A ton of streamers invest in incredibly high-quality cameras. You’ll see some content creators using DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, which can cost at minimum hundreds of dollars. Some streamers use camera setups costing thousands.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to drop that much cash on what essentially amounts to a webcam — especially if they’re just starting out on the platform. DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are too expensive and still require an additional purchase of a capture card or Elgato Cam Link. Add to that the fact that you’ll probably want good lighting too, and the next thing you know the price of a “good” camera setup becomes next to unreachable.
The good news is that you don’t always need to invest that much money to have a good camera setup for your stream. You can purchase a camera like a Logitech C920 or C922 pro and call it a day. Lots of streamers do!
The Logitech C920 has long been touted as one of the very best budget webcams for streamers — even though its price has hiked up quite high these days. The C920 has become harder to purchase ever since Logitech discontinued it a year or so ago, so you’ll either have to pay a price higher than the standard retail price or buy a different Logitech model instead.
As the Logitech C920/C922 Pro cameras are affordable options, it’s reasonable to expect they won’t perform as well as DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. They won’t provide you with the best quality image, but there are some things that you can do to improve what you get.
Fiddling with your camera settings is the easiest way to improve the quality of your cam. It’s also the cheapest — there’s no beating free! This guide will show you what you can do to improve your Logitech C920.
The Logitech C920 vs Logitech C922 Pro
Because Logitech discontinued the Logitech C920, it’s become much harder to get. If you are still in the market for a webcam, you can look at the Logitech C922 Pro, which has similar features.
The C920 and C922 Pro are incredibly similar because they essentially use the same hardware (and sensor). The only difference is the C922 comes with better firmware. There are a few main differences between the two — let’s take a look.
| Logitech C920 | Logitech C922 Pro | |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1080p |
| FPS | 30fps only at 1080p or 720p | 30fps at 1080p, 60fps at 720p |
| Field of View | 78° | 78° |
| Additional Features | Available through third-party software | Available through Logi Capture app or third-party software |
There have also been some other improvements made by the C922 Pro over the C920. Most notably, it’s easier to use multiple Logitech C922 Pros simultaneously. It’s difficult to use multiple C920 cameras on one system because the drivers can’t tell them apart.
Best Logitech C922 Pro Settings
Since the C920 is discontinued, we’ve put together a list of the best Logitech C922 Pro settings. It’s worth mentioning that these settings will work for both cameras.
Before you start messing with your camera’s settings, first ask yourself: what do you want from your camera? Generally, streamers will want a clear, crisp image that’s in focus and with proper exposure. So, as we change these settings, we will work toward that result.
You may also be wondering — why not just use the “auto” settings? The auto settings are good and all, but not always. Auto settings can result in a choppy image because the camera is doing all the necessary adjustments on the fly and in real time. On top of that, it can also cause the image to have more noise or artifacting.
To adjust your camera’s settings on OBS, simply right-click on it in your sources panel and click on “Properties”. Alternatively, you can also double-click on your camera in the sources panel. From there, click on Configure Video.
Set White Balance Manually
The Logitech C920 or C922 Pro often looks washed out, a problem that’s often one of the most important to fix. Often, the reason why your C920/C922 looks washed out is that it’s set to auto white balance. Uncheck auto white balance in the settings:
Once you’ve turned off the automatic white balance, you can tweak it yourself until you get to an accurate output. Look at the image and tweak the white balance until your skin and environment look “right” to you. You can do this through this window or via a video filter on OBS.
Some extra color correction could be necessary to add a bit more saturation or vibrance to your image. You can do this using a LUT or a video filter. If you want to learn more about LUTs, read our guide: How To Add A LUT To OBS Studio – [Full Guide]
Set Exposure Manually
Exposure is the amount of light that goes into your image. Setting exposure to auto can make your camera struggle a bit because there’s a tendency for overcompensating. The result? An over-exposed image.
Sure, an over-exposed image looks pretty bad, but what’s worse is a higher exposure setting can also cause your webcam to lag.
To prevent this, uncheck the Auto Exposure box and lower it to improve your image’s quality. You’ll probably have to fiddle with your exposure settings until you hit the right spot. Make sure that you do this while you have your lighting setup going (if any).
The best way to tell if your image is properly exposed is to make sure there are no overblown white sections in the image. You may also want to check for too much noise or artifacts in the image. Simply adjust the exposure (in micro increments) until you are satisfied.
Turn Off Lowlight Compensation
Lowlight compensation auto-brightens the image when you’re in a dark room. So why would you want to turn this off?
Well, it sounds good in theory, but the problem with this feature is that it adds a grainy and noisy look to your image. It also puts more strain on the camera processing, resulting in more lag. Prevent this issue by turning off Lowlight Compensation.
Once you’ve unchecked the box, you can improve the brightness of your image by changing the gain. Gain is equivalent to ISO, which is the sensitivity of your camera’s sensor to light. You can adjust the gain until your image is bright enough for your liking.
Improve Your Lighting
Even though you can brighten your image using gain, the best way to fix your image is still to use good lighting. Good lighting is unbeatable when it comes to your webcam’s quality. Luckily, it’s quite cheap to acquire a ring light or key light.
Want to know more about ring lights and key lights? Check out some of our previous guides:
- 7 Best Alternatives To The Elgato Key Light – [Much Cheaper]
- Elgato Key Light vs Elgato Ring Light – [Buyers Guide 2022]
If you don’t want to spend any money, you can always use a lamp (with cool white or blue-toned light or a warm-white bulb). You can point the lamp at a light-colored wall to bounce back diffused light (ideally behind your webcam). Alternatively, you can simply point it at yourself (but use a make-shift diffuser to lessen the light’s intensity!). If you stream in the daytime, it does become much easier too — just use natural lighting!
Configuring Your Webcam on OBS
Finally, you can take a look at some of the webcam settings over on OBS. Access this window by double-clicking on your webcam in the sources panel or by right-clicking on it and bringing up properties.
It may feel a bit confusing looking at this window, but it’s really quite simple.
Make sure that your resolution and FPS are at the highest possible level your rig can handle, taking into consideration that you’ll also be streaming AND running a game at the same time. It might be worth attempting these changes during a test stream or while you are making a recording with a game running in the background.
Using video filters via OBS, you can also change your saturation, brightness contrast, and hue. You can even add a LUT if that’s something you want to try.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to getting the perfect webcam quality, often experimentation is key. Your settings will be completely different from others’ because their setups are different. Try messing with the settings until you find the sweet spot — it can take a while but it’s so very worth it. Remember, the easiest way to improve your cam quality is to add or use better lighting. Don’t forget that you can also experiment with the placement, brightness, and tone of your light until you find the perfect setup!
Read more from Get on Stream:
