How to get Higher Resolution in Zoom with Ecamm Live Virtual Camera

[@rtkrum]

Thanks for this Alec! I’m getting slightly different results, but this may be from Zoom updates since your video. SETUP: iMac, MacOS 12.5 Zoom Pro account, and I have Group HD Video turned ON in Zoom Admin Settings My 2nd monitor screen resolution is set to 2560x1440 In a Zoom Meeting with at least 3 people participating (Zoom acts different for only 2 people) - 720p video send from Ecamm Live (or any camera) - 720p video send from Ecamm Live using a scene with a Share Screen Source - 720p video send from Zoom Share Screen - Ecamm Live Window with Output-Sharing Window ON - 1080p video send from Zoom Share Screen with "Share Content from 2nd Camera” and choose Ecamm Live with a Share Screen Source - NOTE: Drops to 720p if you choose “Optimize for video clip” - 1440p (2K) video send Zoom Share Screen-Desktop (full desktop screen resolution) - Using this option combined with Ecamm Live Video Monitor gets the highest resolution video send Another advantage of using the Zoom Share Screen function is that Zoom will automatically increase the size of your sharing feed for all of the attendees. This is especially helpful if the attendees are using Gallery View. Otherwise, every attendee has to change to Speaker View or Pin your feed.

[@AnitabyDesign]

How do you fix a blurry live stream on KZbin with Ecamm? It looks fine when I'm streaming, but on playback it looks horribly blurry.

[@TakeOneTech]

Sorry for the late reply Anita… A little bit hard to diagnose from here, although one of the main reasons that image quality can be degraded on livestreams is with internet speed/bandwidth…. So 4 questions I’d have at this stage are: What is you internet upload/download speed? What is your stream resolution set to in Ecamm live? (I.e. 4K, 1080p, 720p) What is your frame rate set to in Ecamm? (ie 60FPS, 30FPS etc) What is your stream latency set to in KZbin? (ie Ultra-low latency, low latency, normal etc…) Did this happen on one stream or is it every time you stream? Again, no idea at this stage if bandwidth is an issue, but if you were streaming at 4K & 60fps that would require 8 times the bandwidth of streaming at 1080p & 30FPS. The going for ultra low latency can sometimes be an issue (again depending on internet connection) because it does not allow you as much of a ‘buffer’ to catch up if bandwidth fluctuates and so KZbin would degrade the image rather than drop the stream, as I understand it.

[@FHumpires]

This is a really good explanation of why a video monitor output can avoid the res-down problem in Zoom...this should also help me use Ecamm in MS Teams and still "take control" of the view, so that I can do all my fancy overlays instead of just dumb old screen sharing. Thanks!

[@TakeOneTech]

You’re welcome Keely! Glad it was helpful 😊

[@DanRuden]

Thank you, Alec. This was very helpful and solved my issue. Nice work.

[@TakeOneTech]

You're welcome Dan! Glad it was helpful! :-)

[@juergenschubert3247]

Greate take. Just wonder how resolution changes for the zoom audience when you either share a monitor with zoom which you used as a Ecamm monitor compared to share with zoom the Ecamm live sharing - window enabled instead of a monitor window from Ecamm? Last option let me use the teleprompter with text again!

[@TakeOneTech]

The two approaches should in theory give the same results, however I have heard reports from some that The Ecamm Sharing window function does not give quite as good results as when sharing an entire monitor…. I’m going to research this further as I have not experienced the same thing.

[@juergenschubert3247]

​@@TakeOneTech No need for sharing my teleprompter screen gives me the freedom to use the teleprompter to prompt what's it is designed for.Makes it easier to discuss about more complex topics. Really interested in your research result.

[@DeanReynoldsMusic]

Yes, do a video explaining the settings in Zoom.

[@TakeOneTech]

Thanks Dean! I’ll put it at the top of the list 🙏😊

[@DeanReynoldsMusic]

@@TakeOneTech 😄 awesome dude

[@WrinkleCity]

Very Helpful, Alec. Since I don't see myself full screen on Office Hours, are you able to tell me if my stream is clear and good resolution?

[@TakeOneTech]

Hi Michael, you picture looks fun in office hours…. This video is not really about picture quality when you are just using Ecamm Live as your virtual camera alone since that would not be any different than using an actual camera. (Zoom would would reduce the resolution even if you just had your camera going into zoom without Ecamm) this video is specifically relating to when you are doing screen sharing or presentations through the Ecamm live virtual camera feature into zoom. So, for office hours, probably not something you need to consider. 😊

[@chris-born]

Have you tried to use virtual audio cables? It's much cheeper and it works. I've set it up for a client. Btw. your audio is not synced ;)

[@juergenschubert3247]

How do you sync your audio. What is your approach here to make that perfect. Record a clap your hand? Or how do you decide the offset?

[@edulitix]

If I take or use this approach, the FPS gets worse, then my video is not smooth and stutters. You can observe and see it in the statistics of Zoom. You then see that Zoom reduces the FPS because it believes it is a document.

[@TakeOneTech]

This video is now slightly dated and there is a better approach if you are on a paid zoom plan…. Checkout this more recent video: What you NEED to know about virtual cameras and Zoom kzbin.infoL3omCBewnPg

[@edulitix]

Did you Test it? If i try it the pixel quality is not good. I think Ecamm Live isn’t good for Zoom. Zoom is here the Problem.

[@edulitix]

My Setup…. Mac Mini m1, 4K Kamera Sony Apha, stream Deck Xl, 27 Inch Monitor and 1000 Mbit home Cabel Internet. Doesn’t matter what i do.. its good like a professional Streaming in Zoom. Im Teacher. Use Case: My Sony Alpha and Use my Ipad for Whiteboard with Goodnotes. I have lot of problem with quality in resulition. Often my students can’t read the Text in the PDF. This problem is more if i use picture in picture with my Sony in Ipad. Have you got an idea why?

[@IsaacFromHK]

you do realize that Zoom screen share function limits the FPS you can have right? So even though you can bump up the resolution to be sent from Zoom by using sceensharing feature, but the fps would drop lower than 25 fps sometimes even 15 or lower, this is gonna suck for any talking head video.

[@TakeOneTech]

Hi Isaac, when entering screen sharing mode, check the box that says "optimize screen share for video clip" in the Zoom screen sharing window. This will share at a higher frame rate than the regular screen share.

[@IsaacFromHK]

@@TakeOneTech you do know that by doing this, either the resolution will drop or it is still not giving you a fluid 25fps. You can actually see that in the Screenshare statistics in Zoom. There is not real hack if you want to have 1080p at 30fps...

[@TakeOneTech]

@@IsaacFromHK Hi Isaak, Zoom will downsample anything above 1080p, but it will give a higher frame rate than the regular screensharing. The purpose of the 'optimize screen sharing for video option is in Zoom's words" "Zoom optimizes screen sharing of a full screen video clip to ensure the attendees have the best quality experience". support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202954249-Optimizing-a-shared-video-clip-in-full-screen It is my understanding that the attendees see video as it should be, with reasonable frame-rate and resolution. Of course, slow processor of low bandwidth could potentially degrade both resolution and frame rate. This is an approach that has worked consistently for me, giving a better output to my attendees than simply using the Ecamm Live virtual camera into Zoom, because that certainly will be degraded in terms of resolution. Have you tried these approaches and not been getting satisfactory results?

[@edulitix]

You have latency

[@TakeOneTech]

Thanks Basra, yes I noticed audio sync issues in a few of my videos…. I should have paid more attention to my own video about checklists and made sure it was correct before hitting record!! Thanks again. 🙏😊