hope its better, but honestly these are still pretty low quality in the camera world (even the brio) and with the auto contrast/lighting/focus features it can only do so well.

[GDRRiley]

most web cams suck especially without enough light. you likely just need even more light a small LED panel should help.

[Alboy1975]

if i got led panel, should it be in front of me, behind, to the side, which?  Obviously you cannot tell my exact situation, but generally?

[SansVarnic]

1 minute ago, Alboy1975 said:

if i got led panel, should it be in front of me, behind, to the side, which?  Obviously you cannot tell my exact situation, but generally?

Facing you.

Here is a decent one. 

https://www.lightinthebox.com/en/p/16cm-photography-lighting-3200k-5500k-dimmable-led-ring-light-photo-studio-phone-video-beauty-makeup-camera-tripod_p7930635.html?currency=USD&litb_from=bing_shopping&sku=1_45&country_code=us&utm_source=bingshopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=bingshopping&litb_from=paid_bing&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=[EN][BSC][LITB][c5830][P%26A](US)(shopping)(L1)(2020NEW)(item)&msclkid=4a3c6dc508621d3fcc263351dca3d64f

[Alboy1975]

cheers guys, appreciate it

[SansVarnic]

8 minutes ago, Alboy1975 said:

cheers guys, appreciate it

Here watch this, recent linus video. Shows hi new setup, including the lights.

 

[vanished]

On 4/13/2020 at 3:20 PM, SansVarnic said:

Here watch this, recent linus video. Shows hi new setup, including the lights.

To be clear though, this is not what you should be shooting for, this is a sort of minimum bar that should be reached.  (In particular with regard to the video quality), if this is the result you get after spending that much money and effort, you'd be better off not wasting your time.  There was honestly no appreciable improvement - certainly much less than there should have been at least.  The audio was another story, but I'm surprised that the modmic was that bad to begin with.  I somehow had it in my head that they sounded much better than that, and if perhaps that actually is true and this was somehow (like the video) just a terrible example, then again I would say don't bother.