Morae Learning Center

Morae Tutorial:

Video Delay in Observer

Depending on the Observer options you choose, you may experience a video delay in Observer. This tutorial explains why this delay happens and how to choose the correct options for your testing environment.

See the following topics for more information:

• Help Me Choose
• Observer Session Options Explained

Help Me Choose

The option you choose depends on your testing needs and setup.

You need to decide if quality or delay is more important to your observers:

• If video quality is most important, choose Highest streaming quality.
• If the least amount of delay between live session and video is important, choose Good streaming quality.

If you choose Good streaming quality and answer Yes to the any of the following questions, you will also want to mute the audio:

• Is your Observer computer in the same room as the participant?
• Can the observer hear the participant without using the computer?
• Do observers need to see the participant video in realtime?
• Have you noticed a video delay?

Observer Session Options Explained

The Connect to Recorder dialog (Connection > Connect) allows you to select Observer session options. The option you choose here will determine if you have a video delay.

The available options are:

Highest streaming quality

• Video is the highest quality available with Morae.
• A several second delay is present in the Observer display.
• Observers see the screen and/or camera video and hear the audio.
• Video and audio streams are combined into a single Windows Media Stream and sent through the network. This process can take time and will always introduce some amount of delay.

Good streaming quality

You can use this option in one of the following ways:

• Include Audio (Uncheck Mute Audio box)
  • A slight delay is present in the Observer display.
  • Observers see the screen and/or camera video and hear the audio.
  • Video and audio streams are combined into a single Windows Media Stream and sent through the network. This process can take time and will always introduce some amount of delay.
• Mute Audio (Check Mute Audio box)
  • Observers see the screen and PIP video, but do not hear the audio.
  • Requires less bandwidth and compression.
  • Streams at virtually real-time speeds.
  • Use if your testing environment demands no delays

Audio is always included in the WMV file saved by Observer, whether or not you can hear it while observing a session.