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Logitech's Webcam Software is a Mess (theverge.com) 56

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Logitech makes some of the most popular webcams in the world, but using them on some of the most popular computers, like the M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro, is a less than stellar experience. From a report: Plugging one into any M1 or M2 Mac for a video call isn't an issue, but if you want to tweak in-depth settings or use some of these webcams' highlight features, doing that right now ranges from clumsy to impossible. That's because its most capable webcam software, Logitech Capture, isn't available on computers with Apple silicon. Logitech switched up its software plan for people who use newer Mac laptops and desktops without making much effort to tell anyone. Instead of offering Logitech Capture, its de facto software focused squarely on webcam settings and content creation features, it has two distinct and lesser Mac applications to choose from: Logi Tune and Logitech G Hub.

Tune is a confusing app that lets you toggle settings for Logitech gadgets, with calendar integration added in, for some reason. G Hub was built for gamers who want to tweak RGB lighting and sensitivity settings for gaming-focused products and, now, webcams. Each app's interface looks different and lets you switch different settings, so you've got a choice with which app you use -- too much choice, if you ask me, given how limited the functionality is within each one. But neither offers as many options as Logitech Capture. You can access basic settings, like the ability to zoom in for a tighter crop or make a host of adjustments to the picture settings (or set them to auto settings), but you can't adjust the frame rate or the resolution. What that means is people who own an M1 or M2 Mac cannot utilize its face-tracking feature or switch between horizontal or vertical orientations on a nice, relatively high-end webcam like the $160 Logi StreamCam.
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Logitech's Webcam Software is a Mess

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  • If you buy an apple with a proprietary processor and then complain that it has poor compatability, you are an idiot. Also logitech's software is generally pretty annoying.

    • proprietary processor

      lolwut? As opposed to the open source x64 processors? RISC-V is pretty open along with POWER9 if you wanna pony up the cash.

    • I'm confused why you would want a Logitech camera on a laptop that already has a camera built in... am I missing something here?

      • I once validated my ID with a bank via webcam. My high end laptop webcam resolution was grainy enough that the bank couldnâ(TM)t read the id at the same time my face was on screen. My logitech webcam with 1080 p produced a crystal clear image accepted by the bank. The image quality difference is huge.

        • Sure, if you have a crappy built-in laptop webcam I can understand needing a third-party camera. But both Mac laptop models discussed in this article have really nice built-in 1080p cameras, so my question still stands.

  • Terrible headline (Score:4, Informative)

    by Mononymous ( 6156676 ) on Friday September 09, 2022 @11:35AM (#62867075)

    Logitech Hasn't Ported Its Fancy Webcam Software to Applie Silicon Yet

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by splutty ( 43475 )

      To be fair, though, they're also not wrong. But a better title would've been that all Logitech software is varying levels of garbage.

      (Still not as bad as Corsair, though)

    • Seriously.

      I like my Logitech webcam.

      $ cat `which zoom-webcam`
      uvcdynctrl -s "Zoom, Absolute" 133

      works good.

    • Well as a user of Logitech software on PC, I would assert that Apple users are not missing much. For example the software mentioned, Logitech Capture, is not available for all currently selling Logitech webcams. The software that is available is very basic. These are the options I have on my PC:

      • Home: Zoom and 4 direction control (up, down, left, right), Widescreen or Standard, NTSC 60Hz or PAL 50Hz
      • Advanced (all sliders): Brightness, Color Intensity, Contrast, Auto white balance, Autofocus

    • Logitech Hasn't Ported Its Fancy Webcam Software to Applie Silicon Yet

      LogiTech has already said they're not going to provide any updates for LogiCapture.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I don't understand why you need their software at all? I have a webcam from some brand I don't remember, it has decent image quality and is a generic USB video device so no driver needed either on Windows.

      I guess the Logitech software could do some processing to make it work better, but all webcams are basically shit compared to phones for some reason. I don't see any evidence that Logitech's ones are better.

    • It isn't fancy, it's bad.

      Try typing in an ASCII ALT-code when Logi Capture is running. You can't, because it hijacks ALT+1 through ALT+6 and you can't turn that off:
      https://www.reddit.com/r/logit... [reddit.com]

  • Everyone I know uses either some web based stuff, something open source or whatever's built into the OS. Of course the software is a mess, it's an after thought. It's just there in case a confused grandma needs it because they can't figure out that there's other, better options.
    • I dont know what any of those software do. I just plug my logitech camera into the M1 Mac and Teams/Zoom use it fine.

      • I just plug my logitech camera into the M1 Mac and Teams/Zoom use it fine.

        Not RTFA is normal for /. but you didn't even bother to read the blurb on the page:

        "... for a video call isn't an issue, but if you want to tweak in-depth settings or use some of these webcams' highlight features, doing that right now ranges from clumsy to impossible."

        If it's just a camera for Zoom you won't use the features. If you've got a camera that can be turned and pointed through software, want to use real zoom functionality (optical zoom, not just digital zoom), want to adjust camera values like c

  • Film at 11.

    Seriously - this is a given with Apple having such a low overall percentage of the hardware market. Also, Apple would say that their front-facing camera should be more than good enough and that you don't need the Logitech one.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      Seriously - this is a given with Apple having such a low overall percentage of the hardware market.

      8.5% [seekingalpha.com] is not a particularly low percentage.

    • Apple doesn't do themselves any favors with how they treat developers. From now requiring code signing (that they can revoke for any reason), or dropping open standards to push for apple only ones (Metal), to dropping backwards compatibility, they've made the dev ecosystem unpleasant to anyone who isn't an apple zealot.
  • ... for the original Orbit/Sphere drivers.

    But, unbelievably, they didn't get the source, so couldn't update it for a new version of Windows, so all the users of their older cameras were farked !

    Incredible incompetence from a large organisation.

  • It really is annoying (Score:4)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday September 09, 2022 @12:12PM (#62867223)

    I've got a couple different Logitech cameras - one at home and one at work. The problem has several different components that combine to make this really annoying.

    1) Logitech requires you to use their software to control *anything* about the camera
    2) When you don't engage Logitech's software, the default setting is ultra-zoomed-in... so on a Zoom call or whatnot you're a giant frame-filling head
    3) They have two different pieces of software - LogiTune and LogiCapture (IIRC).
    4) LogiTune works on M1/M2 Macs, but only supports a small number of their newest cameras
    5) LogiCapture does not work correctly on M1/M2 Macs, but it's the only software they offer that supports all their other cameras - AND they've declared that it's not going to be updated
    6) Logitech doesn't tell you any of this out front, you have to dig for the info (which of course happens well after you've bought their camera)

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      A lot of the cameras also work with G Hub, but you need to go to their gaming site for it, it's not in the normal downloads section. It's available for PC and Mac. I use with with my Brio on PC every day for work. That is what they plan to replace Capture with.

      • I'll have to check that out, thanks. I've got two different cameras but only one works with LogiTune. If I can at least zoom with the other one it'd be an improvement.

    • How hard is it to sniff the protocol from the working software and rewrite it in python?

    • I would have to disagree with 5) as LogiCapture does not work on all their webcams like C270, C310, C505, etc. These might be older webcams, but they are still being sold by Logitech.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      so on a Zoom call or whatnot you're a giant frame-filling head

      That explains so much of my life over the past 3 years.

      • My head is already plenty large, I don't need my camera to augment it!

        Sometimes I want to shout "I am Oz, the great and powerful!"

    • Why not just get some Taiwan or weirdly-branded PRC USB webcam? Are Logitech products really that good? On GNU/Linux, USB webcams are just plug-and-play, with at most some quick hardware button mashing for some multi-function cameras like the cheap action cameras produced by SJCAM (not a GoPro competitor).

  • There's an easy solution (Score:5, Funny)

    by petes_PoV ( 912422 ) on Friday September 09, 2022 @12:18PM (#62867251)

    Logitech Capture, isn't available on computers with Apple silicon

    To misquote Tim Cook's advice from yesterday: just buy yourself a PC.

  • Every Logitech program I have used in recent years has been poop.

    Once upon a time they managed to restrict themselves to doing what was needed. Those days are over. Now their apps are bloaty and full of BS.

    Even their hardware is sort of a mixed bag. I replaced my T-BB18 with a M570. The prior kept killing microswitches, maybe due to inadequate design which let one press on them too hard? This one has a bad design too... when you hold down the right button, you cannot roll the scroll wheel. It presses on it!

  • I have a 930e.
    Comes with NO software.

    So you want to twiddle settings?
    Hope the native webcam controls are working!

  • I have absolutely no problems with my Logitech C920 Pro HD.

    I don't need dedicated drivers, it just works. I don't need specific software, I can use the tools from my distro of choice, and it just works as it should.

  • I don't even know who to blame, but so much software is designed *so* badly. Logitech is just typical.

    Most recently, the Somfy Tahoma box to control our shutters: an update is available, so it _stops_ _working_. Because we have Openhab attached to it, OpenHab automatically retries - and fails - and our account gets blocked for a day.

    WTF should it stop working, unless the update is utterly critical? WTF do they even block API calls that have nothing to do with to box directly? And anyway, WTF do API calls

  • This news brought to you from 1997. Logitech camera software has always had problems.

  • This has been Logitech's hallmark for decades. The hardware is great, but they outsource the software to some third party that produces something you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude to slap together the last 20 minutes of their last day. "It works" is usually the nicest thing you can say about it.

    • I have had similar experiences with other manufacturers as well. I bought myself a decent (as in approx US$500) scanner, after having spent about an hour working out whether or not it works with Linux. Since I only use Linux on my work computers, this is quite important to me. And the scanner I was investigating was claimed to work under Linux, so I bought it.

      Once I got the thing running, I was grossly disappointed by the scanner software: it looks and behaves as if it had been designed and written by a
    • I had been confused about some of their software changes from the G set to the Options for the office oriented hardware but the lack of an internal software team would certainly explain it...

  • Logi G Hub doesn't even recognize my Logitech webcam, and neither does Tune...

  • Is guvcview and/or uvcdynctrl available?

    On linux I can adjust the webcam settings with either of those tools and have never found any reason to want logitech's software on any of my machines.

    uvcdynctrl is a command line tool, and the other tool is graphical both

  • Old smartphones beat Logitech webcams (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SpzToid ( 869795 ) on Friday September 09, 2022 @01:57PM (#62867627)

    Until recently my webcam setup was abysmal, then I realized as an engineer I could make something special out of it. Here's a few notes I learned from the process, and I had no idea what I was getting into when I got started.

    First, I am using a black pull-down El Gato green screen which is not only convenient but also 'works' in my A-frame attic in that it blends in so well with the black beams when not in-use. It's hanging using only cheap black nylon ropes I learned how to tie on Youtube and some carabiners. For the main camera, what worked best with the green screen is my best smartphone currently, a Pixel 3a connected directly to a Windows 11 via a long USB-C (to USB-A) cable.

    For software, Open Broadcast Studio is fantastic! [obsproject.com], and I bought this plug-in [dev47apps.com] in order to use my Pixel 3a as my primary webcam.

    Then I can project any background I want behind me, plus I have privacy in relation to my house afforded by the pull-down screen. What I chose to do was to photograph and enhance an actual photo of my actual wall and window (with an alpha-channel mask where the window glass is) and that's one background layer I'm using in OBS.

    Because where I live actually has a pleasant and interesting view, especially with a well-aimed outdoor webcam, I bought a Wyze webcam V3 for $35 [amazon.com] and the quality even at night is stunning, (where I live is well-lit at night) and flashed the firmware so I can stream RTSP within my home LAN [wyze.com]. My only complaint is spiders like to build webs over the lens and look like giant monsters.

    So the outdoor webcam projects a nice realistic scene out my windows in the view behind me.

    For formal job interviews I do not sit in my comfortable computer chair, but instead use a wooden kitchen chair to force myself to sit up straight and well-positioned for the camera.

    I also bought some LED lights I bounce off the wall for diffusion. To hold everything I discovered these amazing tools:

    https://www.amazon.com/SmallRig-Adjusta ... 170&sr=8-5 [amazon.com]

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ5XH4O/ref=emc_b_5_t [amazon.com]

    I actually had to buy a power drill too and after pricing those I found IKEA's $40 cordless a bargain compared to Everything else.

    I also had to climb outside onto the roof to affix the outdoor webcam which is incredibly dangerous, but after watching construction workers across the street and how they worked on giant cranes I realized to buy a safety harness and ropes, and studied YouTube for what to buy and how to tie safe knots.

    The result is satisfying.

    In order to actually meet with people using Zoom, MS Teams, Verizon Bluejeans (no kidding, I had to do that once), or whatever, switch on the OBS Virtual Camera to output your cool TV studio. THAT is the 'hardware' webcam you'll select in configuration settings for use in Zoom, Teams or whatever.

    p.s. My ~$100 (old) 1080p webcam was terrible for the greenscreen video + OBS, but I use it for audio. The better the smartphone, the better the results, at least in my testing.

    Aside from all of that, I also own an insta360 one x2 has an incredibly useful feature for home webcam use which I never see discussed. That's a totally different webcam than this article is about, and it is marketed more like a sports action cam, (which I love using it for). For informal video chats I set it up on a

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SpzToid ( 869795 )
      Smartrig makes a *ton* of smartphone mounts that fit like together LEGO. I should have included this link above [amazon.com]. Old smartphones blow Logitech webcams away.
  • Spent better part of a day figuring out their garbage software. Thought crossed my mind why was this so unintuitive
  • Quote: " some of the most popular computers, like the M2 MacBook Air or M1 Pro MacBook Pro" Ummm maybe the most popular Mac's, but not some of the most popular computers. Your reality isn't actually reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] - With HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Asus taking up 76.3% of the market share, and 14.8% being "others" which would include custom builds with various motherboard manufacturers, Google Chrome, etc. This puts Apple at 9% of the market share, which makes zero of their c

    • If you have have either of those named computers, you probably don't need a logitech webcam, and don't need to mess with the software On the other hand, if you have a mac mini or mac studio, you probably do need some sort of webcam, be it a iphone or a more primitive dedicated device.

      Logitech Options, which I use for my brio, likes to consume 750 MB when it's doing nothing.

  • The software for my peeling, intermittent malfunctioning Corsair mouse--is over 1/2 a Gigabyte! My Logitech mechanical keyboard comes on full-bright!

  • Drivers and associated software are getting to be *terrible*

    If I want to monitor fans using the Asus supplied software for my motherboard, I have to download "Armory Crate" which includes a dozen or so drivers and services for RGB light strips and RAM that I don't want or use. If you leave it to it's own devices, it tries downloading Bullguard, WinRAR, Ramdisk software, caching software, overclocking software...

    On top of that, the fan controller page takes six seconds to load on a 12-core Ryzen R9. It also

  • Never, ever use the software that comes with it.

    This has stood me in good stead for 20 years.

  • ...that Logitech software has always been, at least for as long as I can remember, wanting for quality and timely updates. It's one reason I quit buying its products. I have a (admittedly older, but still "supported" by Logitech) wireless mouse, but I have to use third-party software to be able to use its full functionality. I have been left high and dry by Logitech's update feet of clay for long enough to know that it's an unreliable company.

    The last keyboard I bought from Logitech shipped with a broken ke

  • the optical wheel mouse. i have an old M100 that i taken apart and cleaned dozens of times and it still works good, i will use it until it breaks and can't be repaired
  • It's a crappy logitech webcam, why would you want to "tune" it and clutter your system with badly written software? It's one of the points of having a mac that you don't install extra drivers, you just use hardware that works with their standards. Sure, that crapware is usually easy to remove, but really, if you want to clutter your PC with useless software, you buy a windows machine, download the software the manufacturer of your printer wants you to install and maybe even install a virus scanner if that w

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