In a substantial leap forward for virtual collaboration, Google is set to enhance the quality of group video calls on Google Meet starting from October 2023. This announcement follows Google’s earlier commitment in April to support 1080p video quality for one-to-one video meetings.
While Google continues to support 720p video, it’s now stepping up to provide 1080p video streams for group calls. Additionally, the platform maintains support for 360p resolution, catering to users with limited broadband connections and those streaming via mobile networks with bandwidth constraints.
However, there are a couple of key considerations regarding this enhancement. The most noteworthy limitation is that personal users with free general consumer accounts won’t have access to the higher video quality.
The privilege of utilizing 1080p video quality is reserved for subscribers of specific Google Meet tiers, including Google Workspace Business Standard/Plus, Enterprise Essentials/Standard/Starter/Plus, Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Workspace Individual.
The second constraint relates to the hardware of your computer. To make use of 1080p, a camera capable of supporting this resolution is essential. Many of the best business webcams even go beyond, offering 4K quality.
For other participants to see your video stream in Full HD, they must have your tile pinned in a sufficiently large section of the screen to display the full 1920×1080 pixels.
Notably, the 1080p option will be off by default, and users will need to access the settings menu to enable it. Even with it enabled, Google will dynamically adjust the video quality based on available bandwidth, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted call experience.
The move to support 1080p is a significant step in enhancing the quality of video calls on Google Meet, particularly for professionals who rely on the platform for work and collaboration. While the world of video conferencing continues to evolve, and 4K is still a rarity in this domain, the transition to 1080p represents a substantial upgrade in video quality.
It’s worth noting that, due to display limitations, true 4K support may still be some time away for most video conferencing platforms, but the shift to 1080p is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for better virtual interactions.
