Camera Settings for recordings

[Philip4]

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

[Ray_Harwood]

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 

[Philip4]

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 · Accepted solution]

@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. 

[paulhartel]

Ray, you seem to be a resident expert, and this is the first post I've found that mentions frame rates.  I'm curious about the frame rate recording.  Does Zoom automatically record either 25fps or 30fps depending on location: for instance in the UK and Europe it would be PAL - so 25 - in the USA and elsewhere it would be NTSC - 29.97 or 30fps.?

I was checking my settings [I'm in the States] and didn't notice any option for Frame rate recording.  I have friends in the UK who record - and I'm wondering if the Zoom desktop app downloaded in the UK automatically records in 25fps - or if there is a world-wide setting that cannot be changed unless one has an more expensive account.  Appreciate your insights.

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @paulhartel.

So I can't find any definitive documentation, but I can tell you my experience is that Zoom recordings are 25fps.  I've looked at a small sample all the way back to November 2011... all that I've looked at are at 25fps.

Keep in mind that I have the following settings for Cloud Recording:

Note especially the Optimize the recording for 3rd party video editor.

I'd be surprised if Zoom did anything during the video ingest process other than record frames with timestamps.  During the conversion process, Zoom has to pick something, and I can't find a way for the user to set anything, so I assume that it always converts to 25fps if Optimize is enabled.  I have no experience with that setting disabled... but changing the setting and doing a test run should be no problem for you. 😎

I do a lot of post-production editing for clients.  I always tell my clients "I work with what Zoom gives me... you won't get mainstream TV quality."  So far nobody has complained.

[paulhartel]

Thanks, Ray.  Appreciate it.  I, too, am an editor. I was surprised recently when a friend sent along a camera file recording from the UK with a 30fps.  I'm sure he recorded it on a camera purchased there - PAL territory - but wasn't sure if the video I was looking at was subsclipped from a Zoom recording.  I'm trying to help him establish universal standards over there so everything remains 25fps.  Appreciate your insight.

[Philip4]

Hi Ray, many, many thanks. That´s a great help. I will definitely try the 25 FPS version. Concerning Screen sharing: I am working with a video mixer which enables me to switch instantaneously beween my power point presentations and my cameras - but there is a quality loss involved, even with simple typo. So there is still a lot to try and discover. I will keep you updated. Many thanks again, Philip