Virtual background size and resolution

Most virtual backgrounds look soft or badly cropped for one of three reasons: wrong aspect ratio, not enough pixels, or a logo that was too small to begin with. All three are avoidable.

The short answer

Make it 1920 x 1080 pixels, 16:9, saved as PNG or JPG. That works on every platform and every screen size. If you only read one line, read that one.

Aspect ratio matters more than size

Webcams are 16:9. So is the frame your video appears in. If your background is any other shape, the software crops or stretches it, and either way the composition you carefully arranged moves.

A square image loses the sides. A 4:3 image loses the top and bottom. A portrait image is unusable. If your source file is the wrong shape, fix the shape before you worry about anything else.

How many pixels you actually need

• 1280 x 720 is the minimum most platforms accept, and it will look soft on a large monitor
• 1920 x 1080 is the right answer for almost everyone
• 2560 x 1440 gives you headroom to crop or reposition without losing detail
• Beyond that is wasted, since the video stream is compressed far below your source resolution anyway

The stream your participants receive is usually well under 1080p. That is not a reason to use a small file. Compression degrades a soft source much faster than a sharp one, so starting sharp is what protects the result.

DPI does not matter

DPI and PPI are print concepts. They describe how many dots fit in a physical inch of paper. A screen has no inches, only pixels. A 1920 x 1080 image at 72 DPI and the same image at 300 DPI are pixel for pixel identical, and both display the same.

If a tool asks you for DPI when exporting for screen, ignore it and check the pixel dimensions instead.

File format and size

• PNG for anything with a logo, text or hard edges. It compresses without introducing artefacts
• JPG for photographic backgrounds with no text, at quality 85 or higher
• Avoid GIF, which is limited to 256 colours and will band your gradients
• Keep the file under about 5MB. Zoom accepts more but large files slow the app down

If you are choosing between a 1920 x 1080 PNG and a 3840 x 2160 JPG, take the PNG. Sharp edges on a logo survive PNG compression and do not survive JPG compression.

Your logo needs its own resolution

This is the one people miss. A 1920 pixel wide background containing a logo that was only 200 pixels wide will show a soft, slightly furred sign no matter how good the background is.

As a rule, your logo file should be at least 1000 pixels on its longest edge. An SVG is better still, because it has no fixed resolution and stays sharp at any size. See our guide to logo file formats for what to use and how to get one.

Leave the centre clear

The middle of the frame is where your head and shoulders sit. Anything placed there gets covered by you, and gets chewed by the edge detection that separates you from the background.

Put the sign on one side, at a believable height, and keep the lower centre of the image empty. This is why our backdrops are built with a clear wall area to one side rather than a logo panel in the middle.

Platform specifics

• Zoom: 16:9, minimum 1280 x 720, GIF, JPG or PNG. See our Zoom guide
• Microsoft Teams: JPG or PNG, 1920 x 1080 recommended. Teams keeps its own copy, so replacing a file on your computer does not update it. See our Teams guide
• Google Meet: custom uploads work in Chrome only. See our Google Meet guide

Common questions

What size should a Zoom background be?

1920 x 1080 pixels at a 16:9 aspect ratio. Zoom accepts a minimum of 1280 x 720, but 1080p looks noticeably sharper on a large monitor.

Does a higher resolution background look better on a video call?

Up to a point. 1920 x 1080 is enough, and 2560 x 1440 gives you room to crop. Beyond that makes no visible difference because the video stream is compressed well below your source resolution.

Should I use PNG or JPG for a virtual background?

PNG if the image contains a logo, text or hard edges, because JPG compression creates visible artefacts around them. JPG is fine for purely photographic backgrounds.

Why does my virtual background look blurry?

Usually the source image is below 1280 x 720, or it has been upscaled from something smaller. It can also be your logo rather than the background, if the logo file was low resolution before it was placed.

Does DPI matter for a virtual background?

No. DPI describes print output. Screens work in pixels only, so a 1920 x 1080 image looks identical at 72 DPI and 300 DPI.

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