Forum Discussion

Tmadel's avatar
Tmadel
Brass Contributor
Mar 31, 2020

Virtual Camera in Teams Meeting

I would like to use Teams to conduct some distance learning classes.  To provide a more professional experience, I am using OBS (Open Broadcast Software) to enhance the presentation and be able to switch among vdifferent sources seamlessly.  I am using the Virtual Camera plugin for OBS and I am able pick that as a source in Teams but the quality of the feed is terrible,

 

When I look at the same feed in Zoom - the quality is MUCH better.  And when I look at the feed using the webcamtest.com website, the feed looks perfect.

 

Does Teams downgrade the video signal for some reason?  The quality of the Powerpoint capture is so low it is unusable.

  • Al_Gray's avatar
    Al_Gray
    Copper Contributor

    How have you tested this? I ask, because if you're turning the camera on without Share and seeing this, you may just be seeing what is really the thumbnail in the tile where your picture is normally. 

     

    I'm using a different virtual cam and broadcasting software, but I suspect this is your problem as I was briefly fooled by this. You'll probably need to use Teams Share to send the screen that OBS is controlling.

    Tmadel 

    • erimo's avatar
      erimo
      Copper Contributor

      Can you confirm that screen sharing via Teams (sharing the video output screen of OBS or similar encoder software app like WIrecast) results in better image quality than virtual camera.Also when there are are 40+ participants in a meeting? Al_Gray 

  • Tmadel Looks like you are not the only one. There are a number of issues on the OBS forums as well. 

     

    On my side, I've been trying OBS + Virtual Camera Plugin on Teams in 2 different setups with my surface pro 6:


    a) with a Logitech C920HD
    b) with a elgato camlink 4K

    I have the same issue in both setups, while the latency is passable for live calls and webinars (way better than my SlingStudio system), the video quality is almost unusable with virtual cam 😞

     

    I'll do a few tests with other computers that are more powerful and/or dedicated to the video editing part and report back to you if it works. Let me know if you find a solution.

     

    Cheers!

     

    K

  • philyves's avatar
    philyves
    Copper Contributor

    Tmadel 

    I have the same pb; quality is very bad

    It seems on the web forums that OBS virtual cam is hardly fixed to 1280x720

    So I think that definitly, OBS virtual cam could not be used, except if Teams is limiting the video flux as well. Did you find another solution for the virtual webcam ?

    Philippe

    • erimo's avatar
      erimo
      Copper Contributor
      The best way was to have a 2nd monitor displaying the video output and share this screen in Teams instead of using virtual camera. The downside is that the framerate drops but the quality of fonts and details is better.
      • Al_Gray's avatar
        Al_Gray
        Copper Contributor

        erimo Do you even see an ODS window to share from Teams? I used to see an ECAMM Sharing window in Teams that was built for Zoom. It looks like I'm back to sharing a monitor (application, not display)

    • Tmadel's avatar
      Tmadel
      Brass Contributor

      philyves I think the problem is definitely with Teams.  When I test the virtual cam output it shows as coming across at 1080p

       

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