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

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lchiu7

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#300841 8-Oct-2022 14:17

If this has been asked before the the mods please link to that thread.

I was thinking of the background options you have when doing VC's using Teams, Webex, Zoom Google Meet etc. and what background do you prefer and like. I see the following:

- real background if you are in the office or are really proud of your home office (I do this since I am in the office most of the time)

- fake background, ideally something that looks like an office background (if it's a work call) and so no beaches in Hawaii, the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise etc.

- blurred backgrouind (I hate this and would prefer a real scene unless their workstation is not capable of a displaying a background (seems to be mainly an issue with Zoom which is quite picky about the device capabilities https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360043484511-Zoom-Virtual-Background-system-requirements) It makes you look quite disconnected from the meeting

Just curious what people use and like or dislike

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#2979022 8-Oct-2022 15:01

One or several video backgrounds in a call can make things difficult for users on less than ideal networks. All services above have different weaknesses. Simple background is better to cover all cases.

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2degrees

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#2979024 8-Oct-2022 15:14

I made a loop of about 12 minutes of video of my actual room, and then I come in, nod to where I will be sitting, and put a cup of coffee down. Then I just let it go in the background and keep a straight face. It's always funny to hear that one person snort when they notice it.

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neb

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#2979135 8-Oct-2022 16:50

If you are going to use a virtual background, get a green-screen cloth and use it to get a clean replacement background. There's nothing worse on a video call than having body parts flicker in and out of existence, or the real background bleed through, whenever the person moves.

Edited to add: If someone created a ten-minute loop of something like Littlefinger's brothel from GoT I reckon they'd make a fortune selling it as a Zoom background. "Sorry, you just caught me out of the office, let me fire up Zoom...".

lchiu7

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#2979207 8-Oct-2022 19:54

neb: If you are going to use a virtual background, get a green-screen cloth and use it to get a clean replacement background. There's nothing worse on a video call than having body parts flicker in and out of existence, or the real background bleed through, whenever the person moves. Edited to add: If someone created a ten-minute loop of something like Littlefinger's brothel from GoT I reckon they'd make a fortune selling it as a Zoom background. "Sorry, you just caught me out of the office, let me fire up Zoom...".

Good idea. But I would prefer backgrounds bleeding in and out than the out of focus background which I find incredibly annoying.

Not to create needless debate I much prefer to be in the office for various reasons. Alas in my office even when people come in, there are those who don't and I have been sitting around in an open plan office with 6 different Teams calls going on so that conversations bleeds into all of them, something that did not happen pre pandemic were we all were in rooms and only a few dialling in for geographical reasons.

timmmay

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#2979213 8-Oct-2022 20:08

I use a nature picture that's not too bright or distracting most of the time. Sometimes I use an image of the Iron Throne from game of thrones.

neb

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#2979215 8-Oct-2022 20:13

timmmay:
I use a nature picture that's not too bright or distracting most of the time. Sometimes I use an image of the Iron Throne from game of thrones.

Friend of mine who WFH a lot uses a background of a view from some office tower in Queen St for business meetings, he's got a green screen so it looks like a standard made-from-the-office business call, with a harbour view to show off NZ to foreign participants. It really depends on what's expected in the call though, I don't think there's a set answer for this.

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#2979220 8-Oct-2022 20:29

I usually go with the video off background.

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lchiu7

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#2979221 8-Oct-2022 20:36

neb:
timmmay:

I use a nature picture that's not too bright or distracting most of the time. Sometimes I use an image of the Iron Throne from game of thrones.

Friend of mine who WFH a lot uses a background of a view from some office tower in Queen St for business meetings, he's got a green screen so it looks like a standard made-from-the-office business call, with a harbour view to show off NZ to foreign participants. It really depends on what's expected in the call though, I don't think there's a set answer for this.

It wasn't a question with a right/wrong answer but more a query what do people do. There is not right answer, just what people prefer and I made it clear I hate the out of focus backgroud which I think it is the worse and you might as well turn off your video IMHO

MadEngineer

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#2979233 8-Oct-2022 21:36

I have a bright window behind me so that the camera adjusts for that making me completely black.

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#2979236 8-Oct-2022 21:57

MaxineN

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#2979284 8-Oct-2022 22:03

I use pictures of Japan.

People have been convinced (with RGB lighting) that I am actually at said picture of Japan.

Quite clever.

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MadEngineer

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#2979325 9-Oct-2022 11:28

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

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

lchiu7

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#2979328 9-Oct-2022 11:54

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

No but we join early to gossip

openmedia

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#2979332 9-Oct-2022 12:05

None.

And personally I don't like they. They can become very annoying as you watch people appear and disappear as they move about. Becomes very distracting.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

lchiu7

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#2979487 9-Oct-2022 13:25

openmedia:
None.

And personally I don't like they. They can become very annoying as you watch people appear and disappear as they move about. Becomes very distracting.

So you prefer the blurred out of focus background?

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