1.3mega pixel built-in webcam?

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dannyual767

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My brand new Systemax laptop with Windows XP just arrived via UPS from the new CompUSA. It has a built-in 1.3 mega pixel webcam. However, the picture quality seems to leave a lot to be desired :( .

My wife and I were at the actual CompUSA store a week ago and we looked at a Lenova with a 1.3 mega pixel webcam. The camera was on and the picture was awesome. Very crisp and clear kinda like a digital camera picture.

I had high hopes that mine was going to be just as good when it was delivered to my house. I'm very disappointed. My cheap, Microsoft VX3000 webcam has a better picture :rolleyes: .

Was the Lenova "special" or does it sound like my Systemax has a problem?
 
Could be a driver issue. But i would think it is a"special" product used to save $$ on the cost of the laptop.
 
Could also be the settings you're using. In VLC, I can use my HP dv9700t's webcam at different resolutions. If it runs at 320x240, it looks pretty bad, if I turn it up to 640x480, it looks crisp and clear. Try changing the settings first, but then again, not all systems use the same camera. Just because they all have 1.3MP cameras doesn't mean all the cameras are the same, one system may have a better camera than the other.
 
Could also be the settings you're using. In VLC, I can use my HP dv9700t's webcam at different resolutions. If it runs at 320x240, it looks pretty bad, if I turn it up to 640x480, it looks crisp and clear. Try changing the settings first, but then again, not all systems use the same camera. Just because they all have 1.3MP cameras doesn't mean all the cameras are the same, one system may have a better camera than the other.

This is what I was thinking. The settings have to be in this laptop somewhere but I can't find them. I went into the control panel and clicked on "scanners and cameras." It brought up my webcam as a "USB Video device." If I open it, it opens up a wizard to copy pictures from the camera to the computer. It doesn't allow or give any options for changing camera settings.

Last night, I called Systemax tech support and the lady on the line didn't know anything about the camera. She did take my information and said that she'd research it and call me back after 24 hrs. She didn't make me feel confident at all :rolleyes: ! It sounded almost like she didn't even know that some of these laptops come with a built in webcam!
 
She probably didn't...I mean, does tech support really mean they need to know what they're talking about? Not really, not in today's world anyways.

Try using a program that uses the camera (a video recording or picture editing program should allow you to use the camera as a capture device). This way you should be able to change the settings.
 
She probably didn't...I mean, does tech support really mean they need to know what they're talking about? Not really, not in today's world anyways.

Try using a program that uses the camera (a video recording or picture editing program should allow you to use the camera as a capture device). This way you should be able to change the settings.

She didn't sound like she had a clue as to what I was talking about.

What program should I use? Is there something that I could download free just so I could try to adjust the settings of this webcam?
 
I was able to use my camera's video in VLC Media Player and DScaler, I don't know what you'd use to take pictures (mine doesn't show up as a TWAIN source for image editing apps, but you can try Gimp or IrfanView to see if yours does). All of those are free and should have configuration settings.
 
AmCap is free so give that a whirl. I'm thinking the one on show was somehow different.
 
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