Web-camera redirection not working with Windows N and KN editions
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Article ID: CTX224830
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Updated On:
Description
Customers have reported to Citrix Technical Support that web-cameras are not being redirected into ICA sessions if the VDA is of type: Windows 7 N, Windowns 8 N or Windows 10 N (or KN).
What is Windows N and KN?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ie/help/11529/what-is-a-windows-7-n-edition-
Labeled "N" for most European countries and "KN" for other regions, these editions of Windows come with all the main features installed apart from Windows Media Player and related technologies.
Support for web-camera with Windows N and KN:
On the Windows 10 N features it is clearly mentioned that web-cameras are not expected to work with this type of OS. It is a fair assumption that this is true for Windows 7 & 8 also. (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3010081/media-feature-pack-for-windows-10-n-and-windows-10-kn-editions)
- Webcam: This feature does not work.
Media Foundation Pack: The missing features (media foundation pack, Media Player, etc.) can be installed on N editions using:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16546 .
However, in testing it was found that even with the package installed the web-camera functionality is still affected. The Citrix web-camera optimization requires these features in order to work.
Environment
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Resolution
Please do not use Windows N, KN or other non-standard editions of Windows if you expect web-camera optimization (also called redirection). Other technologies like media redirection will not work either as they all rely upon media foundation pack and other related components.
To note this does not affect generic USB redirection or RTOP (Real-time Optimization pack while running in optimized mode, in fallback mode web-camera usage will not be possible as the camera is not redirected into the session as described earlier).
Issue/Introduction
This article describes the reason why web-camera redirection can not be achieved with Windows desktop N or KN editions.
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