Monitor connection quality during calls.
Quality Indicator
During a call, the quality appears as a word in the top right corner of the other person's video: Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor. Excellent and Good are green, Fair is yellow, and Poor is red. The connection diagram shows the same word.
How it is measured
Every 3 seconds, your browser reads the connection statistics of the call. It looks at three numbers:
- Round-trip time: how long data takes to reach the other person and come back.
- Jitter: how much that delay changes from one packet to the next.
- Packet loss: the share of data that never arrives.
These numbers become a single call score, and the score sets the word. High delay, unstable delay or lost packets lower the score. The word appears after the first measurement.
Stable Defaults
Calls use conservative audio and video limits by default to favor stability over maximum image quality.
- Camera video asks for 640×360 at up to 15 frames per second.
- Video is sent at up to 400 kbps, and audio at up to 40 kbps.
- Echo cancellation, noise suppression and automatic gain control are on for the microphone.
- Screen sharing is limited to 1280×720 at up to 10 frames per second, which keeps text sharp.
There is no manual quality setting. Every call starts with these limits.
Automatic Adaptation
WebRTC automatically adjusts the resolution and framerate based on network conditions.
When the quality is Fair or Poor
- Move closer to your Wi-Fi router, or use a wired connection.
- Close downloads, uploads and video streams on the same network.
- Turn off your camera. An audio-only call needs much less bandwidth.
- Stop sharing your screen if you no longer need it.
The quality word describes the connection between you and the other person. It does not measure your camera or microphone.
See Also
Audio Call · Video Call · Connection Diagram · Network Stats · Media Devices