Zoom Video Conferencing

How to Increase the Quality of Your Zoom Recordings

So you just had an awesome Zoom meeting and you remembered to hit the record button. It was so good, you want to post it online but the quality just isn’t that good. In this blog, you can learn how to dramatically increase the quality of your Zoom meeting recordings.

Zoom has some awesome video recording options. Most of the best features for recording video with Zoom are only available if you use cloud storage. For example, you can actually record active speakers, gallery view, and screen shares all at the same time, but only in the cloud.

Another really cool feature worth testing is called “Optimize the recording for 3rd party video editors.” This feature implies that the video files are going to be really good, but after testing it reduced the bitrate quality for local recordings and slightly increased the quality for cloud recordings.

As you can see from our testing with Zoom meeting recordings they are pretty low bitrate compared to most YouTube video content. YouTube generally recommends 8 Mbps for 1080p videos and 5 Mbps for 720p video. Zoom meeting recordings are generally less than 2 Mpbs when recorded to a local hard-drive and less than 1 Mbps when recorded to the cloud.

When we are talking about video quality, there are really two important things to consider, the video resolution and the bitrate. When you use Zoom, you are unable to change the bitrate to increase the quality. This might be a feature that Zoom implements in the future. For now, you can use tools like OBS or vMix to record in higher bit-rates.

Zoom recordings are technically HD, and you can check out our most recent video/blog post to learn about turning Group HD Video on. There are some tricks to increasing the quality of your Zoom meetings but the recorded videos right now aren’t that great.

So that’s everything I know about increasing the video quality of your Zoom meeting recordings. I have a guide that you can download at the link below. It includes how to connect OBS and Zoom, how to enable HD Mode, and everything we discussed in this video as well.  Cheers!

Other articles about Zoom

  • Learn how to connect NDI with Zoom here
  • Learn how to use virtual sets in Zoom here
  • Learn how to connect Zoom with vMix here
  • Learn how to use Countdown timers with Zoom here
  • Learn how to connect Zoom and OBS here
  • Learn about security measures you can take when using Zoom here
  • Learn how to host a virtual party with Zoom here
  • Learn how to embed your Zoom meetings into your WordPress website here
  • Learn how to set up Zoom Meeting Countdown Timers using OBS here
  • Learn how to increase your video quality in Zoom here
  • Learn how to increase the quality of your Zoom recordings here
  • Learn why you should use OBS to record your Zoom meetings here
  • Learn how to add sound effects to your Zoom meetings here
  • Learn about NDI integration in Zoom here
  • Learn about more about NDI integration in Zoom here
Paul Richards

Chief Streaming Officer and official StreamGeek!

Recent Posts

The Rise of Multi-Camera Video: From Sports to Webinars & Worship (March ’25 Newsletter)

Hey StreamGeeks, Has anyone noticed—multi-camera video production is becoming more popular? Everywhere we turn, we…

3 weeks ago

Live Streaming Basketball with Multiple Cameras and a Student Production Team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOrFx-3MPOw Have you ever wondered what it takes to produce a professional sports broadcast—live, with…

1 month ago

Setting Up for Different Types of Sports – Chapter 11

Sports of all kinds require different approaches to camera placement, video switching and the overall…

1 month ago

How to Live Stream Sports Like a Pro: Methods, Tech & Best Practices – Chapter 10

Live streaming has become an essential component of modern sports production, allowing fans worldwide to…

1 month ago

Sports Analytics: How Video is Changing the Game – Chapter 9

Sports Video Essentials - Level 2 - Sports Analytics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48VfDSImwjY As sports production technology advances,…

1 month ago

Tripod Warriors: The Best Mobile Tripod Systems for Sports Video – Chapter 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn_pG8_uqcI Portable Sports Video Systems Recording sports video in the field requires a portable, easy-to-use…

1 month ago