Enhancing Teams video quality with Super Resolution

Microsoft Teams continues to evolve to provide users with the best possible experience in virtual communication. One of the latest advancements is the introduction of Super Resolution (SR) support for Teams that we announced in Microsoft Ignite 2024. It is now available in public preview and will be general available in March. This feature, initially rolled out for Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ PCs, enhances video quality, especially under poor network conditions.

Network conditions can pose a challenge during high-traffic Teams meetings. Limited network bandwidth can force the transmission of lower-resolution videos, leading to decreased video quality. Traditionally, Teams would upscale these videos using conventional methods, which can result in blurry visuals.

Super Resolution for Teams leverages the power of Copilot+ PC AI to restore video resolution. Instead of relying on conventional upscaling methods, which fall short in delivering clearer images, Teams uses AI to enhance video resolution, producing notably improved video.

The following video clip shows a 2-participant Teams call with low resolution (360p) incoming video and compares the call quality before and after Super Resolution is enabled.

The following screen captures zoom into the video to highlight the differences and improvements between the two.

A frame from the video (with SR ON) showing a zoomed in region, comparison it with and without SR enabled.

We conducted a subjective video quality assessment of a two-participant end-to-end Teams call. The call received several 360p resolution videos, which needed to be viewed at approximately 720p viewport size. The results indicated an average increase of +0.6 CMOS in quality (Comparative Mean Opinion Score), where users rated the quality difference on a scale from -3 (Much Worse) to +3 (Much Better). Additionally, 68% of users rated the super-resolution (SR) results as superior.

Most video calls are stable and transmit the required resolutions without needing upscaling. Super Resolution remains disabled in those scenarios. However, if bandwidth is limited, Teams will automatically enable Super Resolution for videos that do not meet the receiver’s viewing sizes. The effectiveness of SR depends on the level of upscaling needed, being more noticeable in severely degraded videos (such as the example above) than those needing slight upscaling. Thus, the feature's performance varies with bandwidth constraints.

By default, the feature is enabled for devices connected to a power supply. This ensures that users benefit from the enhanced video quality without worrying about battery consumption. When devices are running on battery power, Super Resolution is switched off to conserve energy, allowing users to stay mobile without draining their battery. Users may also disable this feature manually via a toggle button in the "Video settings" dialog.

The current release is exclusive to the Teams Windows app on Snapdragon X based Copilot+ PCs, and supported on all OEM Copilot+ PC platforms: Surface, Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo. Teams will continue improving the feature’s performance, as well as expand this capability to other devices sporting capable NPUs. This includes Intel and AMD Copilot+ PCs. The vision is to make Super Resolution a standard feature across various platforms, ensuring all users can experience superior video quality.

The introduction of Super Resolution for Teams marks a significant milestone in enhancing virtual communication. By addressing the limitations of conventional upscaling methods and leveraging the power of AI, users can look forward to clearer, more detailed video streams, even in challenging network conditions. Stay tuned for further updates and experience the difference with Super Resolution in public preview.