Google Meet adds support for 1080p in group video calls

Google Meet adds support for 1080p in group video calls

Illustration: The Verge

Google is enabling the ability to stream 1080p-quality webcam feeds during group calls for Workspace subscribers. The company first enabled the high-quality video feature back in April; however, it only worked during one-on-one sessions at the time. Now, the feature is extending to group calls on the web that include three or more participants.

To opt in to the new feature, participants who have Full HD (or better) webcams will need to turn it on by accepting a prompt that’ll automatically appear on the join screen. Once enabled, a 1080p icon will appear on the upper right of the video box to confirm it’s on. People in the meeting can view the higher-quality video if the enabled user is pinned or if the viewer has a large enough screen to see the higher-resolution video.

Settings for sending and receiving high-quality video can be set under Settings > Video on the web, and Google Meet will auto-adjust the quality if network bandwidth tightens.

GIF: Google

The prompt will appear before joining a meeting.

The new update is available now for Workspace customers, including Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Workspace Individual subscribers, according to Google. This time around, it appears that paying Google One users aren’t included, so they will have to settle for only one-on-one 1080p calls.