Adjusting Chat Settings

Once you have the Google Voice and Video plug-in installed, a set of options appear that enable you to adjust the settings (as shown in Figure 7-9). Access these by clicking the down-facing arrow next to Chat and choosing Settings.

The following options are available:

+ Verify your settings. Click the + icon to reveal a video preview window and microphone and audio volume meters. Use these to check that your settings are working. If there’s a problem, click Troubleshoot your settings.

+ Camera. If you have multiple cameras attached to your computer, you can choose which one to use here.

+ Microphone. You can select different audio input sources.

+ Speakers. Choose which speakers you wish to output audio to.

+ Enable echo cancellation. This check box (selected by default) prevents echo feedback caused by audio bouncing out of the speaker at one side and into the microphone.

+ Enable high-resolution video. This check box (unselected by default) enables higher-quality video but requires more bandwidth and can lead to performance issues.

+ Report quality statistics to help improve voice and video chat. This check box (selected by default) sends information to Google to help improve the video service.

+ Play a sound notification when new chat messages arrive. This check box (selected by default) plays a sound when you get a new message. This requires Flash to be installed in your web browser.

Click Save Changes or Cancel to return to Google+.