Unlike smartphone cameras, PC cameras are primarily used for video calling. Smartphone users use phone cameras to capture photos, videos, video calling, and document scanning. PC users rarely capture pictures and videos.
If your Windows 10/11 computer has an in-built camera or you have attached an external webcam to it, you might want to change its default settings such as the brightness and contrast to improve the picture/video quality.
As you might have observed by now, the built-in Camera app lacks most of the settings that you find in a dedicated camera app camera manufacturer. It offers basic settings only.
That said, there are options to change the default brightness and contrast settings.
IMPORTANT: If you are using a dedicated camera, we recommend using the camera software offered by the camera manufacturer. For instance, Logitech offers its own software named Logitech Capture, which provides tens of settings to change the default camera settings.
Method 1 of 2
Change camera settings via Settings app in Windows 10/11
Step 1: On a Windows 10 PC, go to Windows 10 Settings > Devices > Cameras page. If you are on a Windows 11 PC, jump to Windows 11 Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Camera page.
If the Cameras page is missing, it is either because you are running a build older than 21354 or the camera driver is not installed.
Step 2: The Cameras page displays all connected cameras to your PC, including the built-in webcam. The built-in webcam will be detected as an integrated camera.
On Windows 10 PC, to change the camera settings, click on the camera’s entry and then click the Configure button. If you are on a Windows 11 powered machine, click on Integrated camera to see available settings.
Step 3: As you can see in the picture below, you can change the default brightness and contrast settings by moving their respective sliders. On Windows 11 PC, if you cannot see camera settings, please click on Basic Settings.
Method 2 of 2
Change photo/video quality via Camera app
The built-in Camera app in Windows 10/11 offers a few options to change the default settings. For instance, you can change the picture resolution (photo quality), video quality, and brightness via the app.
Step 1: Open the Camera app.
Step 2: If you would like to change the photo or video quality, click on the gear/settings icon located top left of the app. The photos and videos section offer options to change the picture and video quality.
NOTE: If you would like to change the brightness from within the Camera app, you need to enable the Pro mode (available under Camera Settings). Once you enable the Pro mode, an option to change the brightness will be shown within the app.
