A ring light is exactly what its name suggests: a doughnut-shaped light, typically made of rows of LEDs. The halo shape diffuses light over a wide area, reducing shadows and washing away blemishes for a more-flattering appearance. The space in the middle of the light is a great place to mount a camera or phone because you get an even distribution of light around the lens.

Windows 10 Previews 10882 is the latest W10 fast labe first edition that works with the Polar Trainer software V5.0 and this adapter (with my SX625). Wait for the final W10 release coming to your PC !! Trust me. Tested all W10 preview edition and they don’t work, this W10 release does.

Amazon RingLightfor Laptop

Look for lights that can adjust brightness in 1% increments. With some ring lights, you can adjust the brightness from 0 to 100% in 10% increments (10% brightness, 20% brightness, and so on), but we prefer models that let you fine-tune the brightness to the nth degree. Some ring light descriptions will specify this; it might be called “stepless adjustment.”

In addition to a stand, most ring lights come with extras such as a carrying case for the light, a mount for your phone, and a Bluetooth remote to take a photo on your phone from a distance.

But going too big causes issues, too. On the flip side, the 18-inch models were overkill: They were so bright that they created washed-out images at all but the lowest brightness levels.

I did check my driver though and it was from ASIX Electronics Corporation, driver 1.3.2.0 dated 1 July 2013. That is not the driver found on this website.

After researching and testing more than a dozen ring lights, we’ve learned that it’s a fast-moving category with lots of brands that may be here today but gone tomorrow. Many of the best ring lights we’ve tested are either now discontinued or have recurring stock issues. This includes the Neewer 14-inch LED Ring Light (RL-14), Neewer 16-inch LED Ring Light (RL-16), Yesker 14-inch Ring Light, and Godox LR120 12-inch LED Ring Light.

A professional video producer shows how you can tweak the lighting you have in your home office to elevate your video-call look.

It’s easy to get up and running with Zoom, but you may not know about some of its best, most useful videoconferencing features.

Our tests showed that a Bluetooth speakerphone won’t necessarily produce better results than a smartphone. But we found a few models worth checking out.

Without it, you can look grainy, out of focus, or even shadowy—like an anonymous witness in a true-crime show. A ring light is a simple tool whose diffuse glow can bring you out of the dark and make you look more professional.

You should be able to bend the light and raise it up or down to get the most flattering light for whatever you’re shooting. People who wear glasses, for example, might need to raise the light and adjust it at a steeper angle to avoid glare and reflections.

We still recommend these models if you can find them in stock. But if you can’t track them down, here are some tips that will help you choose a suitable replacement among a sea of similar-looking lights.

Improving the lighting when you are in front of the camera isn’t just about vanity: Having great lighting that helps you look your best breeds confidence.

Having multiple brightness levels means you can adjust the lighting to any environment—whether it’s cloudy or sunny, morning or night, or you have few or many other light sources.

RingLightAmazon UK

“It’s really empowering,” said content creator and educator Gia Goodrich, “because you know that even if you’re showing up without makeup, you feel insecure, or you’re in your PJs, you can at least light yourself in a way that makes you feel good.”

Bought this to be able to communicate with my Dive Computer – it has worked flawlessly! It installed in just a couple of minutes and has been very reliable

How far or close you put a ring light depends mostly on your comfort level and the size of the light. But I found that for video-call purposes, somewhere between 2 and 3 feet was most flattering.

Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).

LEDCircle Light

For anything else, a 14- or 16-inch ring light will do. These larger models should suffice if you want to keep the stand off of your desk or you plan on using the ring light while standing. The 14-inch ring lights we tested, including the Neewer 14-inch and Yesker 14-inch, were plenty bright in our testing. A 16-inch ring light, such as the Neewer 16-inch, would be brighter. But that extra luminance is really only useful if you’re going to position the light several feet away from you.

I went to Fry’s and bought a cheap Infrared adapter but the latest drivers for it was 2006. So I bought this one and it worked in seconds, is very fast, and I have had no problems with it at all. I would definitely recommend this one.

Expect to pay between $50 and $100 for a good ring light that has all of the features we mention above. Paying any more than that is likely throwing money away.

Lighting plays an important role in the image quality of your videos and photos, second only to the quality of your camera. But you don’t have to invest in a complicated lighting rig to get better close-ups.

Running Windows 7 Pro (64bit) on Dell XPS-8300, this IR Adapter installed easily and runs like a dream – no issues at all. I’ve used it to transfer files and programs between the desktop PC and several different portable devices – all without a hitch. It has good range and a relatively wide angle of coverage. I don’t think you can beat it for the price.

More flexibility is always better. Bonus points go to ring lights—such as the Yesker 14-inch—that include a flexible gooseneck mount for your phone; this is great for getting the angle of your phone just right too.

A ring light is a simple, cost-effective option that anyone can set up and use. It makes the most sense when you need just a bit more emphasis on yourself in a space without a lot of natural light and you don’t have the time or energy to invest in a pricier professional lighting setup.

Find the right temperature for your skin tone. Wirecutter’s Rago said that warm light generally works best for most skin tones, but if it’s too warm, a person could look orange. Bluish light can make a pale person look lifeless.

We’ll be testing more ring lights soon with the goal of recommending specific picks. In the meantime, the current guide remains a reliable resource for finding great lighting options.

The Fast USB 2.0 Infrared Adapter allows a high speed connection of up to 4Mbps between two IrDA compatible devices, which may include your laptop or desktop computer. Handheld compatible devices such as mp3 players, cameras and mobile devices can also be used with the USB 2.0 Infrared Adapter. Using the IRJOY Wireless Adapter will enable the use of infrared on any PC since it utilizes a plug-n-play program function. The USB 2.0 Infrared Adapter offers a very simple and convenient point-and-shoot mechanism that will be very appealing to users who desire wireless technology.

Whether you work from home or you need to nail a job interview via Skype, these are Wirecutter’s tips for looking and sounding like a pro on video calls.

I purchased this IR adapter to synchronize my SubGear XP10 dive computer with my laptop. Wow ! Talking about speed trasnfer !!! Waiting for the Windows 10 driver : don’t upgrade to Windows 10 unless you get a new driver for this IP adapter !!!

These accessories make using a ring light easier, but they’re just extras. Prioritize the features above when choosing a ring light.

Wirecutter’s Melanie Pinola has spent years testing and reviewing various gear—including home-office essentials such as webcams, USB microphones, and office chairs—for Wirecutter and other sites including Lifehacker, PCWorld, Popular Mechanics, and Laptop Magazine.

I bought it to use with my dive computer. Worked perfect in my Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 machines. Now I am waiting for Windows 10 compatibility to use in my new PC.

I have an old Palm Tungston E2. It would not connect to my PC to download in my new Windows 7. I discovered I could also use IR. My original IR worked very slowly, but it did the job. The original one broke and I purchased this unit. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Speedy and starts up immediately.

RingLight

It’s also worth considering the height range of the ring light’s stand. The greater the range, the more versatile it will be to accommodate all kinds of situations.

CRI is one measure of light quality; the higher the CRI (the closer to 100, the better), the more colors the light can render and the more precise the image is color-wise.

A CRI of 90 or higher is best. Ring lights with a CRI of 90 or above are considered excellent, whereas those with a CRI between 80 and 90 are thought of as good, according to Westinghouse Lighting.

Bought this to download dive info from my Uwatec Aladdin dive computer to my Windows 7 PC. Easy installation – didn’t even need to run the CD that came with it. Love the USB cord, makes for easy alginment of the infrared with my dive computer. Price was significantly less than the manufacturer’s infrared adaptor.

I upgraded my computer which operates on Windows 7 my Uwatech IR reader was not compatable with the new software. Instead of purchasing another Uwatech Reader I purchased this reader, it works well and saved me money

Fast installation. Easy setup. Great speed. Didn’t use it for awhile, forgot and “upgraded” to Win 10. Infrared no longer works. No driver after months of waiting from Microsoft. If you have a Win 10 computer, no point in purchasing this yet. If/when we get a driver, this is a great device.

10-inch lights aren’t great for most uses. These smallest lights had stands that raised the light only an inch off the desk, creating spooky, unflattering under-chin lighting. You could prop one of these lights up on a stack of large books or a box, but we think it’s worth paying a little more for a larger, brighter light that has a taller stand.

Bought it for my Galileo Luna Dive Computer. Worked ok with windows 8 but since i have had windows 10 cant tranmit my dives.

Many of the latest ring light models also have a Wi-Fi remote to power the light and adjust the color temperature or brightness.

More steps between the coolest and warmest color temperature levels mean more flexibility in suiting your skin and environment.

Some larger models have a built-in USB port for phone charging. A few lights we tested that are 14 inches or larger had a USB port for charging your phone while it’s attached to the ring light. That’s convenient for long shoots.

Circlelights Ceiling

More color temperature settings is better. Most of the ring lights we considered had at least three color-temperature settings: cool, neutral, and warm. We preferred those that offered more color-temperature steps between the coolest and the warmest levels; this allows you to dial in the setting that looks best with your skin and environment.

You can certainly find other lighting setups that produce better portrait or video lighting—such as this two-light kit Goodrich recommends, which includes lighting umbrellas, several light stands, and a number of photo bulbs. But they’re more expensive and more complicated to set up and break down.

This small USB adapter will change any USB port in to a fully functional infrared port and there are a few advantages that the Fast IrDA (FIR) system provides. It can offer a minimal amount of energy usage, which will keep wireless owners very happy. It also features backwards compatibility with both MIR and SIR infrared devices. It also offers data transfer speeds up to 4 Mbps to offer basic printing, scanning and internet connections quickly and easily. The FIR- IrDA system offers a strong connection between the infrared device and a computer.

Works great! I use it to connect my Galileo Luna dive computer to my laptop. Transfers data super fast and setup is very easy.

Color temperature, measured in kelvins (K), greatly affects the aesthetics of your photo or video. The room you’re in, the clothes you’re wearing, and your skin tone can all look different depending on the light’s color and temperature.

Smaller, USB-powered lights are great for mobile use. Ring lights that are 12 inches or smaller can be powered via USB, whereas the larger ring lights use an AC/DC adapter because they need to draw more power. So if you want a ring light that you can use outdoors—tethered to a laptop or USB power bank, without an outlet nearby—a ring light that’s 12 inches or smaller is ideal.

The bigger the ring light, the better the light output and quality. We looked at 10-, 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-inch models suited for sitting at a desk or standing.

RingLightwith Stand

Melanie Pinola is a writer focused on home-office gear. To find the best paper shredder, she has shredded enough junk mail to fill several bathtubs.

I had to enable the IrDA stack in Win 10 by going to Settings >Optional Features > Add Features > IrDA Infrared and installing it.

More expensive doesn’t mean better quality. While researching this guide, we saw a Wescott 18-inch Ring Light that cost nearly $200 despite having only two color temperatures (cool and warm). Some ring lights cost twice as much as similar-size lights without adding more features or benefits.

Melanie Pinola covers home office, remote work, and productivity as a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, work, and lifestyle/family topics. She’s thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs.

I bought this a few years back from Amazon to synchronize the data on my Polar Heart Rate Monitor. It has worked much better than my old adapter, and I have it working on my Windows 8.1 computer as well.

You might not find the CRI rating in the product description, but that doesn’t mean the ring light has a low CRI. Contact the manufacturer and ask for the number. If they don’t get back to you—or, worse, they don’t have a website—move on to the next ring light you’re considering.

For desktop use, a 12-inch model is best. If you plan on using a ring light propped up on your desk—not on a tall stand on the floor—look for a moderately sized model, like the Godox LR120 12-inch LED Ring Light. These have stands designed for desktop use and cost less than larger models.

Wirecutter’s Rozette Rago and Michael Hession, our head of photography and video, helped me determine the most important features to look for in a ring light.