This zoom lighting tool turns your screen into a soft light for video calls. Choose a ring around your picture, a border round the edge of the screen or a full screen of light, then set the color temperature from warm 2700 K to cool 7500 K and the brightness. Show your camera in the middle to see the effect on your face as you change it, and the readouts compare the brightness of your face with the background to catch the most common lighting mistake: a bright window behind you. It works with Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and streaming apps on any laptop, monitor, tablet or phone.
How to light yourself with your screen
- Turn your screen brightness all the way up. The light can never be brighter than the screen.
- Pick Ring, Border or Full. Full gives the most light, Border leaves room for your call window.
- Press a color preset that matches your room, or move Color temperature.
- Press Show my camera and look at the verdict under the light. Adjust Brightness and Light size until it turns green.
- Press Light up the whole screen on a second monitor, a tablet or a phone placed beside your webcam.
- On a single screen, put this page in a browser window next to your call window and use Border.
What the readouts mean
| Readout | What it shows | What you want |
|---|---|---|
| Light color | The color temperature of the light, in kelvin | Close to the light in your room |
| Light output | Brightness as a share of your screen's maximum | 100% in a dark room |
| Your face | Brightness of the middle of the camera picture | 40 to 70% |
| Behind you | Brightness of the edges of the picture | Below or close to your face |
These readings come from the camera picture, and the camera adjusts its own exposure all the time, so treat them as a comparison, not an exact measurement. If Behind you is much brighter than Your face, the camera will keep darkening you no matter how much screen light you add.
A Zoom lighting setup that works
- Face your main light. A window in front of you is the best light there is. If it is behind you, turn the desk around or close the blind.
- Put the light slightly to one side and above your eyes. About 30 to 45 degrees off center gives your face shape without harsh shadows.
- Fill the other side. The screen light, a second lamp or a white wall facing you softens the shadow side.
- Do not rely on the ceiling light. Light from straight above leaves dark circles under your eyes.
- Raise the camera to eye level. Light that reaches your face from slightly above looks most natural.
- Keep the background a little darker than your face, so viewers look at you.
Which color temperature to choose
| Your room | Setting |
|---|---|
| Evening, warm ceiling or table lamps | 3000 to 3500 K |
| Mixed daylight and indoor light | 4500 K |
| Beside a window in daylight | 5500 to 6000 K |
| Cool white office lights | 6000 to 6500 K |
Mixing a warm lamp on one side with cool daylight on the other gives your face two colors that no camera can balance. Turn off one of them, or set the screen light to match the stronger one.
Glare on glasses
Glasses reflect any light that sits straight in front of them. Raise the light above your eye line and move it to one side, lower the brightness a little, or tilt the bottom of your glasses slightly toward your face. With a screen light, Border at a smaller size often reflects less than Full.
Light settings in Zoom, Teams and Meet
In Zoom, open Settings, then Video & effects, and turn on Adjust for low light; Touch up my appearance softens skin. Teams has Adjust brightness and Soft focus in its video settings. These options brighten or smooth the picture in software, which adds grain in a dark room, so add real light first. Check the result in a Zoom camera test or a full Zoom test meeting, a Teams test call or a Google Meet test.
How much light can a screen give?
Less than it seems. A laptop screen showing full white gives roughly 50 lux on your face at arm's length, and a large monitor perhaps 100 to 150 lux. Office lighting standards ask for about 500 lux on a desk. So a screen light is a fill light: it makes a clear difference in a dim room or for evening calls, and very little next to a sunny window. For the most light from a screen, use Full, sit closer, and use the biggest screen you have, or open a bright white screen on a second monitor.
What this tool cannot do
A web page cannot change your screen's brightness or control a ring light, so set those yourself. If your call app is already using the camera, the preview may say the camera is busy; the light still works, and you can judge it in the call itself. Colors depend on your screen, so 3200 K looks a little different on every display. To check yourself in a lit mirror without the readouts, open the online mirror with light, and to test the camera itself, use the webcam test.
Zoom lighting questions
How do I get better lighting on Zoom?
Face a window or put a lamp behind your screen so the light falls on your face from the front, and keep bright windows out of the picture behind you. Raise the camera to eye level. In a dim room, add a screen light from this page, and in Zoom turn on Adjust for low light in the video settings.
What color temperature is best for Zoom lighting?
Match the light already in the room. Choose about 3200 K under warm bulbs in the evening, 4500 K in mixed light and 5600 K beside a window in daylight. When the light on your face and the light around you are the same color, your skin looks natural and the camera's white balance stays steady.
Is a screen light as good as a ring light?
No, but it helps. A full white laptop screen gives only a few dozen lux at arm's length, while a small ring light gives several hundred. A screen light is a good fill light in a dim room or for evening calls, and it costs nothing. For daily calls in a dark room, a lamp or ring light is worth buying.
Where should I put a light for Zoom calls?
Put the main light in front of you, a little to one side and slightly above your eyes, so it lights your face without flattening it. A ring light goes directly behind the webcam. Avoid lights behind you and ceiling light alone, which leaves shadows under your eyes.
Why is my face dark on Zoom when the room is bright?
The camera sets its exposure for the whole picture. A bright window or lamp behind you makes it darken everything, including your face. Turn so the window is in front of you, close the blind behind you, or add light in front. The Behind you readout on this page shows when this is happening.
Does Zoom have a lighting setting?
Yes. In Zoom, open Settings, then Video & effects, and turn on Adjust for low light. Auto lets Zoom brighten the picture when it needs to, and Manual gives you a slider. It brightens the picture in software, so it adds some grain; real light in front of you looks better.