Well, over the last month, almost all capable organizations and educational institutions also have sought the assistance of many videos calling as well as conferencing software. However, applications such as Skype and Google Duo are fully capable of hosting small meetings. Then they don’t really serve the purpose if the number of participants crosses 50. And that’s is actually where applications such as Zoom come into play. Just read this article know all about How Much Data Does Zoom Use – Reduce Data Usage. Let’s begin!
Zoom, such as Microsoft Teams and Hangouts Meet, is a remote video conferencing platform. But, unlike the two applications above, Zoom doesn’t really ask you to put down your credit card details right off the gate. A free — for basic users as well. An easy signup process, a bunch of utility features, and also fun backgrounds have permitted Zoom to emerge as one of the most used applications during the lockdown. Also leaving its more decorated competitors in the dust as well.
An application that basically uses video and audio is actually bound to consume a lot of data. That is a big problem for folks required to stay under a monthly cap. Fortunately, through little tweaks, here and there, it’s actually possible to decrease data usage quite significantly. And today, we’ll also tell you all about it.
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How Much Data Does Zoom Use – Reduce Data Usage
Zoom, which has also become a part of our daily routine these days, for better or worse as well. It permits us to connect to our friends and colleagues in a heartbeat and then keep the operations running as smoothly as possible.
But, since it’s a video conferencing application, it’s just a little hard on people along with limited data plans and slower connections. In this section, we’ll also take a look at exactly how much data Zoom actually consumes during a 1:1 as well as group video call.
Group calling
Group calling is actually the most resource-hungry feature on Zoom. As the number of participants increases, then your data consumption also shoots through the roof. Unlike 1:1 calling, a “high” quality group call on Zoom needs download/upload speeds of more than 1mbps or 800kbps. Translating those speeds to rough numbers, you guys are looking at around 360MB of upload and 450MB of download per hour, which brings the total to 810MB.
Zoom needs 1.5mbps download and upload speeds for 720P calling as well as Gallery View. This would actually take your hourly consumption to 1.35GB/hour — split evenly between download and also upload.
At last, we have 1080P, Full HD video calls. As it’s pretty much unnecessary to host Full HD conference calls, we also hope that you’d be able to steer clear of this one. Still, if you guys are curious, a Full HD video call on Zoom would actually consume a total of 2.4GB per hour — 1.2GB of download and also 1.2GB of download.
1:1 Calling
As you guys may have guessed, 1:1 calling is actually a little more economical than group calls. Just simply because of the fact that Zoom isn’t forced to handle it. So many jumping thumbnails and also their distinct audio output. For 1:1 calling in high settings, Zoom needs a 600kbps connection. Over the course of an hour, then it’d consume approximately 270MB of data for download and 270MB for upload as well. So, in an hour, then you’d be spending around 540MB of data on a “high” quality Zoom call as well.
If you guys are into 720P calling, you’ll guys have to keep a lot of headroom almost twice. Over an hour, a 720P Zoom call could also consume 1.08GB of data — 540MB upload as well as 540MB download. At last, the highest quality, Full HD, would really hurt your data balance the most. A 1080P video call on Zoom could consume more than 1.62GB per hour — 810MB upload as well as 810MB download.
Webinar | Reduce Data Usage
Zoom webinars have also become quite a thing as the start of the pandemic. Here’s what you guys have to know about webinar data consumption.
For 1:1 webinars, the required download speeds are 600kbps and 1.2mbps for high quality as well as 720P streaming, respectively. So, in an hour, you’ll guys lose 270MB on a high-quality Zoom seminar and 540MB on 720P. Webinars don’t really support 1080P streaming yet.
Screen sharing
Screen sharing is also another important aspect of Zoom, however, it’s hardly as resource-hungry as the other two. Without even any video thumbnail, screen sharing demands only more than 75kbps. With it, you guys will need around 150kbps — 1/4th of a high-quality Zoom call.
save data on a Zoom meeting?
Well, here are a lot of ways to make your mobile data last for a long time on Zoom video calls. That is especially helpful whenever you have got a bunch of games to play.
Uncheck HD video
Being able to video chat in HD is everyone’s perfect dream right. But, for people trying to curb data usage, it’s actually nothing short of a messy nightmare. Relying on your hardware as well as internet connection, HD video might already be turned off, by default. In order to double-check, just open the Zoom desktop client, head to Settings, just navigate to the ‘Video‘ tab, and now just uncheck ‘Enable HD‘.
Zoom permits you to share your desktop screen, aiding seamless collaboration as well. And while we can’t really refute the utility of the feature, we must also acknowledge the toll it takes on your data balance as well. So, unless essential, steer clear of sharing your screen as well.
And as soon as the purpose is actually served, remember to tap on the Screen Share button. Just right in the middle of your Zoom Meeting screen, and just turn it off. Plus, try to use online collaborative tools, like Google Docs, Microsoft Word Online, and also the likes to limit screen sharing as well.
Turn off video and microphone | Reduce Data Usage
As you guys might have guessed already, the video feed and microphone are also the most data-consuming components of Zoom. So, unless required, just try hosting your meetings without even video. That way, you’ll guys save a chunk of data and won’t really experience lag or stutters while in a meeting as well.
Zoom permits you to start a meeting without even the video feed. Simply head to Zoom’s official portal. Just hover your mouse over to ‘Host a Meeting‘, and tap on ‘With video off.’ You guys can also turn off your video feed during a meeting. Just tap on the ‘Stop Video’ button — the second button from the left — to do this.
Well, just like that, you could turn off the microphone whenever you’re not required to speak. However, when in a meeting, just tap on the Mute audio button on the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Conclusion
Well, That is all from my side. If you want to know more about this article or have any queries. Then feel free to ask me anything in the comments section below.
Have a Good Day!
