CPU usage 100% with streaming/video conference although System Monitor Process shows much less

What are you using to stream? How are you initiating the stream?

What is the output of:

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep model\ name; lsb_release -a; uname -a

Thanks

For example: with Zoom I use the desktop app to join a conference. It tends to go to 100% and seize up especially with multiple parties.
This is the requested output:
paul@paul-ThinkPad-T420s:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep model\ name; lsb_release -a; uname -a
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic
Linux paul-ThinkPad-T420s 4.15.0-96-generic #97-Ubuntu SMP Wed Apr 1 03:25:46 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

ON the System Monitor it shows 4 CPUs

If I boot and go directly to a streaming video or conferrnec, for example,CPU consumption is only at about 40%. And I may even open pages on the browser and the CPU consumption is initially at a medium level. However, with time,,consumption climbs to almost 100%. And if I close all applications other than the video conference accessed from a desktop application, and even if I have my own camera off, the consumption stays at 100%. It is almost as if the hard drive were a bucket that begins to fill up and doesn't empty even if I cut off al the other streams. If I check the processes tab on the System Monitor, it shows a consumption of maybe 40%, however the resources graph is at 100% and the whole machine tends to grind to a halt. When I finally close the video conference, only then does the consumption go down.

So it's a Zoom issue? Is this the issue here?

I don't believe it is a Zoom issue. That is an example. Another example. I have installed Genymotion to run a virtual device for Whatsapp. When I open Whatsapp messages, COU goes up to 100%.

I disconnect Genymotion and the virtual device. I enter Chrome and connect to Uberconference (another conference app). We are a party of 4. ONe party has video, I connect video, the third and fourth are only audio. From time to time it shoots up to 100% for a time, then drops down, then up again.

Once there are several interventions the CPU consumption flattens out and remains at 100%

If you install a different desktop is it the same there? Run:

sudo apt install lxde

Log off an log in to the LXDE session. Do you see the same issue there please?

I installed it, but when I log in again, LXDE doesn't show up as an options.

You select LXDE at the login page. Its not an application that you run like you run a web browser

It doesn't show up on the login page. Hmmm

Ah, my apology for my ignorance. Now I found out how to log in on LXDE. I will try it and let you know.

The problem persists with LXDE

OK so it's not desktop related and LXDE uses a non compositing session so rules that out too

Does this help
https://makandracards.com/makandra-orga/473077-how-to-avoid-100-cpu-load-when-screen-sharing-through-zoom

Thank you for sticking with me on this. I will certainly try the above proposal and let you know.

I followed the above instructions. In a one-to-one Zoom conference, the CPU consumption on the resources graph goes up to 60%-80%, but the CPU consumption registered on Process show approx 20% less. I haven't had a multiple participant Zoom conference to see what impact.

I use Genymotion and a virtual machine to access Whatsapp. A similar phenomenon seems to happen.

Why not use WhatsApp webapp
https://askubuntu.com/questions/684415/install-whatsapp-webapp-on-ubuntu

Good suggestion about Whatsapp webapp. The reason I don't use it is that it requires a smartphone to read que QR code in order to use Whatsapp. I don't have a smart phone.
Evidently Genymotion and the Virtual machine are heavy users. Would Anbox work as a lighter alternative? https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html

The strange thing is that high CPU consumption doesn't happen when I initially use Genymotion and Virtual Machine, for example, or the web browser sites. It's more like CPU consumption begins to accumulate, like a bucket filling up. I don't know if that makes sense....

I think I will just learn to live with the CPU behavior. Saturday, on my dual boot system I connected to a Zoom conference on Windows, then on Ubuntu, and the CPU and the Memory use were low and much the same. Except that after about 20 minutes on Ubuntu, all of a sudden CPU jumped to 100%. Don’t know why. Then today I participated in a 1-1/2 hour long Zoom conference with 35 people, and the consumption was low.

I notice that when streaming on Firefox, the consumption was high. I had Video Download Helper as an extension, but I was not using it. However, on the Firefox Task Manager, it showed that Video Download Helper had a medium CPU consumption, off and on. I disabled it entirely, and the consumption while streaming went down to quite low.

So…, I think it will be a matter of just paying attention, and seeing what I have to shut down at particular moment. Thanks for your help.

Just to add, that there still apparently persists the effect that after extened use,, CPU consumptions tends to rise and stay high, and I need to reboot. But this, too, I can live with

Information: When using Skype, if the Skype image is at full screen, CPU goes to 100%. If I reduce the size of the Skype video image, CPU goes down

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