Because video calling apps are now necessary for conducting business in the modern day, ChromeOS is getting ready to improve those apps with background blur and other practical features.
Many aspects of business, particularly meetings, have shifted online during the past few years. Video programs like Google Meet, Zoom, and others make it simpler to even meet up with pals.
Some programs have their own ways to improve your video, such as background replacement, background blurring, and light-room adjusting effects. built-in video effects features like portrait blur and Center Stage reframing are available on some more recent devices, including as Macs with Apple Silicon, and they are compatible with any program that uses your camera.
According to a recent code change , it appears that Google’s ChromeOS team is attempting to imitate the built-in video camera effects of macOS. Starting things off is a built-in backdrop blur option that is originally disabled via a feature flag.
the vc background blur setting
enables the background blur function for Chromebook video conferences.
#vc-background-blur
The background blur will be powered by machine learning , which may indicate that it will only be accessible on more recent ChromeOS devices, based on what we can put together. Google is now experimenting with background blurring on Chromebooks powered by 11th and 12th generation Intel processors.
Additionally, it’s feasible that ChromeOS will receive additional video effects in addition to background blur. In one comment , a Googler mentions experimenting with the built-in portrait relighting effect and an AUTO FRAMING capability that sounds similar to what Google Duo offered in Google Camera on Pixel phones.


The portrait relighting and backdrop blur techniques appear to be part of a larger strategy to enhance ChromeOS’s video calling apps. We can see that ChromeOS may start watching for when a video call starts in an application like Zoom or Google Meet through a couple other code modifications, 1 and 2 . Although things are still in an early stage, it appears that alerts will be displayed if your network becomes shaky while you are on a call, along with a few additional features we are unsure about.
Overall, it is evident Google wants to make sure that updated Chromebooks can compete with Windows and Mac laptops because it knows how crucial video calling has become. Given the extremely early stage in which these functionalities are at, it might take a few more months for them to reach more Chromebook users.
How frequently do you use Chromebook video calling apps? Would you choose to employ built-in video effects over those that are app-specific? Tell us in the comments section.
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