Limelight

What is Picture-in-Picture?

Picture-in-picture (PiP) places a small secondary video frame inside or over a larger one, like a webcam thumbnail in the corner of a screen share.

Picture-in-picture, abbreviated PiP, shows two video sources at once by nesting a small frame inside a larger one. The classic example is a presenter's webcam in the corner of a shared desktop, but operating systems also use PiP to float a playing video over other apps while you keep working.

Picture-in-picture differs from a split-screen layout, where sources sit side by side at comparable size, and from a full overlay that covers the whole frame. PiP keeps one source dominant and the other as a small, often movable inset.

In presenting, streaming, and recording, PiP keeps a speaker visible without hiding the content they are demonstrating. It is arranged by the compositor or the operating system, not by annotation tools. Limelight works on a separate layer of the live macOS screen, adding cursor spotlights, keystrokes, and drawing, and it does not create, position, or record picture-in-picture frames.

Why Limelight

  • Nests a small video frame inside or over a larger one
  • Used for webcam insets in screen shares and floating media players
  • Provided by macOS, browsers, and streaming compositors
  • Differs from side-by-side split-screen layouts
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FAQ

Can the picture-in-picture frame be moved?
Usually yes. Most PiP implementations let you drag the inset to any corner and often resize it so it does not cover important content.
Does Limelight provide picture-in-picture?
No. Limelight is a macOS overlay for highlighting and annotation. Picture-in-picture is handled by your streaming, conferencing, or system video player.

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