Webcam Test

How to use this webcam test in 3 easy steps:

  1. Click the button below to start the test
  2. Click to “Allow” your camera to be tested
  3. Smile! And don’t worry, we won’t store any recordings!
Get Drift Video

Now that you know your camera works, put it to use! With Drift Video you can easily create and share videos that start conversations. Not ready for video yet? Why not test your microphone!

Now that you know your camera works, put it to use! With Drift Video you can easily create and share videos that start conversations. Get started for free!

👉 In Chrome, click the camera icon on the right side of the address bar to allow permissions

👉 In Firefox, click the crossed out camera icon on the left side of the address bar

👉 In Safari, go to your Preferences, then Websites, and then Camera and look for www.drift.com

Unfortunately, it looks like our test doesn’t support your current browser. We suggest using Chrome or Safari to test your camera.

Webcam Troubleshooting Guide

Recording footage with a webcam is an easy and convenient way to make videos. However, many webcam recordings suffer from poor camera quality. You can make a few adjustments before recording with your webcam that will drastically improve the quality of your videos.

Increase Your Frame Rate (FPS)

One of the most critical aspects of a solid webcam recording is your frame rate, or the number of frames per second that your camera is capable of recording. In the industry, we call this FPS (frames per second). Why is this important? FPS determines how sharp the recording appears to your eye, and ultimately the quality of the viewing experience. The more frames per second, the more crisp the webcam recording will turn out.

What’s the best way to increase your FPS? We found a great answer on Quora and have included it below:

Read Rob Pettengill's answer to What determines the frames-per-second on a camera? on Quora

Visual Framing

The easiest thing you can do to make your webcam video look better is to adjust your visual framing. Make sure the webcam is at eye-level (not angled up or down at you). Put yourself in the center of the frame. If you break your frame into thirds with horizontal lines, your eyes should be around the intersection of the top and middle third.

Improve The Room Lighting

Webcams aren’t great at capturing video in low-light situations. Every digital camera has a sensor, and while some high-end DSLR and mirrorless cameras can shoot in low light, webcam sensors just aren’t that great. You’ll notice in lower-light situations; you might see a lot of digital noise and grain. Your webcam doesn’t pick up a lot of details. And if you’re just using a desk lamp or overhead ceiling light, you’ll get nasty shadows across your face.

Make Sure You Have A Clean Background

Your webcam background should add to your story and your video. For one thing, you should clean up your background. That means to move out anything that could be distracting to your audience: Mugs, glasses, any disrupting decorations, this is one of the most straightforward solutions to achieve a great result.

Upgrade Your Webcam

While you’ll get decent results from improving lighting, changing your camera background, fixing your video framing, your internal webcam might not be that great. Companies like Logitech make great and affordable external webcams that can bring you a substantial upgrade to the quality of your video and recording experience.

The most important thing is really to pay attention to detail on your webcam set up so you get the best results out of your webcam video recordings. Important details like having a high FPS, having a clean background, good lighting and a clear and defined image are the main things that can make or break your video quality, so be mindful and patient about the process.

Now that you know how to get the best audio for your videos, make sure you’re getting the best audio by testing your microphone.