diff --git a/tools/liveEventDisplay.py b/tools/liveEventDisplay.py
index edec1eeb..f8e2570f 100644
--- a/tools/liveEventDisplay.py
+++ b/tools/liveEventDisplay.py
@@ -95,6 +95,18 @@
         sys.exit(1)
 os.remove(localMDFFileName)
 
+# postprocess the json file to drop events with no VP tracks
+import json
+content = json.load(open(phoenixFileName, 'rb'))
+newcontent = {}
+for event in content:
+    if len(content[event]['Tracks']['VeloTracks']) > 0:
+        newcontent[event] = content[event]
+    else:
+        print ("No VP track in %s, dropping event" % event)
+# overwrite file with remaining event
+json.dump(newcontent, open(phoenixFileName, 'w'))
+
 # some sanity checks
 try:
     size = os.path.getsize(phoenixFileName)
@@ -109,7 +121,7 @@
 # zip resulting file
 import zipfile
 _, zippedPhoenixFileName = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix=".json.zip")
-zipfile.ZipFile(zippedPhoenixFileName, mode='w').write(phoenixFileName)
+zipfile.ZipFile(zippedPhoenixFileName, mode='w', compression=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED, compresslevel=9).write(phoenixFileName)
 os.unlink(phoenixFileName)
     
 # move resulting file to EOS