Lightroom photos not sharp?

[mpc_club]

We use Zoom to collaborate on photos - share critiques, etc. Typically a participant or the host will share his/her Adobe Lightroom screen and show photos that are in Lightroom (sent to them by the other participants). Photo size on the shared computer is either 1920 pixels horizontally or 1200 pixels vertically.

What we're finding is the image originators say their images aren't as sharp as the original files when viewed on Zoom.

Is there something in the Zoom app/process that is subtly degrading the image quality?

[mitchellll45]

Zoom does compress and resize shared images to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the network, which can affect image quality.

When you share an image in Zoom, it is first resized to fit within a 720p video frame (1280 x 720 pixels) and then compressed using a lossy compression algorithm. This can result in a loss of detail and sharpness in the image, particularly if the original image is larger than 720p.

There are a few ways to minimize the impact of Zoom's image compression on image quality. One option is to ensure that the original images are as high-quality and high-resolution as possible before sharing them in Zoom. This can help to mitigate the effects of compression and resizing.

Another option is to use a screen sharing tool that is specifically designed for sharing images, such as Dropbox or Google Drive. These tools allow you to share high-resolution images without compression, which can help to preserve image quality. You can also use these tools to share Lightroom catalogs or collections, which can allow participants to view and critique images in Lightroom without the need for screen sharing.

Finally, you can adjust the video settings in Zoom to optimize image quality. In the Zoom app, go to Settings > Video and select "Enable HD" and "Touch up my appearance" to improve image quality. You can also adjust the video resolution to 1080p or higher, if your network bandwidth allows. Keep in mind that higher resolution settings will require more bandwidth, so you may need to adjust your settings depending on your network speed and other factors.

[mpc_club]

THANK YOU for this comprehensive reply! Much appreciated. I will pass along this suggestion to our hosts and report back after we have a chance to experiment with these settings.

[Jameswalter]

Locate the Sharpening section in the Detail panel. This section contains several options you can use to sharpen the image. Adjust the Amount slider, which is a setting that specifies the amount of definition in your photo. Adjusting it gives the photo a crisp, sharp appearance.

Regards,
James

[mpc_club]

Thank you, but all of these images have been sharpened to the maximum already. Most of our photographers are advanced amateurs or fine art photographers and EXTREMELY skilled with Lightroom.  The issue is not with the original image...it has to do with what Zoom does to them through what appears to be a compression process between presenter and viewer.