GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS

[tehjakub]

Ticket Type

🐛 Bug Report

Robot Type

Lite

Operating System

macOS

Browsers Used

• Chrome
• Firefox
• Edge
• Safari
• Opera
• Other

Browser version(s)

No response

Troubleshooting

• I have read https://huggingface.co/docs/reachy_mini/troubleshooting

Update Status

• My robot is up-to-date via the dashboard.
• I'm running the latest Reachy Mini release from this repo.

Description

I have noticed that the gstreamer backend yields really dark images on macOS. It appears that auto-exposure may not be enabled and by default a really low exposure time is used. The really dark images make it really hard for detectors to work and even for humans to see what is in an image.

Context & Reproduction

1. Start reachy mini
2. run a script which pulls camera images off the reachy
3. display camera images

Relevant logs or stack trace

Additional Info / Workarounds

Can open FaceTime after starting the reachy. This seems to force the system to adjust exposure time.

[FabienDanieau]

Have you tried to tune the camera settings?

macOS: CameraController - Open-source GUI application for USB camera control
from https://huggingface.co/docs/reachy_mini/troubleshooting

[tehjakub]

I have and can make it work manually. I was actually expecting that auto-exposure would run by default.

[alozowski]

I compared the two baseline frames, GStreamer and AVFoundation, and there is no obvious brightness difference between them. The measurements are also very close (~42.7 vs ~41.0 mean ROI luma), so the image being dark looks more like a camera issue than something introduced by GStreamer. Maybe you could share the images that you got?

[alozowski]

Here is my test example of the Gstreamer pic:

And AVFoundation one:

(sorry for not very aesthetic pics, but the office gym was the best environment for the testing)

[LijieZhou]

I had the same issue. I downloaded Camera controller and did not find tuning helpful. However, when I switch from the basic to advanced setting, it just fixed the issue. Not sure why and how. though.

[reggie-mcai]

I'm doing a daily high-signal triage pass on this repo.

• Work item: issue GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963 (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS)
• Mode: triage_and_draft_prs
• Runner: Reggie (MacBook automation)
• Issue updatedAt: 2026-04-16T22:54:44Z

Quick de-dupe search (from title terms: "GStreamer video stream really"):
Similar issues:

• GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963: GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963)

Similar PRs:

• (none found)

What I can do next (pick one):

1. Reproduce or instrument (if you can share minimal steps)
2. Draft PR for a small docs/tests fix (if we can isolate the change)
3. Provide a hypothesis + targeted logging suggestions for maintainers

Reggie-Daily: 2026-04-22

[reggie-mcai]

I'm doing a daily high-signal triage pass on this repo.

• Work item: issue GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963 (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS)
• Mode: triage_and_draft_prs
• Runner: Reggie (MacBook automation)
• Issue updatedAt: 2026-04-23T15:05:06Z

Quick de-dupe search (from title terms: "GStreamer video stream really"):
Similar issues:

• GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963: GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963)

Similar PRs:

• (none found)

What I can do next (pick one):

1. Reproduce or instrument (if you can share minimal steps)
2. Draft PR for a small docs/tests fix (if we can isolate the change)
3. Provide a hypothesis + targeted logging suggestions for maintainers

Reggie-Daily: 2026-04-24

[reggie-mcai]

I'm doing a daily high-signal triage pass on this repo.

• Work item: issue GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963 (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS)
• Mode: triage_and_draft_prs
• Runner: Reggie (MacBook automation)
• Issue updatedAt: 2026-04-25T03:05:08Z

Quick de-dupe search (from title terms: "GStreamer video stream really"):
Similar issues:

• GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963: GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963)

Similar PRs:

• (none found)

What I can do next (pick one):

1. Reproduce or instrument (if you can share minimal steps)
2. Draft PR for a small docs/tests fix (if we can isolate the change)
3. Provide a hypothesis + targeted logging suggestions for maintainers

Reggie-Daily: 2026-04-26

[reggie-mcai]

I'm doing a daily high-signal triage pass on this repo.

• Work item: issue GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963 (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS)
• Mode: triage_and_draft_prs
• Runner: Reggie (MacBook automation)
• Issue updatedAt: 2026-04-26T15:05:05Z

Quick de-dupe search (from title terms: "GStreamer video stream really"):
Similar issues:

• GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963: GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS (GStreamer video stream really dark on macOS #963)

Similar PRs:

• (none found)

What I can do next (pick one):

1. Reproduce or instrument (if you can share minimal steps)
2. Draft PR for a small docs/tests fix (if we can isolate the change)
3. Provide a hypothesis + targeted logging suggestions for maintainers

Reggie-Daily: 2026-04-27