This article is dedicated to the most common camera problems and discusses respective solutions. 

Let's have a look at the following issues:

1. The camera preview image is not accurate.

The precision of the camera image is +/- 5 mm. In case you require a higher precision for specific applications, we recommend using manual positioning. 

If the deviation is considerably bigger, please go through the following check-list:

  1. There are blinking pink circles in the corners of the working area, and there is a warning message in the left menu panel in the "Preview" pane. 
    The camera system could not identify all four pink round markers inside Mr Beam. Depending on the chosen setting for marker detection (which can be found under Settings>Camera), the preview image might not be updated anymore. In this case we recommend to have a look at the following article, where you will find more details. 

  2. You are using a very high or thick material.
    For high or thick materials (more than 3mm) the deviation in perspective can be particularly high towards the edges of the working area. You can add the height of your object as thickness of your material - on the left in the preview pane of the working area, in order to compensate for this deviation.
  3. The camera needs a calibration (corner calibration). 
    In this article you will find out everything you need to know about camera calibration, and if a new calibration is required in the first place. 

  4. Is the preview image in the software colored, and is what you see not just the working area, but also the white boarder and the pink round markers inside your Mr Beam?
    Mr Beam's working area should be displayed in black-and-white. If you are seeing a similar picture as below, please update your software to the latest version!

2. The camera does not update the image.

Usually, the camera takes a new picture every 5-10 seconds. If your working area preview in the software is not updating the image, please click on Settings>Camera and have a look at the camera state check-list:


All three points below should be flagged as green:

  • In order to take new pictures, the lid of the Mr Beam should be completely open. 
  • Mr Beam has to be in Operational State. This means Mr Beam will only update pictures if the homing-cycle has been performed, and if there is currently no laser job running (e.g. in a paused laser job the camera is still inactive)
  • All four pink round markers in the corners of the working area need to be visible to the camera. 

    If the camera system could not identify all four pink round markers inside Mr Beam, please check the raw camera picture and whether the markers are visible there, or whether they are covered by the material or by the x-axis. (Have a look at the following article, where you will find more details on how to fix this problem.) 

    Furthermore, you can click on Settings>Camera>Marker Detection for further options. If you'd rather have a very precise camera picture, which might not be updated regularly, choose the option "Accurate". If precision is not the first priority to you, and you would rather see a regularly updated camera picture, click on "Reliable" (this is the default option).
  • If there is a slow connection between your computer / tablet and your Mr Beam (which has generally nothing to do with the speed of the internet connection), it can take longer to process and display a preview image. 

3. The camera preview image is blurred / out of focus / has a bad resolution

  • You are probably getting a preview with low resolution because the connection too slow. 
    If the preview images are shown with low resolution, this is not an error or malfunction. Instead, your Mr Beam is trying to compensate for a slow connection while still displaying a preview image. In many cases the blurry image is enough for positioning your design on the material.

    While Mr Beam detects movement inside the working area, it will display that same preview in low resolution. In the meantime, you will see an according note in the preview pane. When there is no more movement the system should be showing a picture in high resolution a few seconds later. If the connection between your Mr Beam and your computer is slow, it can happen that you won't receive a high resolution picture for a long time.


  • You are using an older software version, which will blur the camera preview image on purpose, when the design cannot be positioned precisely enough. In this case we recommend updating Mr Beam software (Setting> Software updates > scroll down > press blue button "Check for updates now").


4. I am getting a camera preview error

  • If you are getting an error message "Camera error" in the working area of the software, you need to restart OctoPrint. If that doesn't help, please turn your Mr Beam device off and restart it.