Webcam Exposure - without moving, it changes from dark to bright constantly.

[sparkalina]

Hi. 

Ever since the purchase of this laptop I've noticed that the exposure level on the webcam is seemingly on something automatic and it's very disruptive to online video conferencing. 

I'll be sitting in front of the camera and the exposure changes multiple times in the time frame of a minute. I will not have moved and the lighting will not have changed. There are no settings on the "Camera App" related to anything about auto exposure or brightness. This camera app looks more like a windows app and not HP and this laptop did not come with any HP branded camera software.

I have done the following:

1. Tried used a ring light to make sure it wasn't my room's lack of light (there are three fricking lamps on).

2. Deleting and reinstalling the camera drivers

3. Installing the HP assistant to make sure everything is updated

4. Restarted after all this was done

The camera is still doing this auto exposure thing, "display brightness" auto management is OFF. 

There are ZERO settings in the Camera app to change anything related to exposure.

I'm desperate for a solution before I set this thing on fire on HP's doorstep. 

-----------------------------SOLUTION BELOW------------------------------------------------------

Because the "Camera App" would not give access to the "Webcam Settings" I ended up using Skype to go to Audio/Video settings, then Advanced webcam settings. HERE is where you turn off the blasted auto exposure. BUT you must go through all the settings to find the perfect set up for your location.

This is quite annoying in Skype because turning on webcam settings turns off the camera so you're changing settings then turning on the camera again to see the results. My advice is to download OBS Studio or other software that will give you live access to your webcam settings. >>>>>>>>>>> I couldn't find these settings directly anywhere in Windows, so if anyone can direct me to those, I'll make a note of them and delete the software I don't need. 

I ended up changing the exposure to -4, the brightness to 4, gamma to 144, white balance to 3877. Those may not work for you but once you turn off auto exposure, the picture will lag so you'll need to adjust those three items to kill the "lag" effect.