When on a video call, what background do you use/like?

Forums › Off topic › When on a video call, what background do you use/like?

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#2979686 9-Oct-2022 14:38

I don't use a background. One of the guys at work uses a photo of the view from his window. I don't get the point of that one...

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#2979694 9-Oct-2022 15:20

I’m a real background person, I don’t like the blurred or fake backgrounds always looks odd with people clipping in and out of stuff, sometimes makes me laugh mid meeting.

lNomNoml

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#2979758 9-Oct-2022 17:14

I like to keep changing it while on the call to mix things up.

alasta

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#2979818 9-Oct-2022 20:03

I don't like backgrounds because our clunky systems struggle to differentiate the person from the background. When I'm in the office I just have the office space in the background.

I very rarely work from home but, when I do, I don't mind people seeing what's behind me. I'm generally a very private person at work, but there's honestly nothing remotely interesting in my home so I don't care if colleagues want to scrutinise the colour of my walls.

MaxineN

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#2979839 9-Oct-2022 21:02

MadEngineer:

Does everyone else join their Zoom meetings early so they can spend the requisite time discussing each other's backgrounds?

I join early so I can just carry on with what I'm doing and not have to worry about Teams taking forever to register inputs.

Oh and to ask how everyone else's day is and get into off topic stuff before the real meeting topic begins.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Geektastic

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#2979857 9-Oct-2022 22:30

FaceTime does not do alternative backgrounds. That is more or less the only video calling software I ever use.

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#2979875 10-Oct-2022 07:42

MaxineN:

I join early so I can just carry on with what I'm doing

To be fair, most of the time I don't have my camera on at all, so I can just carry on with what I'm doing. You know what they say, meetings that should've been emails etc.

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Geektastic

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#2979893 10-Oct-2022 08:28

SaltyNZ:
MaxineN:

I join early so I can just carry on with what I'm doing

To be fair, most of the time I don't have my camera on at all, so I can just carry on with what I'm doing. You know what they say, meetings that should've been emails etc.

My wife works leading large government projects. Her entire working week appears to consist of “meetings”.

I ask her when she manages to complete any actual work that is discussed in these meetings and she never has a convincing answer!

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#2979907 10-Oct-2022 08:47

Geektastic:

My wife works leading large government projects. Her entire working week appears to consist of “meetings”.

I ask her when she manages to complete any actual work that is discussed in these meetings and she never has a convincing answer!

Sometimes it gets to the point where I miraculously have an hour where I am not in a meeting and I have no clue what to do because there is so much stuff to do, and none of it can be done in an hour.

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#2979925 10-Oct-2022 09:32

An image my stepson (studying game design) created. It's what he imagines the bridge of the starship Victory to look like. Keen observers pick up that I am at the weapons station.

I can only do this on Teams. Zoom keeps ghosting me into the background. So with Zoom, it's just the actual background.

Mike

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#2980082 10-Oct-2022 12:48

SaltyNZ:

MaxineN:

I join early so I can just carry on with what I'm doing

To be fair, most of the time I don't have my camera on at all, so I can just carry on with what I'm doing. You know what they say, meetings that should've been emails etc.

Most of my meetings are people whom I have never met in person because they never come in, work in another city or work overseas so a camera is nice at least for the first few times. The other day in the office while in a lift somebody whom I did not recognise said hello to me by name. When I looked puzzled he identified himself and I knew who he was but we had never met in person or even done video together. He recognised my me from my profile picture on the contact info, a picture I had uploaded 4 years ago chosen to be flattering :-)

Then again recently I met someone in the lift whom I had had several Teams meetings with but his camera is never on and he has no profile picture. I recognised him from his distinctive voice but I had to surreptitiously ask another colleague to confirm his identify before I addressed him by name!

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#2980166 10-Oct-2022 14:47

to avoid the missing limbs and ears problem I use an actual green screen (I have it for online lectures so I can use power point) then run a matrix rain background.

Matthew

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#2980177 10-Oct-2022 15:22

mdooher:

to avoid the missing limbs and ears problem I use an actual green screen (I have it for online lectures so I can use power point) then run a matrix rain background.

That is probably the best option if you don't like the background in your house or are one of those who still use a laptop on the kitchen table when working remotely!

Handsomedan

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#2980467 11-Oct-2022 08:41

I alternate between no background, (which often results in a drying rack covered in undies or similar ending up in the background) or a few random pics I took of tropical beaches while on a cruise holiday in the Pacific.

Mostly, I use no background though.

Amazing how many people you have regular meetings with that will recognise if something is out of place in your room...I have a distinctive couch/cushion combo that even clients have noticed changes to, if there are any...

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