Skype Screen Sharing – Free or Premium?

Over the past couple of months I have seen several tweets complaining that Skype’s screen sharing was no longer free – including screen sharing between the two parties on a 1:1 call. Not true. With Skype 5.10 for Windows and Skype 5.8 for Mac some messaging was added or modified to help users clarify the situation in situo. I was able to check out various scenarios with the following PC’s and Skype subscriptions:

Here’s where it’s at:

A Skype Premium subscription provides:

• Hosting of Skype Group Video calls with up to ten participants;
  • only the host requires Skype Premium
  • includes group screen sharing
• Live Chat support
• Unlimited SkypeOut calling to the PSTN in a country code of your choice
  • Canada and U.S. (country code 1) are combined
  • Applies to those 40+ countries where Skype Calling Plans are available

When considering Skype screen sharing on a 1:1 voice or video call, start out by recognizing that screen sharing basically uses a Skype video channel. As for cost – two video channels within a Skype conversation are free; more than two video channels requires a Skype Premium subscription. A video channel can be either a video stream from a user’s webcam or a screen sharing session.

Here is what I confirmed:

• On a 1:1 voice call, screen sharing can be activated and does not require a subscription. Works between any of the PC’s above; only one video channel is used.
• On a 1:1 video call, here’s where the Skype client’s messaging has been introduced. Start a two party video call where neither party has a Skype Premium subscription (for example, between the Windows 7 laptop and MacBook). This uses two video channels – one each way. Then attempt to launch screen sharing; a message window will come up in Skype 5.10 for Windows:

So with three potential video channels, a Skype Premium subscription is required. However, as the message window mentions, click on the “Continue with a free call” button and the sharing party’s webcam is turned off to allow free Skype  screen sharing where only two video channels are used. Note that a 7-day trial of a Skype Premium subscription is available in order to experience group video calls and screen sharing.

Using the MacBook Pro and MacBook where only one party has a Skype Premium subscription, either of the two parties can launch screen sharing without sacrificing a video feed. The two party video continues, with this configuration using three video channels. The party without the subscription will temporarily see a message overlay on their Skype client:

Of course with multiple participants on a Group Video call where at least one participant has a Skype Premium subscription, launching screen sharing from one participant simply “just works’”.

Bottom line: Ever since its introduction over three years ago Skype screen sharing has been a valuable tool for my activities related to testing software, supporting friends and acquaintances and managing this website. Free screen sharing on 1:1 voice and video calls remains available. However, the Skype client messaging had to change to clarify, in situo, the Skype user’s options when launching and using screen sharing.

During these test calls, we also learned that:

If a party starts out with 720p HD video using a H.264 codec embedded into a webcam (using, say, a Logitech C920)  turning on screen sharing will revert the video to 640 x 480 VGA resolution using the VP8 codec, increasing CPU processing load. Returning to HD resolution actually requires not only stopping screen sharing but also stopping and re-starting the webcam.

Related articles

• Placing a Valuation on Skype Premium’s Video Conferencing(voiceontheweb)

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