Video quality problems

If there are video quality problems, there's a good chance that it is due to an Internet bandwidth problem or a computer processing problem and as such, the quality of the audio and video during a video call may be affected. The Quality Meter is located below the video panes on the left side of the window and it indicates the amount of bandwidth available to you and the other video call participants. It may also be affected by your computer's hardware (CPU and RAM which are used to process the video). More bandwidth and CPU usage are required as the number of participants in the video call increases.

 

The following table describes common problems.

 

What I see Description

 

Red bars are shown in the quality meter.

If you have a problem sending your video, you will probably see your video preview perfectly but others may see your video at a reduced quality.

 

It's also possible that your contact has a problem sending his/her video or you have a problem receiving the video. Click on the quality meter for more information.

 

Check if your Internet line is being used for other purposes.

A contact's video was replaced with a display photo.

Either your contact has a significant problem sending his/her video or you have a significant problem receiving the video because the amount of available bandwidth is very low. Click on the quality meter for more information.

 

Check if your Internet line is being used for other purposes.

 

 

Check if your Internet line is being used for other purposes:

  1. Check if you are sending or receiving e-mails with attachments or uploading or downloading large files (some applications run in the background to download music, video clips, auto-file backup, etc.). If more than one computer is connected to the same Internet line, check if another computer is being used to upload/download files or send/receive large e-mail messages (or even if a cell phone or other device is connected to your wireless Internet connection).
  2. Click on the quality meter to check your Internet bandwidth (upstream and downstream). A minimum of 128KB of available bandwidth is required for both the upload and download for each video window added to the video call (only your video is uploaded). Each video pane that is added to the video conversation requires more download bandwidth. The video quality depends on the available bandwidth the users have; if there is more available bandwidth, then the video and audio quality will be better.
  3. Try switching to low resolution during the video call (from the ‘Video resolution’ button in the upper left area of the Video Call window).
  4. It's also possible that your computer's CPU is having difficulty processing the video. During a video call, press the Ctrl +Alt +Delete keyboard keys and click 'Task manager'. In the task manager window move to the 'Performance' tab and check if the CPU usage reaches close to 100%. If it reaches a high percentage, then you are probably using an old computer. One thing that should help is to lower the frame rate for your camera. Select 'Settings' from the 'File' menu and select a lower frame rate from the 'Frame rate' drop down arrow.

 

If you need more information, try the following link: 

Video picture settings

ooVoo support center