How to Blur Background in Google Meet
Google is rolling out new features for its current video chat apps, Googles Meet and Duo. Meet updates include a new background blur tool; it now also allows users to view up to 49 camera feeds using a “tiled view” in large group meetings.
The “new” Duo feature isn’t all that new: Google is restoring screen sharing after removing it from the app in 2018. This change is a welcome but unexpected step; Google Duo support is lagging behind and there are signs that it could be added to Google Meet in the near future . For now, however, he is enjoying an impromptu update.
Screen sharing is not yet available on Google Duo, but we bet it will be similar to the previous iteration of the feature. Users simply swipe up while talking and hit the Screen Share icon to activate it. Whatever form the new screen sharing takes on Duo, it will appear in a future update in the coming weeks.
How to blur background in Google Meet
As for Meet’s new background blur feature, a lot of users should already have access to it. Here’s how to find the setting and enable it:
- Click the three-dot More button in the lower right corner of the call screen.
- Select “Blur Background” and the effect will be applied automatically. You can do this during a conversation or before joining it.
- You can also enable background blur in full screen mode by clicking the Background Blur icon in the lower right corner (it looks like a silhouette of a person with lattice lines).
Blurring the background is a useful option for several reasons. It focuses attention on your face and can hide clutter (and other potentially personal material or information) in the background. It’s also an aesthetically pleasing effect, like an ersatz portrait mode for your webcam.
However, the blur tool has one drawback: it is systemic. Google warns that the blur feature can affect your PC’s performance, especially if your PC isn’t very powerful. This could mean slower apps, longer load times, and even lower call quality to Google Meet. Fortunately, you can easily turn off this effect again and restore your computer’s performance if you notice any unreasonable slowdown.
[ TheNextWeb ]