Microsoft Teams will use green screen technology for video calls

Cringing low-quality virtual backgrounds have been a staple of video conferencing at work since the Covid-19 pandemic began, but as of April 2023, Microsoft Teams has a solution, in the form of green screen support.

Artificial intelligence is at the point where software such as
NVIDIA Broadcast
and
Google Measure
can support virtual backgrounds and blur effects without additional software or hardware, but for maximum quality, a green screen works wonders.

How? In the
list of Microsoft 365 roadmaps
for the planned feature, Microsoft says that “Green screen improves the sharpness and definition of the virtual background effect around your face, head, ears and hair. It also allows you to display a prop or other object in your hand to be more visible to other call participants.”

Teams Green Screen

Having a real, physical green screen behind you during your 9-5 is slightly more embarrassing than pretending to be on the beach or a repulsive strawberry, but there’s a good reason why you might want to invest in it when the feature rolls out.

“The virtual background with a green screen,” Microsoft goes on to say, “provides the best virtual background effect, consumes less system resources, allowing your Teams to run more smoothly.”

If your mobile workstation or business laptop has low specifications and you’ve had trouble getting virtual backgrounds to work properly in Teams, a green screen may be the best way to participate in this often strange and frightening feature.

And if you really scare (and terrorize) your colleagues in Teams, you can go a step further and set up a metaverse-style avatar.