Webcam Test — Free Online Camera Test
Press Start and your own camera appears. Then the page tells you what the camera is really delivering: the resolution and frame rate the browser negotiated, the frame rate measured frame by frame, which of 640×480, 720p, 1080p, 1440p and 4K the camera will accept, and whether the picture is too dark, too bright or just a black frame from a closed privacy shutter. It works as a camera test for Windows 11, a laptop camera test and a webcam test for Mac, Chromebook, Android or iPhone, with nothing to install and no sign-up. The video never leaves this tab.
Runs entirely in your browser. The video is shown in a local <video> element and sampled on a canvas in this tab; no frame, snapshot or measurement is uploaded and no network request is made. Snapshots exist only in memory until you download them.
How to test your webcam online
- Start the camera. Press Start camera and allow access when the browser asks. If you have more than one camera, pick it from the list; on a phone, use Switch front/back.
- Check the live picture. Look at the preview. A black picture usually means a closed privacy shutter or a covered lens; the lighting panel says so when the frame is flat black. The mirror toggle only flips what you see, not what is recorded.
- Read the real numbers. The readout shows the resolution and frame rate the browser negotiated and the frame rate actually measured over the last seconds. If the measured FPS is far below the negotiated value, the camera is dropping frames, usually from low light or a busy USB port.
- Probe supported resolutions. Press Test supported resolutions. The page asks the camera for each size in turn and reports which ones the browser accepted, then restores your preview. Save a snapshot if you want to inspect the picture.
Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my video uploaded or recorded?
No. The stream is displayed in a video element in your own tab, and the lighting check reads a tiny downscaled copy of each frame on a canvas. There is no upload, no recording, and no network request. A snapshot stays in memory until you download it.
Why does the page say a resolution is "accepted" rather than "supported"?
The probe asks the browser for an exact size and records whether the request succeeded. Accepted means the browser agreed to deliver that size. Browsers and drivers can still scale or crop in software, and some cameras interpolate, so accepted is not proof of a sensor that natively captures that many pixels. When the browser reports a different size than requested, the table says so.
My camera test shows a black screen. What now?
First look for a physical privacy shutter on the lens or a camera-off key on the keyboard. Then check the operating system camera privacy setting for your browser, and close any other app that may be using the camera. If the lighting panel says "Black frame", the picture really is black; if it says the lighting is fine, the video is arriving. The troubleshooting section on this page walks through each cause.
How do I test my camera on Windows 11 or a laptop?
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, press Start camera and allow access. If the browser cannot reach the camera, open Windows Settings, then Privacy & security, then Camera, and turn on camera access for apps and for your browser. Laptops often also have a function key or a slider shutter that disconnects the camera.
Why is the measured FPS lower than the camera's advertised frame rate?
Many cameras lower their frame rate in dim light to lengthen exposure, and USB bandwidth, power saving and other apps can reduce it further. The page measures frames the browser actually delivers using the video frame callback, so it shows what a web app or call would receive, which can be lower than a spec sheet. Browsers without that callback fall back to display-refresh sampling, which cannot report more than your screen refresh rate.
Can I use this to test a webcam on Mac, iPhone or Android?
Yes. Any browser that supports camera access on a secure page works. On phones, Switch front/back requests the other camera and tells you if the device has none. Some browsers expose fewer camera capabilities than Chrome, so the "maximum" fields can show as not exposed; the live measurements still work.
Webcam resolution tiers and what the lighting check looks for
These are the five sizes the resolution probe requests. Each row is the tier name people use for that size. The lighting check works on 8-bit brightness (0 is black, 255 is white), measured over a downscaled copy of the frame. Frame rate is measured over the last 1 s (current) and 10 s (average).
| Tier | Probe size | Aspect | Pixels | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | 640×480 | 4:3 | 0.3 MP | Old built-in webcams, low-bandwidth calls |
| HD | 1280×720 | 16:9 | 0.9 MP | Typical laptop webcam, standard video calls |
| Full HD | 1920×1080 | 16:9 | 2.1 MP | External webcams, streaming, recording |
| QHD | 2560×1440 | 16:9 | 3.7 MP | Higher-end webcams and phone cameras |
| 4K | 3840×2160 | 16:9 | 8.3 MP | 4K webcams, phone cameras, capture devices |
- Too dark: average brightness at or below 50 of 255. Too bright: at or above 190. Clipped highlights: 5% or more of the pixels at 250 or above (pure white, usually a window or lamp).
- Black or covered: almost no variation in the frame (brightness spread under 4) and an average at or below 12. That pattern means the picture is black, as with a closed privacy shutter or a covered lens, not just dim.
- Accepted by the probe means the browser agreed to the exact constraint. The browser or driver may still scale or crop, so treat the highest accepted size as an upper bound on what a web app can request, not a sensor specification.
Related tools
More free, in-browser tools from the Device Tests set — every one runs locally, with no sign-up and no upload.