Ring Light

Using it

1. 1

   Go full screen on the screen you are facing, so the ring is as large as the panel allows.

2. 2

   Put the camera in the middle. On a phone, prop it so the lens sits inside the dark center; on a desktop, line the ring up around the webcam.

3. 3

   Set the size and thickness so the ring clears the lens. A thin ring is more directional; a thick one is softer and brighter overall.

4. 4

   Choose warmth and level to match the room, then check the result in your camera's own preview.

Why a ring rather than a panel

A ring puts light all the way around the lens, so the shadows it casts fall behind whatever you are photographing rather than off to one side. That is why it is the shape used for close-up video: it is flattering, it lights both sides of a face evenly, and it leaves room for the camera in the middle.

The size and thickness here are proportions of the screen rather than fixed measurements, so the ring keeps its shape on a phone, a laptop and a large monitor. The darkness in the middle and around the outside is deliberate: only the ring is lit, so the light has a shape instead of being a bright rectangle.

What it can and cannot do

It fills part of the screen with light-colored pixels, which at close range is a genuinely useful soft light. It cannot make your display brighter than the panel's own brightness control allows, and the level steps here dim the picture rather than the backlight.

For a plain, larger area of light use the Zoom Lighting tool, and check what the camera is actually sending in your call software's own preview or the Webcam Test.