Delays in video calls :( I'm using a 15" Microsoft Surface Laptop 3

Question

Hi! I'm experiencing a delay / latency in my video calls. The audio comes in as normal but the video part always either lags or kind of follows, maybe 1 second a little later than the audio? It's not fatal but also very inconvenient.

• This is happening in both Edge and Chrome.
• I've tried using my home wifi (an NBN), and then switching to my phone's hotspot, and it's still the same.
• Happens across all platforms: Messenger video calls, Zoom, Student Collaborate Ultra, etc. (I think the only place where this doesn't quite happen is Microsoft Teams).

I should also mention that it tends to work perfectly fine at the beginning. So for instance when I first enter the room - it stays fine for maybe a few minutes, but then it starts to delay again afterwards. Same as when I quickly switch my internet connection

• this one happens sometimes, other times it just fails and keeps showing the delay - but for instance if I quickly switch from wifi to hotspot, I get that perfect video-audio for the first few minutes after switching, but then it slowly regresses again.

Please help! I love my laptop but honestly nobody warned about this (and it's a serious performance issue!)

Answer 1

Hi JoanneAmarisa,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We're sorry for the troubles this may have caused you.

It seems like a compatibility issue between the Surface device and those apps. However, we can try to troubleshoot this issue so what I'd like you to do is  to run the system file checker to check if there are corrupted system files that are just looping around causing this kind of issue to exist.  To run the system file checker, kindly type Command Promp****t on the search box next to the Windows icon and run it as administrator. Once done, type and enter s****fc /scannow. Let it load, detect and repair those corrupted files. Whether it detects a corrupted file or whatnot, kindly restart your Surface device and please run the Surface Diagnostic Toolki****t and set the battery performance to recommended.

After running SDT, kindly open the device Task Manager to check if this issue is driven by software applications that consume most of the time the CPU of the Surface device. Kindly uninstall/reinstall those apps and check if this makes any changes.

If this helps, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if you need further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 2

Hi Crest_Z, thanks so much for a prompt response.

I've done everything up to the Task Manager part (which I'm not quite sure what you meant. I do have 87 background processes running, is that normal? Can that be it? They're all at 0% though, nothing like a spike in the power etc. But I'm noticing now that my Google Chrome appears 8 times on the list ._. will try to reinstall that but at the moment it's telling me "please close all Chrome windows" when in fact I have closed it... is this a common issue?)

A change I did do, however, was install updates to my Surface before running the Diagnostic Toolkit. (The Command Prompt repaired a few things in the beginning, then I installed some updates, and the Diagnostic came out clean.)

Hopefully the updates and the repair cleared a few things up with this issue. and I will check back in next week and let you know if it solved it. THanks so much again!

Answer 3

Hi JoanneAmarisa,

Thanks for your response. I really appreciate it. Please update me if same issues arises after couple of days.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 4

Hi,

Checking back in again. I've just finished a class on Student Collaborate Ultra and it seems that the problem is still there. I caught it from the moment the video was in sync to the moment it fell into delay and it's almost as if it hit a point where it lags, but then instead of picking back up in sync with the audio the video just resumes. If that makes sense? Hence the latency.

I'm really torn because I have already installed the updates etc like I mentioned and don't know how else to repair this. Is this just embedded into the surface laptop? Surely it can't be because this is a serious performance issue (the delay goes from 1-2 seconds late, as in I see my tutor saying "oh" about 2 seconds after I hear her.)

Any help would be really useful. Thanks again!

Answer 5

Another thing that makes it gradually worse (strangely) is if it works fine mostly, I switch tabs or windows and then when I come back it's delayed and irreversible.