Comparing the Logitech C922 webcam quality with an iPhone 11
For my work from home setup, I’ve been using an iPhone as my webcam camera. You can easily set this up along with OBS. But since it uses OBS’ virtual camera as the output, this setup does not always work for applications that does not accept the use of a virtual camera. Thus, I bought the Logitech C922 Pro webcam. In this post, I will be comparing the Logitech C922 webcam quality with my iPhone 11 setup.
Testing the Logitech C922 webcam quality
To test the Logitech C922 against my iPhone, I’ve set them as close as possible together on top of my monitor.
I also decided to use OBS and setup a scene with both cameras as the input into the scene side by side. This setup makes it a lot easier for me to compare the focus, exposure and colour balance of the Logitech C922 webcam and the iPhone 11 Pro.
The image quality comparison
As you can see from the image comparison below. The image quality difference is quite apparent. The Logitech C922 has the tendency to wash out as it over compensates to get the overall levels up. I suspect this is because of the rather dark coloured doors of the cupboard just behind me.
I recorded this video in the morning. In the video, you can also see a change in the lighting conditions when I turn on my a light source. The Logitech again struggled to immediately get the right exposure for my face.
The iPhone 11 Pro on the other hand performs exceptionally. This is perhaps an unfair comparison as it has the A13 Bionic processor to help it with the image processing. The screenshot describing the M1 CPU’s ISP would help explain what happens behind the scene on the iPhone. The ISP on the A13 processor is likely to have very similar capabilities as the M1.
So, should you still get the Logitech C922 Pro?
This really depends on your needs. As I mentioned earlier, there are some applications that does not support virtual cameras, such as Safari, FaceTime, Cisco’s WebEx, and more. Also, the iPhone setup requires you to have OBS or CamTwist as an intermediary software to get the video feed from the iPhone as a video source on your Mac.
As such, the Logitech C922 Pro is still a good webcam option. While in my case, the dark background unfortunately messes with its auto exposure and makes me look washed out. But with the right lighting setup and conditions, the Logitech C922 can still perform well.
However, if you are willing to spend some time with OBS and is using apps like Zoom that supports virtual cameras, skip the Logitech C922 Pro, or any other webcam for that matter. Your iPhone is pretty much the best webcam you can get.
Setup your iPhone as a webcam for FREE!
Yes, apart from the fact that you already own the “webcam” which is your iPhone, the software required to set this up is also open-source and free! You can read up the steps on the setup in this article here. While I’ve originally written it as a way to get virtual backgrounds on web conference apps like Google Meet, you can easily just skip the green screen parts. However, I am sure you will find that section useful too.
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