News
News Categories

Windows 10 Anniversary Update causes webcams to freeze, Microsoft apologizes

By Koh Wanzi - on 23 Aug 2016, 2:49pm

Windows 10 Anniversary Update causes webcams to freeze, Microsoft apologizes

 

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is the biggest update to come to Microsoft’s operating system since it launched last year. And while the update brings several welcome improvements, it isn’t without hiccups, and it appears to have caused certain users’ webcams to freeze.

The problem reportedly stems from changes Microsoft made to how apps access webcam video streams, which Microsoft now says it failed to communicate clearly enough. The Anniversary Update lets multiple apps access webcam streams at the same time, but this was not possible before without negatively impacting streaming performance.

Here’s a statement from a certain Mike M. from the Windows Camera Team:

We worked with partners to make sure their applications continued to function throughout this change, but we have done a poor job communicating this change out to you guys. We dropped the ball on that front, so I’d like to offer my apologies to you all. We’re working on getting better documentation out, to help answer any questions you may have.

According to Microsoft, the change was needed in order for certain products and features to work together properly. For instance, without it, Windows Hello, Microsoft HoloLens, and another application like Skype wouldn’t be able to be used together reliably.

The Anniversary Update essentially allows video streams to go uncompressed into each app, instead of having each app decode the same stream. This allows apps to access the stream data without affecting the streaming performance of other apps.

The reason certain webcams stopped working is because not all apps support this change. More specifically, apps that only support encoded H.264 and MJPEG formats could cause webcams to freeze. In a nutshell, when multiple applications that use these formats attempt to access the same video stream at the same time, problems arise, including things like an unnecessary performance hit and different apps interfering with each other. In order to enable multiple apps to access the video data without any negative impact, Microsoft switched things up in the Anniversary Update, which led to the freezing issues.

Microsoft says it is currently working on a fix for apps that use only encoded MJPEG and H.264 formats soon, but was vague on the details. Furthermore, it’s still unclear if Microsoft will allow the apps to work as normal or offer another workaround.

Source: Microsoft via Tom’s Hardware

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.