Webcam mirror, photo and recorder
Published
Use your webcam as a mirror before a video call, check the light with a brightness readout, take a photo or record a short clip, and download the result. The picture stays in your browser and is never uploaded.
What you can do instead
Use a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari over HTTPS, and open this page in your regular browser if it is inside a messenger or social app.
The picture is shown on your screen only. Photos and videos are made inside this page and kept in memory; they are not uploaded, not saved on a server and not stored in the browser.
How to use it
- Press Start camera and allow access. If you have more than one camera, choose the one you want first; the picture restarts when you start again.
- Pick a resolution. The browser treats it as a wish, not an order, so the line under the camera list shows the size you really got.
- Leave Mirror mode on to see yourself as in a mirror, which feels natural when you adjust your position. The other person sees you the normal way round, and a photo taken in mirror mode is saved flipped to match what you saw.
- Look at the brightness readout and the histogram next to the preview (see below) and adjust the light.
- Press Take photo for a still picture in PNG or JPEG, or Record video for a short clip, with or without your microphone. Everything appears in the list with a download link.
Checklist before a video call
- Light: put the main light in front of you, behind the screen, rather than behind your back. A window behind you turns you into a silhouette.
- Height: place the camera at eye level or slightly above. Raise a laptop on a stack of books if it looks up your nose.
- Distance and framing: show your head and shoulders and leave a little space above your head. Sit one arm's length from the camera.
- Background: remove clutter or private items that can be seen. Check what appears at the edges of the picture.
- Eye line: look at the camera lens when you want to seem to look at the other person, not at their face on the screen.
- Sound: if you tick the microphone option, say a few words, record a short video and listen to it with headphones to check volume and echo.
- Battery and cable: long calls drain a laptop, and a loose USB cable makes the camera drop out.
The brightness readout and histogram
The page looks at a tiny copy of the current picture twice a second and counts how many pixels are dark, medium and bright. The bars of the histogram show those counts from black on the left to white on the right. A good picture has bars across the middle. A heap on the far left means the picture is too dark; a heap on the far right means it is overexposed and detail will be lost. The percentage is the average brightness, and the words next to it are a rough hint using general limits, not a measurement of quality. The small copy is discarded immediately. Many cameras adjust exposure by themselves, so give them a few seconds after you change the light.
Photos and videos
A photo is the current frame drawn onto a canvas and encoded as PNG, which is lossless and larger, or JPEG, which is smaller and slightly lossy. A video is recorded by the browser in the first format it supports from a fixed list, usually WebM, or MP4 on Safari, and the format is shown. The file is exactly what the browser produced; nothing is converted. Delete a photo or video from the list when you no longer need it.
Problems and fixes
Black picture or no camera
Check the lens cover and the laptop's camera switch. Close other programs that may hold the camera, such as meeting software or another browser tab. Look at the operating system's camera privacy setting for your browser.
Grainy or choppy picture
Dim light makes cameras raise their sensitivity and lower their frame rate. Add light before you change any setting. A lower resolution can also help on an older computer.
Wrong camera
Pick the right one in the list. A virtual camera from other software appears only while that software is running.
Browser support
Camera access is available in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on computers and phones, according to MDN. Video recording needs MediaRecorder, which these browsers also provide in current versions; where it is missing the tool still works as a mirror and photo booth and says so. The resolution choices are requests, and phones may deliver fewer pixels. In-app browsers inside messenger apps often block the camera, in which case the page suggests opening your regular browser. This is based on documentation, not on tests on every device.
Privacy: what happens to your picture
The camera picture is shown in a video element and a tiny copy is analysed in this page for the histogram. Photos are drawn on a canvas and videos are collected by the browser's recorder, all in memory. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is saved in the browser and the tool has no analytics. Stopping the camera or leaving the page releases the device and the camera light goes off.
Frequently asked questions
Is my camera picture uploaded?
No. The picture stays in your browser. Photos and videos are created locally and offered as downloads.
Why does mirror mode flip the text on my shirt?
Because a mirror does that. The other person on a call sees you unflipped. Turn the option off to see what they see.
What do the brightness words mean?
They are a rough hint based on the average brightness of the picture: below about a quarter is rather dark, above about three quarters is rather bright. Use your own eyes as the final judge.
Can I send the photo to someone from here?
Download it, then add it to a conversation in ChatLite or any other messenger. The page itself never sends it.
References
Official documentation used to check this article. Pages are maintained by their owners and may change.
Reviewed against ChatLite's current behavior on .