Black screen is shown when screen sharing

[lfrancia]

Description
When the host tried to share his screen, only black screen is shown on the guest side and not the screen being shared. The user tried multiple times but it didn’t fix the issue.

Error
None

Which version?
Web SDK v.1.8.1

To Reproduce(If applicable)
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Browser A: Launch the application as host and join the meeting
2. Browser B: Launch the application as guest and join the same meeting as host
3. Browser A: Host starts screen sharing
4. Browser B: Guest checks the screen being share

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Device (please complete the following information):

• CPU: Intel®Core™[i5-7400CPU@3.00GHz]
• Browser: Chrome 86.0.4240.111

Additional context
Meeting ID will be sent via email separately

[tommy]

Hey @lfrancia,

Thanks for the details. Do you also have a screenshot? This will help us debug the issue.

-Tommy

[lfrancia]

Hi @tommy,

Unfortunately, the user was not able take a screenshot when it happened.

Regards,
Lara

[tommy]

Hey @lfrancia,

No worries, we will investigate the issue! (ZOOM-216078)

Thanks,
Tommy

[jbrower]

Same issue with Win10, Firefox 83.0, Dell Inspiron 3593 (Intel UHD graphics).

Our company is not allowed to use the Zoom app or Chrome for security and data privacy reasons. We can only use Firefox.

It would seem the “black screen sharing” issue has persisted for well over a year. Is Zoom doing anything to address this other than saying “use the app” ?

[MaxM]

Hey @jbrower,

Thank you for reaching out to the Zoom Developer Forum. I understand that this is a pain point for your use case and I’m able to report that we are actively investigating the issue. We’ll be sure to provide a fix as soon as we can.

What version of the SDK are you using when you encounter this issue?

Thanks,
Max

[jbrower]

Hi Max-

We’re not using the SDK. We are working in telecom and edge comduting standards development, we have several meetings per day where users share technical diagrams and we really need to see their screens. But some of the time – it seems to be user-dependent – we see only a black screen with green outline, while other users see correctly.

Our systems are using Win10 2004 OS build 19041.630 thru .685 and FireFox 83.0, Intel UHD graphics. These boxes have no graphics hardware acceleration to disable, at least as far as we’ve been able to find.

It seems this problem or similar has been mentioned in Zoom support forums for some time. Is there a fix being worked on ?

-Jeff

Quoting “Max M. via Zoom Developer Forum” <zoomdeveloper@discoursemail.com>:

[MaxM]

Hey @jbrower,

Thank you for providing additional information. As this is related to the Zoom Web Client itself, I recommend submitting a request to our Customer Support team as they will be able to assist you more accurately with this issue.

Thanks,
Max

[lfrancia]

Hi @tommy,

Is there any update on this issue?

Lara

[tommy]

Hey @lfrancia,

Yes, please see our posting here:

Web SDK - Upcoming Changes - Stay Up To Date - Documentation

Thanks,
Tommy

[nvivot]

@tommy thanks, we are going to try to integrate 1.8.5 and see if whether we still have this kind of issue or not.

[tommy]

Thanks @nvivot,

Please let us know if you continue to have issues.

-Tommy

[jbrower]

@nvivot, from a web client perspective, is there a way for us to know what version of Client Web SDK or Zoom Web Client the host is using to screen share ? Unlike the app there seems to be no version/build info item to click on. For example we’re in a meeting, host A shares the screen, we can see. Then Host B shares and we get the dreaded black box with green outline. What is different between A and B ? We have no way to troubleshoot without asking hosts (which we are unlikely to do).

[MaxM]

Hey @jbrower,

When it comes to determining the Client Web SDK, that would be dependent on what version they used when building their application. If you want to display the current version in your app, you can try adding package.json fields as environment variables and accessing them using process.env. I was able to find more information on how that can be done here

How to access package.json fields

When it comes to the Zoom Client Web application, they will always be using the latest version. To make sure there are no conflicts, you can clear your cache to ensure there isn’t any old data.

To confirm the version of the client that a participant is using you can use the version field returned from the List Meeting Participants Dashboard API. There are other fields in that API related to their connection details as well.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Max

[jbrower]

Max, thanks for the detailed reply. My only comment would be that perhaps Zoom could make version info display mandatory, or at least a recommended guideline. For example version info could be under “More” (three dots).

For troubleshooting purposes it would be great if clicking that showed version info for client web app, client web SDK (if applicable), and browser. Since the black screen issue seems to be a tough problem, not likely to be fully resolved for some time, if we had any quick troubleshooting method to tell employees or work colleagues “try this combination instead” it would be really helpful.

-Jeff

[tommy]

Hey @jbrower ,

Thank you for this feedback and idea! We will consider this.

-Tommy