Making the Call Look Right
Stagehand controls how the Output window is sized and rendered so your share doesn’t end up frozen, stretched, or blurry on the other end of the call.
Output quality modes
Stagehand offers three modes, set from Settings → General or the menu bar’s Output Quality submenu:
| Mode | Window sizing | Animations |
|---|---|---|
| Auto (default) | Resolves to one of the modes below at runtime | Follows whichever mode it resolved to |
| Share Optimized | Fixed conferencing profile (1080p / 900p / 720p) | Disabled, static backgrounds only |
| Local Presentation | Pixel-perfect match to your source’s native size | Allowed, animated curtain gradients play |
Auto checks which apps are currently running and picks for you: browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Arc), Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Webex trigger Share Optimized, since those are almost always conferencing contexts where a predictable, bandwidth-friendly pixel budget matters more than pixel-perfect fidelity. If none of those are running, Auto resolves to Local Presentation instead. This check runs live, so Auto reacts the moment you launch or quit a conferencing app; no manual switching needed. (Note: detection is based on the app running, not an active call. An open browser resolves to Share Optimized even with no call in progress.)
Override Auto any time you want a specific behavior guaranteed. For example, force Local Presentation while rehearsing a slide deck solo, before anyone is actually watching.
Presenting fullscreen slide decks
If you select a specific app window as your source and that app then goes fullscreen (Keynote, PowerPoint, a fullscreen browser tab), Stagehand substitutes display capture for that screen instead, since capturing a genuinely fullscreen window is unreliable, then switches back the moment you exit fullscreen. You don’t need to reselect anything.
Multi-display setups
On a single display, Share Optimized fills the visible screen area at your chosen profile’s aspect ratio for maximum quality. On multi-display setups, it instead uses a compact, profile-sized window, useful when you want the Output window visible alongside your source rather than covering the whole screen.