Google has announced that it is bringing HD video calling in Hangouts. This will be rolled out with Hangouts on Air, live streamed version of Hangouts. All Google users will get this new feature over the next few days.
As this is the HD video calling, it required a HD capable camera. It will also consume more data than regular video chat on Hangouts.
For making HD hangouts possible, Google has switched from H.246 video codec to open VP8 codec. For using HD hangouts, users will not have to install any third-party plugin in the browser. Meanwhile Google is working on integration WebRTC at higher level with Hangouts.
“connect with friends and family in high res with hd hangouts! we are rolling hd out to hangouts on air initially, then to all desktop hangout video calls over the next few weeks,” Chee Chew posted on Google+, hd hangouts require an hd-capable webcam, more bandwidth and more processing power than standard definition. so if your computer and network are capable, turn the quality up to hd!”
Google already launched a low-bandwidth version of Hangouts earlier this year. It requires only 150 kbps internet speed.
