Poor (terrible, really bad) x360 Envy webcam

[proxyx]

I recently bought 2 laptops: HP x360 Envy Ryzen and Acer Swift 3 Intel.

Beside other issues with my HP x360 Envy laptop (video driver, poor display) I cannot get over the fact that HP webcam performs soooo poorly.

Regardless of light source (natural or incadescent) this webcam is blurry, displays awful rosy pink skewed colors, has tons of noise and generally performs on the level webcams represented good 15 years ago. This piece of HP technology is so backwards... below 1 (one !!) Mpix resolution!!... compared to webcams even from years ago. I was able to finally get to webcam adjustment panel to find out that it is totally ineffective. Noise, rosy pink cast, false colors, lack of basic sharpness is just staggering. Tried disabling the IR, no improvement.

Is this really what it is supposed to be? Are HP webcams in 2018 all like that?

I'm attaching a picture to illustrate how Acer laptop webcam performs in comparison with HP Envy webcam (Acer picture is flawless, in every respect). And this is the same class laptop as HP x360 Envy... how ridiculous is that?

This would be a good material for standup comedy except I paid money for this piece of c..p.

Any fixes, ideas or comments?

HP Envy x360 webcam vs. Acer Swift 3

[Raj1788]

@proxyx

Thank you for joining HP Forums. 
This is a great place to get support, find answers to your technical queries.

I understand that you are facing poor webcam quality.

Are you facing this issue after an update?

I have a few steps that should help resolve this concern. 

Here's a related post that seems to have helped others: Click here 

(Though the header may be different, the solution should work for your concern as well). 

For troubleshooting the webcam issues: 

You can open webcam software, such as YouCam, Skype, or Live Messenger, but the video does not display in the main viewing window. Use the following steps, in the order, they are presented, until the webcam video displays in your webcam software: 

Step 1: Make sure the webcam is the selected video/capture device for your webcam software 

Your webcam must be selected as the video capture device in your webcam software. If the computer has multiple video input sources, your webcam software might be connected to something other than your webcam. 

To select the webcam as your video source, open your webcam software and look for the video camera, video source, or video caption in the software's properties or preferences. Here are some common examples of selecting the webcam as the video source: 

NOTE: 

The name of your webcam might display as USB Video Device, HP Webcam, USB 2.0 Camera, HP Pavilion Webcam, or similar. If you do not know the name, select a name to see if video displays. If not, try selecting other video device names until you see the video from your webcam display in the window. 

More details: Click here (Win10) 

Keep me posted if this helps you to fix the issue.

Have a great day!

Cheers;)

[proxyx]

Thank you for your response but I think you posted in the wrong thread. You missed the point. But thanks for trying.

HP x360 Envy has only one webcam to my knowledge, and this webcam, as the default device, is used by MS Camera software, also in Skype, YouCam, few video editors with video capture and 2 other webcam free apps that I tried. All with the same result.

Unless... as per your allegation, I have NOT selected laptops' webcam and captured video with the webcam microphone instead... is this what you're suggesting?

I assure you I know what webcam and webcam picture looks like, and if you had any doubt please have a look at the picture I attached. Both laptops are capturing the same image with the same application, at the same time, and photo of that occurrence was taken with my cellphone.

The question is NOT whether I properly selected a webcam, as this is THE ONLY webcam (!) that windows 10 could have selected from among 1 (!) available video devices, but rather why is its picture of such poor quality?

I'd suggest you test x360 Envy webcam yourself, provide a proof of that, and let me see the result, like I did, and compare... There have been several posts in this forum about magenta/rosy color cast, blur, noise and low webcam quality.

If this is new to you look here:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Hp-spectre-webcam/m-p/6410372#M163131

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Built-in-webcam-on-HP-Spectre-x360-Co...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Purple-tint-to-Webcam-Need-to-turn-of...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Webcam-is-blur/m-p/5688237#M34...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Adjust-webcam-colors-on-Spectre-X360/...

I can give you more... none of them resolved to users satistaction.

So... let's talk about the subject, I'd prefer that.

Regards.

[Raj1788]

@proxyx

Thanks for the inputs.

Appreciate your time and efforts.

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP.  

They will contact you shortly and likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. 

Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. 

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (such as serial numbers and case details).
 

Have a great day!

[Shafiah16]

May i know what is HP spectre x360 megapixels for the front facing camera?

[CHCHCH]

Was this matter resolved for you?

[Eric212]

I have this same issue. I was shocked at the poor quality picture & video from the camera on my brand new laptop (HP Envy model# 13-ah1025cl with an MSRP of $1,250). The built in camera on my $400 Acer netbook purhased over 5 years ago takes noticably better video. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the camera, I think it is just a poor quality camera. I made sure it was set to the highest quality settings (720p) but it’s so grainy that it looks more like 240p to me. Just for the heck of it I set it to record at 240p and it got a LOT worse, so I know I had the settings as high as they go. I didn’t expect a camera on the same level as my iPhone 7 plus, but I wouldn’t even want to use this webcam for a Skype call. It’s pretty useless. I know 720p can look WAY better than this.

Otherwise it’s a great laptop, (Intel i7-8565U, GeForce MX150, 4K touch screen, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM) but the camera disapointed me a little.

[proxyx]

Newest webcam Envy driver does nothing, as expected. Conclusion: HP is fully satisfied with webcam's performance, and you shoud be too, regardless how ludicrous it is. Have a look at my comparison picture above. Tells everything. Looks like a webcam was not included in the purchase price, so next time I'll stay away from HP.

[Prof-1]

I bought HP Envy to use for my online university teaching and it's hopeless.  The webcam is embarrassingly poor.  Images are of the dreadful quality demonstrated above.  I simply can't use this laptop for its main purpose.  I'm very angry at having paid so much for equipment which doesn't serve even the basic needs of laptop users.

[proxyx]

Well put. It's really sad, annoying and disturbing HP chose to TOTALLY ignore users input. We're good to pay only, that's what defines a user.

They need indiscriminate payers not users. No more HP for me.