jitsi / jitsi-meet

Jitsi Meet - Secure, Simple and Scalable Video Conferences that you use as a standalone app or embed in your web application.
https://jitsi.org/meet
Apache License 2.0
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UX: Show still image or reduce quality if BWE triggers (FFS!) #12211

Closed datenritter closed 1 year ago

datenritter commented 2 years ago

Is your feature request related to a problem you are facing?

"Endpoints were suspended due to insufficient bandwidth bleh bleh bleh"

We all know the BWE trouble. Adjustments have been made. Bugs (might) have been fixed. Firefox can be the culprit. Still, the "stable" version of Jitsi randomly turns off video streams.

Jitsi does this to keep the connection stable. It's smart - from a programmer's point of view.

Unfortunately it is also the biggest flaw Jitisi has. It convinced potential users that Jitsi wouldn't work. Many have turned away.


Describe the solution you'd like

If reduced video quality fails, freeze the last frame. Do not ever turn off video. Not even if there is no video. Show a still. Reduce framerate to 1/s. Whatever. Just never ever turn off the picture!

Why? Well, look at this from a UX perspective and leave the technical reasons aside for a second:

Think of the video stream like water flowing from your tap. You open the tap - water comes out. If someone is working on the water supply, the pressure might be reduced or fluctuate, but most of the time at least some water will come out. As a "tap user" you understand there is something going on, but no need to worry, you won't die of thirst.

What if you had an electronic tap with touch control, automatic pressure regulation, water saving functions and RGB lighting that decided the incoming water pressure was "below the pre-programmed threshold" and then displayed an error instead of giving you at least some water? You might think: "Something is wrong here, either with my tap or with the water supply. I am thirsty. I want to wash my hands. I am angry. I hate this tap. I hate my town. Nobody ever does there job properly! Awwwwhhgwhgwhgwhg!"

This is what Jitsi does to the user when it turns off the video stream.

So you need to give them something. No, not the initials and a red icon. As I said: Low quality. low framerate, still image, even an avatar. Just... something to look at.

Users do understand there is a bandwidth problem, when they see the effects. Not when things just disappear.


Describe alternatives you've considered

The alternative would be to explain to users what is going on under the hood. They wouldn't understand: "ZXXM doesn't do this. BBB doesn't do this. SXXXE doesn't do this. Why does this weirdo open source hacker product do it? Can't they just make the connection better? I have no time for this, I need to work/talk to my grandma/save the world/play Counterstrike..."

github-actions[bot] commented 1 year ago

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.