Over the years Google Hangouts has steadily improved the quality of its video calls and in most cases they are actually quite good. That being said there are still steps that you should take to ensure your video calls are up to scratch in terms of their quality and overall appearance.
Some of the best ways that you can improve your video calls on Google Hangouts are by:
- Using a fast and stable internet connection
The quality (read: resolution and frame rate) of the call will depend heavily on the bandwidth and stability of your internet connection. If possible you should free up bandwidth by making sure you aren’t downloading any files (and no one else on your network is).
Ideally you should also plug in your computer to your router using an Ethernet cable. That will make the network connection much more stable than Wi-Fi could ever hope to be.
- Adjusting the bandwidth setting manually
If you find that your video call on Google Hangouts seems to be lagging or stuck, try adjusting the bandwidth setting in Google Hangouts and lower it. When you do Google will optimize the video call accordingly and may lower its resolution slightly to ensure that it look smooth.
- Getting a good microphone
If you rely on the built-in microphone on your webcam you can expect the audio quality to not be that great. Instead you should invest in a decent external microphone, as it will make a world of difference.
- Wearing headphones
As a rule it is best to wear headphones or earphones while you’re making video calls. At times the audio from your speakers may get picked up by your microphone and sent over the call – which will sound like an echo.
By wearing headphones or earphones there isn’t much risk at all of that happening.
- Improving the lighting
Just like any video the lighting can have a big impact on the quality of your video calls – and you should try to improve it. At a very minimum there should be lots of light but the light source should not be in the frame of the video call. Instead it should be positioned above and behind your display.
If you want to improve it further you should consider using a softbox or some other type of diffused lighting.
Keep in mind that you can record Google Hangout using Movavi Screen Recorder or some other screen recorder. Its features will let you easily set it up to capture the area of the video call, along with its audio. In fact you can even adjust the volume level, frame rate, and other recording parameters.
As you can see improving the quality of Google Hangouts video calls isn’t that difficult. In fact you should be able to see the improvement firsthand with each and every step that you take – and it should translate into video calls that look and sound far better, and have fewer issues overall too.
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