Lighting for Video Conferencing: Best Setup for iMac Calls

Clear video calls depend on more than camera quality. Whether you use Zoom, FaceTime®, Teams, or Google Meet, the lighting around your workspace affects how clearly the camera captures your face, including brightness, shadows, skin tone, and background contrast.

For most setups, good video conferencing lighting starts with soft, balanced light that makes your face visible without overexposure or glare. But for iMac users, there is another factor to consider: the lighting needs to work with the built-in camera, limited desk space, and clean all-in-one setup.

This guide covers the fundamentals of lighting for video conferencing, how to solve common issues such as backlighting and glasses glare, and how to choose a lighting setup that fits naturally into your iMac workspace.

Good video conferencing lighting should help the camera capture your face clearly without making the image look too dark, washed out, or uneven. The goal is not maximum brightness, but balanced light that works with your face, camera, and surrounding environment.

• Soft, Diffused Front Lighting 
  Place the main light in front of you rather than behind you. A soft, diffused light helps reduce harsh shadows and keeps your facial features clearly visible without making your face look overly bright.

• Balanced Brightness 
  Your face should be bright enough for the camera to capture clearly, but not so bright that details appear overexposed. Adjust the lighting until your face and background look reasonably balanced on screen. 

• The Right Colour Temperature 
  
  A neutral white light around 4000K to 5000K usually works well for video calls, helping your skin tone look natural rather than too warm or too cool. Colour accuracy also matters: a light with good colour rendering helps skin tones and surrounding objects appear more natural on camera.

• Camera-Friendly Placement 
  Position the light to improve visibility without shining directly into the camera lens, reflecting off your screen or creating glare on glasses. The ideal position will depend on whether the light is intended to illuminate your face or provide wider workspace lighting.

These principles apply to most video conferencing setups. However, the right lighting solution still depends on the problem you are trying to solve. A shadowed face may benefit from dedicated front lighting, while glare, camera interference or limited desk space may call for a different approach.

Good video call lighting sounds simple, but real home offices often limit where you can place a light. Windows, walls, monitors, and existing desk equipment can all affect how your face appears on camera.


Use the guide below to identify the most common problems and find the right lighting solution for your setup:

The goal is to solve the actual lighting problem rather than simply add more brightness. A dark face needs better front lighting, while glare or overexposure requires better placement and control.

For iMac users, lighting also needs to fit the workspace. Ring lights, key lights, and tripods may improve facial lighting, but they add stands, cables, and visual clutter. A display-mounted solution can keep the desk clearer while working around the built-in camera.

Different lighting options solve different problems. Some are designed mainly to brighten the face, while others focus on workspace lighting, camera-area control, or keeping the desk clear. Here is how common video conferencing lighting options compare:

The best choice depends on the problem you need to solve. If your face is underexposed, a ring light or key light may be more suitable. For iMac users whose main concerns are camera interference, workspace lighting and desk clutter, a camera-aware light designed around the display may be a better fit—helping illuminate the workspace while staying out of the built-in camera’s way.

For iMac users, video call lighting is not only about making the face brighter. Since the camera is built into the display, the light also needs to work around the camera area without shining directly into the lens, creating screen reflections, or adding extra clutter to the desk.

Most video conferencing lights are designed mainly for face lighting. Ring lights and key lights can help when your face looks dark or strongly backlit, but they may also create glare, overexposure, or reflections if placed too close to the camera line. They are not designed as multi-purpose lights and usually cannot double as task lighting. 

Camera-aware lighting solves a different problem. Instead of sending maximum brightness toward the center of the screen, it manages how light is distributed around the built-in camera while still supporting the desk and surrounding workspace. 

For iMac users, the right choice depends on the problem you need to solve:

Because an iMac combines the display, camera, speakers, and computer into one all-in-one setup, additional lighting needs to work around the built-in camera without adding bulky stands, blocking key components, or taking over the desk. 

BenQ iScreenBar is designed specifically for this setup. Unlike a ring light or key light that mainly directs light toward the face, iScreenBar focuses on managing the light around the iMac camera while continuing to support the surrounding workspace. 

Its dedicated Video Call Mode adjusts the light distribution near the camera. The centre LEDs are dimmed to reduce stray light entering the lens, while the side LEDs maintain illumination across the desk and surrounding area.

When Video Call Mode is activated, iScreenBar lowers the brightness of the LEDs closest to the iMac camera to reduce stray light entering the lens. It is not designed to shine directly on your face but to control the light around the camera so your face appears clearer during video calls.

Reducing the centre light does not leave the entire setup dark. The side LEDs continue to illuminate the desk and surrounding workspace, helping maintain a balanced lighting environment during calls. 

iScreenBar mounts directly onto the iMac without requiring a separate stand or tripod. This keeps the camera area clear, saves desk space and maintains the clean all-in-one setup. 

Outside of Video Call Mode, iScreenBar also provides adjustable full-spectrum LED lighting for reading, typing, and other screen-based tasks. This helps create a more natural lighting environment, so users do not need separate lighting setups for meetings and daily work.

BenQ iScreenBar is designed to fit naturally with the iMac setup. Unlike a regular monitor light bar that sits on top of the monitor with a weighted clip, iScreenBar uses a magnetic mounting design for a cleaner and more integrated installation.

① Magnetically attach iScreenBar to your iMac 
Place iScreenBar at the upper centre of the back of your iMac. Adjust the rear clip so the oval microphone opening remains unobstructed.

② Adjust the lighting angle  
Position the light to illuminate your keyboard, documents and main work area without shining into your eyes or creating reflections on the screen.

③ Fine-tune brightness and colour temperature 
Adjust brightness and colour temperature to suit your room lighting, screen brightness and time of day. For video calls, aim for soft, balanced lighting without camera glare, screen reflections or eye discomfort.

The best lighting for iMac video conferencing is not simply the brightest light. It is a setup that helps your face look clear on camera, keeps your workspace comfortable and fits naturally into the way you use your desk every day. 

Good video call lighting should reduce harsh shadows, avoid overexposure, minimise glasses glare and keep the camera area free from distracting reflections. For iMac users, it should also complement the clean, all-in-one design without adding bulky stands, tripods or extra devices to the workspace.

Whether you use your iMac for Zoom, FaceTime, Teams or Google Meet, a camera-aware lighting solution can help make your calls look clearer and more natural while keeping your desk setup simple. With its magnetic installation, centre LED dimming, and side lighting, the BenQ iScreenBar (Monitor Light Bar for iMac) is designed to help iMac users stay visible and comfortable during everyday video calls.

Soft, front-facing light usually works best. Keep the brightness balanced to avoid harsh shadows, overexposure, and glasses glare.

Add soft front light if your face looks dark. Lower or reposition the light if your face looks washed out or glare appears on your glasses.

A neutral white light around 4000K to 5000K is a useful starting point. Adjust the colour temperature to complement your room lighting and camera white balance.

The best setup should work around the built-in camera without adding bulky stands or shining light onto the lens. Camera-aware lighting such as iScreenBar is designed to work around the camera while also illuminating the desk and workspace.

Not in every situation. If your face is heavily underexposed or strongly backlit, you may still need dedicated facial lighting. iScreenBar is not designed to shine light directly on your face. Instead, it is designed to optimise the lighting around the iMac camera and illuminate the surrounding workspace, helping your face appear clearer on camera.

_{*iMac® and FaceTime® are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. iScreenBar is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise associated with Apple Inc. or any of its affiliates.}