10 Ways To Improve Screen Sharing Performance

Online conferencing is becoming more popular as businesses curb spending on travel and are increasingly looking to reduce their carbon footprint with a green solution to meetings. The problem is that while video conferencing and screen sharing is a great way to hold meetings, it is largely dependent on your software and hardware.

Some of the hacks which we identity are so simple that they’ll cost you nothing more than a few minutes of time before initiating your online meeting. It should be pointed out, however, that some of these tips involve upgrading equipment to improve screen sharing performance. If money nor time are an issue, then you should be able to see noticeable improvements.

Here are some tips on how you can improve the performance of screen sharing for your next meeting.

1. Get Up To Date – It may sound so obvious, but before you try screen sharing it really is worth making sure that you have the latest version of your chosen screen sharing application. (This may be the ideal time to consider other leading tools for online meetings.) We also advise that you keep your operating system current to benefit from any efficiencies that may be available. As an example, Apple introduced significant screen sharing capabilities with the Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 upgrade.
2. Boost Memory – Screen sharing can be very memory hungry, especially if you are holding a meeting with multiple attendees, talking on Skype and sharing your high resolution 24″ screen! Help boost screen sharing performance by adding more memory.
3. Reduce CPU Usage – Again, this seems so simple but it can really help improve your screen sharing experience as a presenter or attendee in a video conference. Quit background applications in the System Tray (Windows) or applications that may be open but not needed. Check for processes using up CPU cycles that are not needed and then terminate them to free up some more power.
4. Reduce Screen Resolution – In a nutshell screen sharing works by taking consecutive screenshots, comparing them, identifying differences, encoding the changes and then sending them across a network or the internet to those attending the meeting. It therefore makes sense to optimise screen sharing performance by making the screen ’smaller’ by reducing resolution.
5. Use Fewer Colours – Continuing on with reducing overhead, try and use fewer colours on the screen you are sharing so that your screen sharing application has less work to do when capturing, detecting changes and encoding.
6. Get Faster Broadband – I seriously wouldn’t even consider trying to share a screen without broadband. That said, everyone knows that broadband connections are not all equal. In fact broadband speeds can vary massively depending on how close you are to an exchange. If you have an important online meeting where you either need to share or view a screen then consider upgrading your existing broadband package.
7. Improve WiFi Signal – Most of us connect to the internet via WiFi, which is typically more than enough to screen share. The problem with WiFi is that speeds can be temperamental with signal quality often noticeably degraded by interference from other electronic devices. There are, fortunately, numerous ways to improve your WiFi signal.
8. Upgrade To 802.11n – It’s not for everyone, but if you can upgrade your computer and router to 802.11n then you should experience faster data transfer over longer distances. 802.11n and mobile screen sharing on your laptop makes sense.
9. Revert To Ethernet – Sometimes WiFi just doesn’t cut it, especially over long distances. In that case it may be time to simply get out some trusty Cat 5 and plug straight into your router. Ethernet is typically more reliable than WiFi and affords faster transfer of data across a network, which means improved screen sharing and a better online conference.
10. Be Considerate With Sharing – Obviously the more windows and applications you open and use during any meeting, the more intensive screen sharing becomes. We recommend you try and keep your activity to a particular window in the same area of your screen rather than opening windows, moving documents around, saving work and closing windows. This is perfectly normal behaviour when you aren’t screen sharing, but to get the best performance you really need to consider what you do when sharing your screen.