You’ve probably seen this process used on a weather forecast news segment, with the presenter standing in front of a large map showing weather patterns. This makes it look like the actor or presenter is somewhere else. By putting the actor or presenter in front of a solid green (or sometimes blue) background, technicians can separate the background from the person in post-production and add any image or video they want in the background. Green screens have been used for decades in the movie, TV, and video game industries in a process known as chroma key compositing. The program doesn’t know exactly where you begin and your background begins, so it will begin to glitch around the edges of your silhouette, such as your neck, head, and arms or fingers. This becomes most apparent when you move. That’s because without a solid color background, the software can’t fully differentiate between you and your background.

If you’ve ever used a virtual background feature without a green screen, you’ve probably noticed the glitches. In this article, we look at the reasons to use a green screen for video conferences, the downsides of this type of background, and when you should definitely NOT use the Zoom green screen for video meetings. While using a green screen for Zoom may seem like a good presentation option, that isn’t always the case. These features are often meant to be used with a green screen-a single-color physical background that enables the software to work properly. Maybe you didn’t have time to clean that day, or there are distractions that will detract from your meeting.įor times like these, video conference providers like Zoom and Microsoft Teams offer virtual backgrounds which replace your physical background with an image or video of your choice. Sometimes on video meetings you don’t want your surroundings to be visible.

Solid zoom backgrounds