Please Help Me Test...!

Hi all,

I posted a thread about this a couple months back, but got no response. I'm hoping a volunteer can help me.

I've discovered that when I use HDMI to plug my R1 in to my big monitor (or TV), my webcam becomes pretty useless. If you use it for Skype, for example, the webcam picture (for both myself, and the person I'm looking at) is VERY dark, and as soon as you unplug the HDMI cable, it returns to normal lighting. The person on the opposite end doesn't notice any differences in lighting, so it's just on my end. I can't see them/myself very well, just the outline of my/their face.

If you up the brightness/contrast, it has no effect. Please keep in mind, the only part of the screen that becomes dark is the window with the inbound/outbound video (e.g. Skype, webcam settings, etc).

It doesn't matter if you're using Intel or NVIDIA graphics. It doesn't matter if the screen is set to mirror, or expand the desktop. It doesn't matter what you set the resolution to.

Is it possible the built-in webcam isn't powerful enough to output over HDMI? I've tried looking around but not finding any answers.

I've rebuilt my laptop a couple times over the last few months, but this issue hasn't gone away.

Please advise!!

Thanks!

 

I'll try this when I have time - dont normally use the webcam so I'll need to install an app to do so. Is this just with SKYPE or with all apps (skype, MSN Messenger, Yahoo IM, etc.)?

 

Hi BatBoy,

Thanks for your response.

It's all applications, Skype, Google Voice, and MSN Messenger (I don't use Yahoo).

It also happens when you go into any of the program's settings (not necessarly in the call), where you can tweak the brightness/contrast/color of the webcam. You'll get a preview window of what the webcam looks like (when you view yourself), and it's mostly black, with only a small amount of light in the middle of the picture, enough to make out some physical features (e.g. the shape of your head).

As I said, discrete or not, mirror or extended, any combination of resolutons, etc. It doesn't matter. As soon as you unplug the HDMI, it works like a charm. I don't have a VGA port to test with, unfortunately, though I know I wouldn't be able to get the resolutions I need with it.

I don't see how it could be a bad HDMI cable... everything else works brilliant. I sometimes hook the laptop up to the TV and run Netflix (full screen in a browser). It works perfectly. It's just the webcam that craps out when outputting via HDMI.