Video conferencing and virtual desktops
Managing Troubleshooting StarLeaf
Last updated January 19, 2021Virtual desktops (also known as thin clients) are generally not compatible with software based video conferencing.
This is not a problem with StarLeaf, but instead an incompatibility between thin clients and real time audio-video applications.
In this topic:
About thin client incompatibility
Real time audio and video relies on a processor being physically connected to a camera and microphone. The processor receives raw audio and video from the mic and camera, compresses it to reduce the rate of data, then transmits it over an IP network. A processor at the other end receives the compressed data, decompresses it to reproduce raw audio and video, then outputs this to the physically connected speaker and screen.
However in a thin client deployment, the computer processor is not physically connected to the hardware of the user (camera, microphone, screen, etc), because the processor is instead in a server farm. This means that the raw audio and video data has to be sent across a server to be compressed and decompressed, which is a lot slower than being a normal desktop setup.
StarLeaf recommends to avoid using thin clients for video conferencing. Instead use a:
- PC or a laptop with a physical processor
- Dedicated video conferencing endpoint, such as a Yealink VP59
Yealink VP59
The Yealink VP59 is a video phone with a large touchscreen display, in-built camera, and corded handset. It can be a good solution for organizations who do not want to deploy PCs and laptops as their video conferencing solution.