To light a conference room for video, put soft, even light on people's faces from the front (the camera side), aim for roughly 300-500 lux at face height across the table, avoid bright windows or walls behind participants, and use one color temperature (around 3500-4000K) throughout the room. Diffused fixtures and indirect light beat bare downlights, which cast shadows under eyes and noses.
What good video lighting looks like
| Goal | Why |
|---|---|
| Light faces from the front | Cameras need light on faces, not on the tops of heads |
| Even coverage | Seats at the far end shouldn't be darker than near seats |
| Soft, diffused light | Fewer harsh shadows and hot spots |
| Controlled windows | Bright windows behind people turn them into silhouettes |
| One color temperature | Mixed warm and cool light makes skin look off |
| No flicker | Some LED drivers flicker on camera; use flicker-free drivers |
Steps
- Look at the room through the camera. Join a test call and see where faces are dark, shadowed or washed out.
- Measure the light. A light meter app gives a rough idea. Target about 300-500 lux on faces, and keep the difference between the brightest and darkest seat small.
- Deal with windows first. Put the camera on the window wall, so windows are behind the camera, or add blinds or solar shades. A camera with good wide dynamic range helps, but won't fix a bright window behind the table.
- Add front light. Mount wall-wash fixtures or linear fixtures on the camera wall or just in front of the table, aimed at faces. Avoid fixtures directly over heads.
- Fill in the table. Use diffused overhead fixtures (troffers, pendants with diffusers, or indirect fixtures) for even light across the table.
- Light the back wall gently. A dim back wall makes the room look like a cave; a very bright one darkens faces. Aim for a wall a bit darker than faces.
- Match color temperature. Replace mixed bulbs so every fixture is the same Kelvin rating, with high CRI (90+ is a good target).
- Check for flicker. Look at the camera image at different dim levels; flicker shows as rolling bands.
- Set a "video" scene. If you have dimming controls, save a scene with front light up and screen-wall light down so the display isn't washed out.
- Retest on camera and adjust the camera's exposure settings only after the lighting is right.
Common mistakes
- Downlights only. They create dark eye sockets and bright foreheads.
- A window behind the table. The most common cause of silhouettes.
- Light hitting the display. Glare washes out the screen for people in the room.
- Mixed warm and daylight bulbs. Skin tones look different in each half of the room.
- Too dim. Cameras add noise and blur in low light. See low-light camera performance.
- Bright white wall behind seats. It fools the camera's exposure.
Gear and design help
Large-sensor cameras handle tricky lighting better. Examples in our catalog include the Logitech Rally Bar 2 and Logitech Rally AI Camera, both with 1-inch-type sensors, and the Neat Bar Generation 2 with a 50 MP camera. Better lighting still improves any camera.
For fixtures and room design, see conference room lighting design, conference room lighting levels, conference room light fixtures and video conference lighting. For personal desks, see best video conference lights.
Rooms looking dark on calls? Send us a photo from the camera's view and we'll suggest lighting and camera fixes.
Related guides
- Low Light Camera Performance in Conference Rooms Explained
- Video conference lighting: how to light yourself on calls
- How to Connect Two Displays to a Video Bar
- Monitor Light Bars and Desk Lights for Video Calls
- What Is Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) in Conference Cameras?
- What Is AI Noise Removal in Video Calls?
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