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Philip4
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March 31, 2023
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Camera Settings for recordings

  • March 31, 2023
  • 1 reply
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Hi, I have a professional Online teaching Studio with 3 Cameras (HD 1920 x 1080i, 50mps). The quality on screen is good but when I do a Zoom recording - or when I am on Zoom recordings from other people, my picture is not sharp anymore and looks like out of focus. Would it be better to work with a different resolution or setting? This is really important for my work / job! Many thanks, Philip

    Best answer by Ray_Harwood

    @Philip4, thanks so much for the extra information! That’s very helpful. 

    While Zoom will attempt to accommodate any resolution and frame rate, I’m sure you’re aware that converting between video formats generally loses clarity and consumes computing resources.  My experience with Zoom processing leads me to believe that 1920x1080 at either 25 or 30 FPS is ideal (I tried to find a good documentation source for that, but so far it has eluded me this morning). Pixel and inter-frame interpolation will degrade whatever image specs you have in the process of recording and distribution to viewers live. 

    My recommendation is to make a test recording feeding Zoom with a 1920x1080p image at 25 FPS and see if your quality improves. 

    I know groups that go to great lengths to use 4K monitors at high frame rates with HDR – frankly I feel like the average Zoom viewer doesn’t get as good of an image with these inputs to Zoom. There are more suitable tools for recording super-high quality video and audio; use these and record ISO (independent system output) sources before feeding into Zoom, and edit on post-production where you control what happens to your quality. 

    Also note that Zoom restricts the video camera resolution, but not the screen sharing resolution. For best participant video, see this Zoom Support article:

    https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD 

     

    Note that a side effect of high resolution and frame rates into a Screen Share is that bandwidth utilization goes up – for everyone!  I’ve been in Zoom sessions with multiple presenters where everything is fine, no complaints – then someone with a 4K monitor shares their screen with “Optimize for video” enabled, and that’s when people with limited bandwidth will complain that their video quality is suddenly degraded. Either their bandwidth or CPU can’t keep up with the screen share feed. 

     

    I hope that helps! If you have other suggestions or questions, let me know. 

    1 reply

    Ray_Harwood
    Community Super Champion | Customer
    Ray_Harwood
    Community Super Champion | Customer
    April 2, 2023

    Welcome to the Zoom Community, @Philip4.

     

    Probably not a focus issue, but a resolution issue.  Even though your cameras are capable of 1080, the Zoom client app will only transmit HD or UHD resolution under certain circumstances.

     

    The resolution depends on a number of factors.  Pro accounts are not granted 720 resolution by default; it must be requested. 1080 is only available to Business accounts and higher.  See this Zoom Support article for details:

    https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Using-Group-HD-video

     

    Here's another article that has information about resolution in recordings:

    https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/4409490756749-Resolution-of-recorded-video 

      P
      Newcomer
      Philip4Author
      Newcomer
      April 3, 2023

      Hi Ray,

      many thanks for your answer. I checked these options in the past. What I am intrigued by is the fact that even though I have a much better technology in my studio, people with simple webcams achieve a better result in Zoom recordings. Therefore I am wondering whether I should reduce my resolution already on the cameras? Which would be the best resolution and setup for Zoom Webinars / Meetings on the camera? Same goes for the shutter. Does this have a major effect? Our standard in Germany is 50i.                                  Sorry for all these questions and thanks again, Philip

      Ray_Harwood
      Community Super Champion | Customer
      Ray_HarwoodAnswer
      Community Super Champion | Customer
      April 3, 2023

      @Philip4, thanks so much for the extra information! That’s very helpful. 

      While Zoom will attempt to accommodate any resolution and frame rate, I’m sure you’re aware that converting between video formats generally loses clarity and consumes computing resources.  My experience with Zoom processing leads me to believe that 1920x1080 at either 25 or 30 FPS is ideal (I tried to find a good documentation source for that, but so far it has eluded me this morning). Pixel and inter-frame interpolation will degrade whatever image specs you have in the process of recording and distribution to viewers live. 

      My recommendation is to make a test recording feeding Zoom with a 1920x1080p image at 25 FPS and see if your quality improves. 

      I know groups that go to great lengths to use 4K monitors at high frame rates with HDR – frankly I feel like the average Zoom viewer doesn’t get as good of an image with these inputs to Zoom. There are more suitable tools for recording super-high quality video and audio; use these and record ISO (independent system output) sources before feeding into Zoom, and edit on post-production where you control what happens to your quality. 

      Also note that Zoom restricts the video camera resolution, but not the screen sharing resolution. For best participant video, see this Zoom Support article:

      https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD 

       

      Note that a side effect of high resolution and frame rates into a Screen Share is that bandwidth utilization goes up – for everyone!  I’ve been in Zoom sessions with multiple presenters where everything is fine, no complaints – then someone with a 4K monitor shares their screen with “Optimize for video” enabled, and that’s when people with limited bandwidth will complain that their video quality is suddenly degraded. Either their bandwidth or CPU can’t keep up with the screen share feed. 

       

      I hope that helps! If you have other suggestions or questions, let me know. 

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