Webcam Issue

[ProSouth]

I have several webcams running through my desktop. All of them are functional but one specific one seems fo get intermittent green artifacting (I guess is the best word to describe it). The screen pixelates briefly across the lower third usually accompanied by or preceeded by a slight green flash, only in the bottom area. I've tried swapping ports and tested the device on an additional machine and it seems to be working fine. It is not directly an OBS issue as it's happening independently outside of OBS as well with other programs.

Any ideas on troubleshooting this or possibly more information needed? The webcams are all the same make and model so I doubt it's a driver issue or I imagine I would be having the same issue or similar across all three.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

One possibility, though don't put too much into this, is a USB Root Hub overload...
You could be having bandwidth / timing contention, and that one camera is more susceptible to tripping up vs the other cameras?

Testing the camera alone on another device is a good first step, but does NOT replicate your setup.
Do not ignore possible interaction with having 3 webcam, driver, and motherboard USB Root Hub shipset and associated firmware, not to mention OS and other USB devices connected to same PC... a specific interaction between some or all of that....

Have you tried having that problematic camera plugged in first (and only) when PC booted up, and in a different USB port, and after OS up, plug in other cameras, then test?
if different start up order/plug in still results in exact same physical webcam having an issue, then you know it is specific to that hardware. Have you checked device firmware? Issue could be more of a compatibility one (ie, spec's allow a bit of variability, and that one camera having a different enough 'output'/sensitivity to cause the issue you described.

 

[ProSouth]

So resolution to this. I ran two more usb ports off my motherboard using the header and connected one of the cameras there. They all cleaned up and work perfectly now.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

So, were all 3 webcams previously connected to a single USB hub? and other devices on same hub, all sharing 1 USB connection to PC?

 

[ProSouth]

No. Different ports but I assume with the amount of devices I had connected ate up the bandwidth.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Some PCs have a single USB Root Hub, others have multiple... so, yes, exactly which ports plugged into can make a difference

 

[ProSouth]

So I need to identify how many root hubs I have and make sure each camera is on a different one correct?

 

[Shao60]

It sounds like the issue might be specific to the USB port or the connection on your desktop. Try using a different USB cable or port for the problematic webcam to see if that resolves the artifacting. Additionally, check for any software conflicts or updates that could be affecting the webcam's performance. If the problem persists, it might be worth contacting the manufacturer for further assistance or considering hardware diagnostics for your desktop's USB ports.
Regards: Shao60 (testwebcam)

 

[Baloo]

THANKS that also helped me, i had them both on the same hub