Great news for Meet users: Google has finally made it 1080p! However, as cool as that could be, there’s a catch, as it always is. Google Meet allows 1080p video chats, but only for those who are willing to pay some money. The tech giant recently announced the change to a small number of Workspace and Google One users.
According to Google, the following plans can enjoy the new 1080p video feature:
- Workspace Business Standard
- Business Plus
- Enterprise Starter
- The Teaching and Learning Upgrade
- Enterprise Essentials
- Enterprise Standard
- Enterprise Plus
- Education Plus
- Frontline
- Users with a Google One subscription that allows at least 2TB of storage
See the new 1080p video feature in action:
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So, how does Google Meet actually work in 1080p?
As previously mentioned, the new feature comes with a catch. Only 1080p video chats are available on Google Meet’s web-based platform, and that depends on whether your computer’s webcam really supports that quality. Okay, and there’s another thing. Google also explained that sending 1080p video will actually need more data and that it will automatically change your resolution if bandwidth is “constrained.”
By choosing Turn on HD video after choosing the three dots in the upper right corner of your video stream, you may enable the new function, which is off by default.
It’s definitely a much-needed upgrade; too bad we actually waited so long for it, right?! I mean, it’s pretty great that we can now see our friends and coworkers more clearly, considering how Google Meet previously only supported resolutions of 720p or even below in some cases.
On other platforms, calls in 1080p are already supported. Let’s take Zoom, for example, or Microsoft Teams, which has offered 1080p quality for quite some time.
What are your thoughts on Google Meet’s recent upgrade?