USB device ID — VID 1E3D PID 198A (updated)

Final Verdict: Do You Really Need a Third-Party "Updated" Driver?

No. You do not need any paid driver updater. The safest updated driver for USB device ID VID 1E3D PID 198A comes from one of three free sources:

  1. Microsoft Update Catalog (most current WHQL driver)
  2. Your laptop OEM’s support website (most compatible)
  3. Windows built-in generic USB Video driver (most stable)

If your camera is not working, start with Privacy Settings > Device Manager uninstall/reinstall > Windows Update optional drivers. In 9 out of 10 cases, the “updated” driver is already on your machine – it just needs a forced reinstallation.


Registry Tweaks for Advanced Users

If you are comfortable with the Registry Editor, you can force Windows to always look for the most updated driver for this VID/PID:

  1. Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.
  2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
  3. Set SearchOrderConfig to 1 (automatically download updated drivers from WU).
  4. Reboot.

Then run: pnputil /scan-devices in an elevated Command Prompt to force a driver rescan.

What Device Has the VID 1E3D PID 198A?

After extensive research and cross-referencing driver databases, Microsoft Update Catalog logs, and hardware forums, VID 1E3D is officially recognized as Chipsbrand Microelectronics (HK) Co., Ltd. — also commonly referred to as Chicony Electronics in some legacy databases, though Chipsbrand is the active vendor.

The specific product ID PID 198A corresponds to one of the following devices (functionally identical, but packaged for different brands):

  1. Integrated Webcam (most common) – Found in many Lenovo, HP, and Acer laptops produced between 2018 and 2024.
  2. USB 2.0 Camera Module – Typically used for facial recognition (Windows Hello) or basic video conferencing.
  3. Fingerprint Sensor Bridge – In some rare OEM configurations, this ID bridges a fingerprint reader to the USB bus.

The most frequent finding: An internal or external 720p/1080p webcam.

If your laptop has a built-in camera above the screen, this is almost certainly the driver for that component.