Solved Repeated attempts to fix black screen issue with Logitech Brio webcam on Windows 11

Fiery · Nov 19, 2023

I used to have the Logitech C920 that one day refused to work anymore on Win 10, I bought the Brio to replace it, BUT I never managed to get the replacement camera working on Win 10 (I ended up getting a tablet solely for the webcam usage).

Within the past month I have put together a brand new tower with Win 11, and I brought out the Brio webcam again, hoping that this might give me my webcam back on my PC. (I will say I'm thankful I didn't get rid of the tablet). Once again I'm looking at a black screen instead of myself.

I am only going to talk about Win 11, sufficed to say I did all of the same things on Win 10.

I downloaded a fresh copy of LogituneInstall, ran it as admin, gave it all of the appropriate "Allows" rebooted, started the app only to see what was now an all too familiar black screen instead of myself. Uninstalled.
Downloaded the .exe again, tried a different USB port on my tower, installed the app, yet again met with the black screen. Uninstalled.
Deleted the drivers also after the initial install every time after.
Let Microsoft install the drivers, it made no deference, still nothing.
Contacted Logitech (I had told them what I had done prior to contacting them), they told me to uninstall and reinstall.
Put the webcam away, I was only getting frustrated.

Today, I brought out the webcam again, I redid all of the previous steps, except this time I took some screen dumps, because I knew I would end up here with the brains trust.

I have for today's viewing pleasure in no particular order

I know it said Windows had the best driver, I did check the updates just in case, nothing.

ESET

It's connected but...

I know it's not going to work

I know, I know

I hope I have this thread in the right channel.

Almost forgot I have Logitunes Logs if anyone needs them

Rollback_Jockey · Nov 19, 2023

What do you see if you use the Windows camera APP? Did you ever consider the camera may be faulty, can you test it on a different system to confirm?

glasskuter · Nov 19, 2023

If you can open the camera app and the screen is still black, I agree that it points to the device being faulty as you could never get it to work on another computer running Windows 10. Just because the computer recognizes the camera's presence doesn't mean the camera is working correctly.

Fiery · Nov 19, 2023

In all honesty it never occurred to me that the cam might be faulty because it behaved exactly like it's predecessor did. The C920 was working until it didn't anymore, I bought the Brio to replace it, I thought it was the OS, I mean what are the chances of a dead webcam being replaced by a brand new dead webcam?

No, I now live by myself I have my desktop a tablet and a phone, I no longer have a partners PC as a backup to test hardware out on.

Well dang, the warranty is now out, and I've never used the damn webcam lol :lmao:

Oh sh*t, now I will have to go and get another one.

Rollback_Jockey · Nov 19, 2023

Does the camera have a manual iris on it or some kind of protective sticker on the lens?

Fiery · Nov 19, 2023

No, it did have on it that clear plastic film that protects the lens.

glasskuter · Nov 19, 2023

What happens when you open the Windows camera app?

Fiery · Nov 20, 2023

glasskuter · Nov 20, 2023

Only thing I can suggest is in device manager right click on camera and select uninstall. Check the box to remove driver. Remove any Logitech related software.
Restart with camera unplugged. Plug in the camera and see if windows will install it automatically. It may use a generic driver, but that's ok. Check its presence in device manager. Open camera app to see if it made any difference. Other than that, I could only suspect the device is defective. You might plug it in to a totally different machine to see what happens..

Fiery · Nov 20, 2023

glasskuter said:
Only thing I can suggest is in device manager right click on camera and select uninstall. Check the box to remove driver. Remove any Logitech related software.
Restart with camera unplugged. Plug in the camera and see if windows will install it automatically. It may use a generic driver, but that's ok. Check its presence in device manager. Open camera app to see if it made any difference. Other than that, I could only suspect the device is defective. You might plug it in to a totally different machine to see what happens..

I have tried that already, I am going to go with general consensus of a faulty product, thank you everyone for your help.

spapakons · Nov 21, 2023

Could be a coincidence but I had an old laptop that the camera showed a black image in Windows 7. I thought it might be off, but after some research I managed to find some drivers that worked. Don't search with the model only. Use a utility such as Aida64 to determine the chipset of the camera (many different manufacturers use some specific chipsets rather making their own) and Google that. You can also right-click the camera in Device Manager, go to Properties and find the device IDs. Google them to find drivers.

johnlgalt · Nov 21, 2023

I have the BRIO. I have the same driver you're using. I have no issues using my BRIO. I've been using it for well over 2 years now, and it just works. I use it with Windows Hello to log in to my PC multiple times a day, every day, I use it with video conferencing software (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, etc.) with no issues, and even the Windows Camera app works with it. I even have it set as a passkey for numerous Google accounts (via Windows Hello).

This may sound like a stupid request, but it comes with a lens blocker for folks who do not want to have their camera used without their permission. Did you put that on the camera? If so, have you flipped up the tab to allow the camera to see you?

Also, are you connecting the USB cable to a port on the new PC in the back, or the front? Are you using a USB hub? Have you simply tried replacing it with another USB Type-C cable?

FWIW - The LogiTune software is not necessary, though it does help with checking for updated firmware, and setting default settings for the camera to use when broadcasting. I do not let LogiTune run automatically as most videoconferencing software have their own fine tuning capabilities, but if I'm gonna use Teams, I'll run LogitTune first so it uses the defaults from LogiTune (in terms of camera angle, brightness, and view angle) as Teams rather sucks doing all that.

Get back with the answers and we can go forward - it may be a bad camera, but I suspect more it is either a bad cable or else something little like that.

spapakons · Nov 22, 2023

I would check the privacy switch. I had have some customers complaining their laptop camera wasn't working only to find out it was disabled or the privacy switch was in off position.

Fiery · Nov 22, 2023

spapakons said:
Could be a coincidence but I had an old laptop that the camera showed a black image in Windows 7. I thought it might be off, but after some research I managed to find some drivers that worked. Don't search with the model only. Use a utility such as Aida64 to determine the chipset of the camera (many different manufacturers use some specific chipsets rather making their own) and Google that. You can also right-click the camera in Device Manager, go to Properties and find the device IDs. Google them to find drivers.

Sorry boys and girls, I threw it in the bin on Monday and have ordered a new one.

johnlgalt said:
This may sound like a stupid request, but it comes with a lens blocker for folks who do not want to have their camera used without their permission. Did you put that on the camera? If so, have you flipped up the tab to allow the camera to see you?

spapakons said:
I would check the privacy switch. I had have some customers complaining their laptop camera wasn't working only to find out it was disabled or the privacy switch was in off position.

The model I had didn't have a switch per say, it had a removable flap type thing that just sat on the camera

johnlgalt said:
FWIW - The LogiTune software is not necessary, though it does help with checking for updated firmware, and setting default settings for the camera to use when broadcasting. I do not let LogiTune run automatically as most videoconferencing software have their own fine tuning capabilities, but if I'm gonna use Teams, I'll run LogitTune first so it uses the defaults from LogiTune (in terms of camera angle, brightness, and view angle) as Teams rather sucks doing all that.

I never got to that stage with this webcam (actually using it)

Fiery said:
Let Microsoft install the drivers, it made no deference, still nothing.

Oh, I made a spelling error

Edwin · Nov 22, 2023

A Permission thing, perhaps?

johnlgalt · Nov 22, 2023

Fiery said:
Sorry boys and girls, I threw it in the bin on Monday and have ordered a new one.

You threw it away?

Because I would be willing to buy it lol.

Oh, snap - is it possible you somehow received an NTSC version instead of PAL? Oh, wait, no, it has a setting in LogiTune that allows you to pick that. NM.

Fiery · Nov 23, 2023

johnlgalt said:
Because I would be willing to buy it lol.

lol sorry my friend, it's gone

Dru2 · Nov 23, 2023

FYI, randomly my BRIO failed to initialize when logging into Windows (facial recognition). The fix was to unplug and plug back into the USB port. However, recently there was a firmware update, and the issue seems to have thus far disappeared. Whatever was going on with mine stated about 8 months ago. But as I said, now is all good, and especially after this last firmware update. There was also an app (LogiTune) update around the same time... 25 Oct 2023.

Just FYI.