Logitech C930e slows down camera apps when plugged in

Question

I recently got a new laptop (Surface Studio Laptop) and my Logitech C930e webcam won't work properly on it.
When it's plugged in, it slows down all apps that use video.

I've tried it in the Windows Camera app, Skype, MS Teams and the Logitech LogiTune app, and in all cases it takes well over 20 seconds for video image to appear, and while they wait, the apps are almost non-responsive.
And not just for the Logitech cam, but also when switching to the built-in webcam.

The moment I unplug the Logitech cam, all these apps respond blazingly fast again, and display the video image from the built-in camera instantly.
When I plug the Logitech cam in again, it immediately slows down apps that use video again..

There is one exception: I've also installed the old Logitech Camera Settings app, and that one opens and shows video immediately.

It sounds like a driver problem, but I can't find it.
It's a fresh installation (reset Windows after receiving the laptop).
I've installed all Windows updates (Windows 10), downloaded the latest version of the Logitech LogiTune app, removed and reinstalled the Logitech cam from Device Management.
I've tested it with various connectors/ USB-C adapters and MS Surface Dock 2.

It's not a problem with the webcam itself, because it works flawlessly on my PC, which also runs Windows 10.

Does anyone have other ideas?

Cheers, CJ

Answer 1

At the risk of necroing an old thread, I may have a solution to this for you.

Short version: Open up Device Manager, scroll down to "Sound, video and game controllers", disable the "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio", reboot, voilà.

Long version: I ran across your question after experiencing the exact same symptoms: new work laptop (Dell XPS model 9310) connected to a KVM with a Logitech C930E that runs fine on the other computer, a desktop. Camera super slow when initializing via Teams or the Camera app. More annoying, I found Windows Settings would seize when selecting "System/Sounds" or right-clicking the speaker in the system tray and clicking "Open sound settings".

I gradually narrowed down the problem to the C930E by connecting it directly to the laptop with nothing else and getting the same slow start and broken Sound settings. Because it was related to sound, I figured I'd try to isolate the problem by disabling other sound devices. A bunch of trial and error yielded "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio" as the culprit.

The driver for that (as of this comment) is version 10.29.0.6040 dated July-07-2021. I thought Intel might have a newer one than Windows Update, so I set up their Driver & Support Assistant, but it's the same driver, so I suspect that 6040 is indeed the newest driver and it just does not like the C930E for some reason.

I don't know what functionality that device adds, but my system seems to run fine without it. And now I can adjust sound settings and join Teams meetings without that awkward 10-20 second pause.

Answer 2

I also had the same issue with a C930e. The benefit that I had was that I had 2 of them and the computer was a laptop that was brought back and forth between home and work offices. Brought the camera from the home office to the office and replaced the "slow" one and it worked perfectly again. The best way I can describe the situation is that the camera seemingly wore out. I know that sounds silly, but it was so slow to respond to commands from the OS/Apps in getting either the microphone or the camera enabled and working at the start of calls.

Answer 3

I had the same issue with Logitech C930e, with a the system hanging on zoom calls. After some investigation i also narrowed it down to the audio/mic, and after googling for quite some time the solution of disabling the "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio" also solved it. Some users also got it fixed by updating their audio driver where the intel driver is loaded so that can also be an approach.