Sharp images shared from Mac coming through blurred

[CarlHoney]

Hello, I often share Apple Keynote presentations via Zoom. It always works very smoothly except for one thing: my images look a little blurry to the all the attendees.

The images inside my Keynote presentations are all high-resolution and look pin-sharp on my MacBook all the time I'm sharing. But they always come out blurry on the other end.

This happens every time. No matter how many people are in the Zoom (from one person to hundreds).

This is NOT a problem with the internet or WiFi connection. Because I have tested it on super-fast networks and even with computers sitting side by side on the same desk.

I have spoken to an Apple specialist and they cannot find a problem on the Apple end. So the problem must be with Zoom.

Any ideas how to fix this? Is there a setting I can tweak? Or is loss of image quality inevitable  when sharing through Zoom?

Thanks!

Carl

Thanks!

Carl

[Ken_Jones]

Hello Carl. Is your account configured for High Definition? That requires not only that you check the spot to engage it, but that you have requested and been granted it from Zoom support. Most of the time, High Definition means 720; some major accounts can be configured to support 1080. There can be an issue if a 1080 account starts a meeting which is joined by a device which cannot process that degree of resolution, so the entire meeting is reduced to a lesser figure, perhaps 360. That might account for it. Typically, "screen share" boosts your video to 1080, but that limitation by a low-resolution receiver might still come into play. Can you test yourself to another machine at your location to confirm behavior?

[CarlHoney]

Hi Ken, thanks for your reply! Only spotting it now, many months later when I'm confronting the same problem...

How do I configure my account for High Definition? Been through all the settings and can't see that anywhere.

Also, how and where would I request this from Zoom? I only have the basic plan so maybe that's a problem?

Thanks!

Carl

[CarlHoney]

I've worked out exactly when the problem occurs.

When I simply share the full laptop screen in Basic mode, the images come through the audience in crisp resolution.

The resolution only drops off when I move to the Advanced mode and choose Portion of Screen. That allows the viewers to see only the Portion I select (ie. current slide) – but those images are all lower resolution and a bit blurry.

Which is weird. Because you'd think that sharing a smaller part of the screen would make the resolution even better!

Still, the problem clear lies in moving from sharing my entire screen to sharing just a portion.....