diff --git a/web/app/assets/javascripts/fakeJamClient.js b/web/app/assets/javascripts/fakeJamClient.js
index d64b43ee4..c70d18e3b 100644
--- a/web/app/assets/javascripts/fakeJamClient.js
+++ b/web/app/assets/javascripts/fakeJamClient.js
@@ -87,8 +87,13 @@
         }
         function FTUEGetAvailableEncodeVideoResolutions() {
             return {
-                1: "VGA    (640X480)",
-                2: "WHD    (1280X720)"
+              1 :   "QCIF   (176X144)",
+              2 :   "CIF    (352X288)",
+              3 :   "VGA    (640X480)",
+              4 :   "4CIF   (704X576)",
+              5 :   "1/2WHD (640X360)",
+              6:   "WHD    (1280X720)",
+              7 : "FHD    (1920x1080)"
             }
         }
 
@@ -104,6 +109,14 @@
           return {20:20, 24:24, 30:30}
         }
 
+        function GetCurrentVideoResolution() {
+          return 3;
+        }
+
+        function GetCurrentVideoFrameRate() {
+          return 30;
+        }
+
         function isSessVideoShared() {
             return videoShared;
         }
@@ -1247,7 +1260,8 @@
         this.FTUEGetVideoCaptureDeviceCapabilities = FTUEGetVideoCaptureDeviceCapabilities;
         this.FTUEGetSendFrameRates = FTUEGetSendFrameRates;
         this.FTUESetSendFrameRates = FTUESetSendFrameRates;
-        
+        this.GetCurrentVideoResolution = GetCurrentVideoResolution;
+        this.GetCurrentVideoFrameRate = GetCurrentVideoFrameRate;
 
         this.isSessVideoShared = isSessVideoShared;
         this.SessStopVideoSharing = SessStopVideoSharing;
diff --git a/web/app/assets/javascripts/webcam_viewer.js.coffee b/web/app/assets/javascripts/webcam_viewer.js.coffee
index 4cb997590..9224ce2cc 100644
--- a/web/app/assets/javascripts/webcam_viewer.js.coffee
+++ b/web/app/assets/javascripts/webcam_viewer.js.coffee
@@ -3,16 +3,32 @@ context = window
 context.JK ||= {};
 
 BackendToFrontend = {
-  "QCIF   (176X144)" :   "QCIF   (176X144)",
-  "CIF    (352X288)" :   "CIF    (352X288)",
-  "VGA    (640X480)" :   "VGA    (640X480)",
-  "4CIF   (704X576)" :   "4CIF   (704X576)",
-  "1/2WHD (640X360)" :   "1/2WHD (640X360)",
-  "WHD    (1280X720)":   "WHD    (1280X720)",
-  "FHD    (1920x1080)" : "FHD    (1920x1080)"
+  1 :   "CIF (352x288)",
+  2 :   "VGA (640x480)",
+  3 :   "4CIF (704x576)",
+  4 :   "1/2 720p HD (640x360)",
+  5 :   "720p HD (1280x720)",
+  6 : "1080p HD (1920x1080)"
+}
+
+BackendNumericToBackendString = {
+  1 :   "CIF    (352X288)",
+  2 :   "VGA    (640X480)",
+  3 :   "4CIF   (704X576)",
+  4 :   "1/2WHD (640X360)",
+  5 :   "WHD    (1280X720)",
+  6 :   "FHD    (1920x1080)"
 }
 
 
+BackendToFrontendFPS = {
+
+  1: 30,
+  2: 24,
+  3: 20,
+  4: 15,
+  5: 10
+}
 FrontendToBackend = {}
 for key, value of BackendToFrontend
   FrontendToBackend[value] = key
@@ -74,6 +90,13 @@ context.JK.WebcamViewer = class WebcamViewer
       @logger.debug("Got capabilities from device", caps, device)
       @client.FTUESelectVideoCaptureDevice(device, caps)
 
+  updateBackend: (selectedResolution, selectedFps) =>
+    @logger.debug 'Selecting webcam resolution: ', selectedResolution
+    @logger.debug 'Selecting webcam fps: ', selectedFps
+
+    @client.FTUESetVideoEncodeResolution selectedResolution
+    @client.FTUESetSendFrameRates selectedFps
+
   selectResolution:() =>
     @logger.debug 'Selecting from res control: ', @resolutionSelect
     @resolution = @resolutionSelect.val()
@@ -81,11 +104,7 @@ context.JK.WebcamViewer = class WebcamViewer
       bits = @resolution.split('|')
       selectedResolution = bits[0]
       selectedFps = bits[1]
-      @logger.debug 'Selecting webcam resolution: ', selectedResolution
-      @logger.debug 'Selecting webcam fps: ', selectedFps
-
-      @client.FTUESetVideoEncodeResolution selectedResolution
-      @client.FTUESetSendFrameRates selectedFps
+      @updateBackend(selectedResolution, selectedFps)
 
       # if @isVideoShared
       #   this.setVideoOff()
@@ -153,16 +172,16 @@ context.JK.WebcamViewer = class WebcamViewer
     selectControl = @resolutionSelect
     @logger.debug 'FOUND THESE RESOLUTIONS', resolutions
     @logger.debug 'FOUND THESE FPS', frames
-    context._.each resolutions, (resolution, key, obj) ->
+    context._.each resolutions, (resolution, resolutionKey, obj) ->
 
       #{1: "CIF    (352X288)", 2: "VGA    (640X480)", 3: "4CIF   (704X576)", 4: "1/2WHD (640X360)", 5: "WHD    (1280X720)", 6: "FHD    (1920x1080)"}
       context._.each frames, (frame, key, obj) ->
 
-        frontendResolution = BackendToFrontend[resolution]
+        frontendResolution = BackendToFrontend[resolutionKey]
 
         @logger.error("unknown resolution! #{resolution}") unless frontendResolution
 
-        value = "#{resolution}|#{frame}"
+        value = "#{resolutionKey}|#{frame}"
         text = "#{frontendResolution} at #{frame} fps"
 
         option = $('<option/>',
@@ -170,7 +189,30 @@ context.JK.WebcamViewer = class WebcamViewer
           text: text)
         selectControl.append option
 
-    if @resolution != null and @resolution != ''
-      selectControl.val(@resolution)
+    # load current settings from backend
+    currentResolution = @client.GetCurrentVideoResolution()
+    currentFrameRate = @client.GetCurrentVideoFrameRate()
+
+    autoSelect = false
+    if currentResolution == 0
+      @logger.warn("current resolution not specified; defaulting to VGA")
+      autoSelect = true
+      currentResolution = 2
+    if currentFrameRate == 0
+      autoSelect = true
+      @logger.warn("current frame rate not specified; defaulting to 30")
+      currentFrameRate = 30
     else
-      selectControl.val(BackendToFrontend["WHD    (1280X720)"] + '|30')
+      convertedFrameRate = BackendToFrontendFPS[currentFrameRate]
+      @logger.debug("translating FPS: backend numeric #{currentFrameRate} to #{convertedFrameRate}")
+      currentFrameRate = convertedFrameRate
+
+    selected = currentResolution + '|' +  currentFrameRate
+
+    # backend needs to be same as frontend
+    if autoSelect
+      @updateBackend(currentResolution, currentFrameRate)
+
+    @logger.debug("setting current value of video settings to: " + selected)
+
+    selectControl.val(selected)
diff --git a/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/accountVideo.css.scss b/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/accountVideo.css.scss
index 41b060986..92ab7deb7 100644
--- a/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/accountVideo.css.scss
+++ b/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/accountVideo.css.scss
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
   div.subcaption {
     font-size:14px;
-    width:500px;
   }
 
   .sub-header {
diff --git a/web/app/views/clients/_help.html.slim b/web/app/views/clients/_help.html.slim
index ca21af96f..991c3937d 100644
--- a/web/app/views/clients/_help.html.slim
+++ b/web/app/views/clients/_help.html.slim
@@ -327,6 +327,6 @@ script type="text/template" id="template-help-ftue-video-settings"
   .ftue-video-settings
     p
       ul
-        li If you have a quad core computer, we recommend selecting 720p resolution (1280x720) and 30 frames per second (fps).
-        li If you have a dual core computer, we recommend selecting one half 720p resolution (640x360) and 30 frames per second (fps).
+        li If you have a quad core computer, we recommend selecting 720p HD resolution (1280x720) and 30 frames per second (fps).
+        li If you have a dual core computer, we recommend selecting 1/2 720p HD resolution (640x360) and 30 frames per second (fps).
         li If you're not sure what to choose, don't worry, you can change this later while in sessions to experiment with it.
\ No newline at end of file