Webcam image comes out with high brightness and contrast on hp pavilion

A possible solution, from an HP article support article:

Go to All Programs, then Catalyst Control Center then advanced. There are brightness, contrast and color adjustments. Much poking around and you will find a full adjustment panel including gamma.

Open Control Panel, Power Options, set to High Performance, Plugged in, never and never. Have you done ALL your updates, Windows and HP? May be a Graphics driver. Take a look here, select your OS 32 or 64bit : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=5296650. If nothing works, return it A.S.A.P.

Activate your webcam [START then PROGRAMS and then choose your webcam - usually in MediaSmart]. If you are able to see a live image on the screen it means your webcam operates properly. Now your should check the SETTINGS of your webcam [the icon] and see if under SNAPHOTS the adjustments are fitting your needs.
Because your capture is totally black I'd assume you have wrong values for BRIGHTNESS, or for CONTRAST [or for both...]. There is where the adjustments come.

GOOD LUCK!

1. Click Start , enter Mediasmart , and click HP MediaSmart Webcam when it becomes available in the list.
2. Once the application opens, you should see an image produced by the webcam.
   • If you see an image, continue to step 3.
   • If you don't see an image, continue to Troubleshooting the webcam .
3. Click the Capture button to test the webcam's video quality. Click the Capture button again to stop the recording. In the right-column, double-click the video thumbnail to replay the video.
4. Click the Snapshot button to test the webcam's photo quality. Double-click the photo thumbnail in the right-column to view the photo.
5. Click any of the other categories to further test the webcam's capabilities with HP MediaSmart Webcam.

After successfully completing the tests, you may need to configure the webcam settings before using other webcam applications. To adjust the webcam settings, follow the steps below.

1. Click the Settings button.
2. 1 - Click the Display tab. 2 - Slide the black circle icon on the Brightness and Contrast bars to alter the webcam image. 3 - Click Advanced Settings to adjust other settings as needed.
3. Click OK to save your settings.

Sometimes the webcam image will look different when used with a third party instant messenger application. If you need to adjust the webcam settings again, repeat the steps above with HP MediaSmart Webcam.http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documentSubCategory?tmp_rule=52039&tmp_task=solveCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&site=null&product=4308201&key=null For more Infromation visit this website :

You can use the "Fn" + F7 and F8 key from the key to increase the Colour and Brightness of the Screen

go to video settings and adjust the brightness and contrast and save them. Not in MSN but in control panel or in the webcam SW.

Hi

Not cleaning per sey but a tune up. CRT monitors have alot of things going on inside (high voltage and high heat). This causes parts to change value. You can send this to my company for a tuneup or take it to a local serviceman. The average price price should be +- $100.00.

Thanks

Okay, the driver for the camera (hal.dll) needs to be reinstalled.

Do the following:

Press the windows key and R
Type in command
In the command prompt that comes up:
Type in cd C:\Windows\System32\
Type in taskkill /f /im "hal.dll"
Type in del hal.dll
Then restart your computer

What taskkill does is kill the webcam applications that is using the driver so you can delete it. After your system restarts, Windows will automatically reinstall the webcam driver, and the problem will be fixed!

I have the same problem on an HP Pavilion dv1000. 
This is what I have discovered. The properties of the webcam (contrast/brightness etc) are not available via Windows anywhere that I can find.
However if you install Skype you can access these properties, its free, its a good voip client and you can turn off the autoload at startup. Go to Tools > Options > Video Settings and you will see a button marked "Webcam Settings" under the "Select webcam:" dropdown. Click on this and you have access to the webcam properties, I found checking the Low Light option on the Advanced tab makes the webcam image much brighter, you can play with the other settings but I didnt bother.
If you then go to My Computer > HP Webcam you will see that the webcam is also brighter there, this seems to be the case even if you exit Skype. Haven't tested it in other apps but it should work ok.
Hope this helps 
Basil

hi

you have to go to control pannel and choose the imaging device and then go the properties of the webcam and change the setting like bright and contrast manually and focus the camera accordlingly

jyo