How to downgrade your video upstream so my monthly cap doesnt get broken

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › How to downgrade your video upstream so my monthly cap doesnt get broken

Erica12

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#102430 15-May-2012 19:53

Ok I've learnt alot in the last day or so about bandwidth and video upstreaming rates etc. but is there anyway i can slow down my upstream rate while i'm on webcam to slow down the bandwidth usage without compromising the video quality 2 much?

I think ill move to a telecom plan but in the meantime on my lightspeed telstraclear 60gb plan, I need to configure my camera settings or something to slow down my upstream if this possible thanks guys..

using a logitech webcam pro 9000 with bundled software.

Erica12

31 posts

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#625715 15-May-2012 20:19

I think what im trying to say is there anyway to compress live webcam video bitrate?

insane

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#625732 15-May-2012 20:38

Typically you'd do that by taking a smaller image of yourself, or choosing to receive a smaller image of the other person. I doubt most webcam software has the option to choose which video codec or bitrate to use.

gzt

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#625738 15-May-2012 20:55

What is the video conferencing solution you are using? Skype or something else?

DonGould

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#625779 15-May-2012 21:43

gzt: What is the video conferencing solution you are using? Skype or something else?

ya, what he said... unless you're using something that you can get some ptp control over then you're a bit stuffed.

A faster computer will drive better compression, but with skype could also drive more data use with a better quality picture if the data is there to use.

The best solution is a router than will limit your thoughput, but putting that in place might cost you more than just paying for the data in the first place.

Sorry this isn't much help.

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raytaylor

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#625801 15-May-2012 22:03

If you are talking about skype, you are probably out of luck.
There are no front end controls that i know of to limit the video resolution and make it use less bandwidth. It analyzes what bandwidth is avaliable during a call and will use the best resolution it can, and when the resolution is higher, it will use more data.

There used to be a background hack that allowed you to force the resolution higher if you had a 1.0+ megapixel webcam before they bought out the high definition video feature, but you could not lower it.

However if you were to use a non-hd webcam eg. one that doesnt advertise its resolution, or one that doesnt say 1 megapixel / 1.3MP then it wont be able to capture the high resolution video and therefore will use less bandwidth.

Alternativley, you can just use voice chat only by switching off your camera during a call, and you will only be using about 1/5th of the data.

Ray Taylor

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gzt

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#625821 15-May-2012 23:00

DonGould:
gzt: What is the video conferencing solution you are using? Skype or something else?

ya, what he said... unless you're using something that you can get some ptp control over then you're a bit stuffed.

A faster computer will drive better compression, but with skype could also drive more data use with a better quality picture if the data is there to use.<snip>

Good point, and give this a go and see if it makes any difference:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7350496_set-size-quickcam-pro-9000.html

First time, set it to something really low and measure.