In-Depth Guide on How to Greatly Boost Video Chat Quality

Figure 1 — Example of a boosted video chat set up with blurry bokeh background, RGB lighting, well lit subject, no visible AV equipment.

This guide was originally posted on Notion (here) on June 26, 2020.

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Overview

In this document, I’ll go over what are the elements required so that you can make it an experience to be on video chat with you. As some may have noticed — it can make you stand out (I’ve seen people get distracted by the video & stare way too long…), it can speak for you (by reflecting your personality & interests), and it can leave quite an impression. You may be surprised to know that with even a few minor changes, you can greatly enhance your own experience with some relatively inexpensive and non-technical tweaks. However, all of the top of the line upgrades will unfortunately require 💸 money.

Now, there are three primary issues to contend with in order to create a high quality video experience. I will go through each aspect in detail and how to address them all as well as potential upgrades for multiple budgets.

The 3 issues, sorted from the easiest (and cheapest) to fix to the hardest (and most…