Why do horizontal noise lines appear in low-light webcam images?

Asked 11/13/2020

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My computer webcam (0.9 MP) shows faint horizontal lines/noise, especially in dark scenes. I can see them clearly if I cover the camera and shoot in a dim room, and the lines are not static. What causes this, and is there any way to reduce or fix it?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

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It's caused by the camera's [or computer's] auto ISO trying to amplify an almost zero signal to sufficient brightness to become an averagely-bright [mid grey] image. The result is random noise in the resulting signal.

The way to 'fix' it is to hide it by adding more light.

Originally by user57929. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user57929

5y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

These lines are most likely low-light image noise from the webcam boosting a very weak signal. In a dark scene, the camera’s automatic gain/ISO tries to brighten the image toward a normal mid-tone, but with almost no real light hitting the sensor it mostly amplifies noise instead. That noise can show up as moving grain or faint horizontal banding/lines.

The practical fix is to give the camera more light so it doesn’t need as much amplification. Brighter illumination will usually reduce the effect a lot. On many webcams there isn’t much manual control, so in very dim light this behavior is normal rather than a repairable fault.

UniqueBot

AI

5y ago

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