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Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

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Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#251

Post by supernova87a »

fx32s wrote: post #249
supernova87a wrote: post #247

I have a different issue with Google Meet. I have observed in the last couple months that whenever I create a Google Calendar invite with others, Google has started inserting a Google Meet conference as the location to meet. It was one thing to ask/offer this as an option if you'd like to use it, but now Google is positioning it as if you had chosen that. So if you left it empty, because you usually use some other un…

I was able to change this default in the settings.

Ah, thanks for that!

It's still shady that they turned that on by default to get people to use it...

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#252

Post by MarkyC4 »

jvdvegt wrote: post #82
loosescrews wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meet seems to work better on poor connections, but it does it with a significantly more CPU intensive codec (VP9?). As a result, it only seems to work well if you have a powerful CPU. If you have a weak CPU, Zoom seems to work much better.

On my 2010 Macbook Pro, Meet uses about half the CPU resources as Zoom. Also, audio-lag is much worse in Zoom. Background blur doesn't seem available in Firefox on Ubuntu unfortunately :(

not just Ubuntu, Firefox 82.0.2 on Mac doesn't show the option

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#253

Post by Ntrails »

wffurr wrote: post #242
tsycho wrote: post #220

Having used both Zoom and Meet extensively now for the past 6 months, my experience is: 1/ Your internet connection, especially upload bandwidth and latency matter a lot. 2/ Zoom's desktop app performs very well, but its web version is atrocious. Not just because of the dark patterns they use to force you to install the desktop app, but also its performance is terrible compared to its desktop version, as well as wors…

> 1/ Your internet connection, especially upload bandwidth and latency matter a lot. I moved to a new house, and the quality of my video calls dropped dramatically. Constant freezing and dropouts. It was extremely frustrating to try to participate in a meeting. I could receive fine, but anytime I spoke out, I would drop out within minutes. Speed tests showed plenty of bandwidth, but my modem statistics showed high up…

Today I took a flawless webex meeting on a laptop tethered to my mobile phone, that same tether also allowed me to work without issue over rdp or whatever.

My mobile internet is really fucking good, and often outperforms my sodding wired connection

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#254

Post by Quarrel »

dharma1 wrote: post #15

Sony released some software a couple of months ago that lets you use most of their DSLRs as webcams with USB. My goodness, paired with a fast lens, what a difference to my MacBook webcam, even with these ml blurred backgrounds! It's only 720p and around 15fps but real shallow dof, very little sensor noise, autofocus works. Well worth trying if you have a Sony camera from the last few years. Sensor size and good optic…

Woot. Thanks for pointing this out - I looked for a solution a while back and it seemed like I had to get a separate capture card to connect my Sony DSLR. Will go check this out now.

(I ended up having to buy a little logitech webcam, which has been fine, but being able to pick my lens etc is awesome!)

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#255

Post by kenhwang »

callmeal wrote: post #166
kenhwang wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canon did too! Definitely a huge upgrade over a typical webcam. I'm using my old T1i which can be had for less than $50 these days, plus you can pick up a 18-55mm kit lens for like $20 and the video quality blows away any webcam, especially for the same price. Also recommend battery->power adapter.

The T1i is not listed on their compatibility page. Which version of the utility did you get for it?

Latest version of both. I figured any of the video recording capable DSLRs likely would work fine and gave it a shot.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#256

Post by MarkyC4 »

neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

Also: Consider another shortcut for mute/unmute (cmd + d or ctrl + d is the bookmark shortcut in like every browser... maybe this is intentional?)

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#257

Post by lern_too_spel »

raverbashing wrote: post #135
helpfulgoogler wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not what you asked for, but you can mute/unmute quickly with the keyboard shortcut: ⌘/Ctrl + d

Zoom at least uses Cmd+Shift-A for Audio and V for Video But as the recent Google Icon kerfuffle, UI/UX is not their strength (probably because of opinionated technical people that think you need to A/B shades of blue)

Google's problem is an incompetent product org. An A/B test would have quickly solved UI issues that lead to accidental or underuse of a feature.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#258

Post by wffurr »

Ntrails wrote: post #253
wffurr wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1/ Your internet connection, especially upload bandwidth and latency matter a lot. I moved to a new house, and the quality of my video calls dropped dramatically. Constant freezing and dropouts. It was extremely frustrating to try to participate in a meeting. I could receive fine, but anytime I spoke out, I would drop out within minutes. Speed tests showed plenty of bandwidth, but my modem statistics showed high up…

Today I took a flawless webex meeting on a laptop tethered to my mobile phone, that same tether also allowed me to work without issue over rdp or whatever. My mobile internet is really fucking good, and often outperforms my sodding wired connection

Dial in for voice or use just using T-Mobile 4G was my fallback on bad days. Worked great until I hit my data cap...

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#259

Post by on_and_off »

neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

unpopular opinion it seems : in personals 1:1 calls, I love seeing the UI disappear and just have a full screen video of my SO/family member.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#260

Post by folmar »

tssva wrote: post #155
systemvoltage wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this sort of a Fizz Buzz for a UX/UI design professional? I don't mean to demean anyone, but I see this sort of a thing literally everywhere. Hiding important and absolutely crucial information (that can make or break your product) in the name of minimalism. Coming out of a company that has one of the highest hiring bars for software engineering, and yet, their products have such an awful UX/UI. This isn't an e…

"Hiding important and absolutely crucial information" If we want to give awards for this my vote would go to Apple. I find their products to be horrific when it comes to completely undiscoverable features. iOS is bad on its own but the Apple TV is a total train wreck. I couldn't get rid of that thing with its awful interface and remote fast enough.

I still vote for the Material Design fad. They've named nondiscoverability a virtue.

Can we go to Windows 3.11 design please?

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