Video call users around the world may have breathed a big sigh of relief after the launch of filters for Microsoft Teams has been delayed.
The company had been working on a new feature for its online collaboration platform that would have allowed users to customize their appearance before joining a video conferencing call.
The tool was set for launch sometime in 2021, but its Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, simply entitled "Microsoft Teams: Video filters" now shows a release date of March 2022.
Lights, camera, filters
The roadmap entry explains that Teams users will soon gain access to a number of different video filters, which will give them the ability to dial up and down certain aspects of their feed.
“Before joining a meeting, you can use filters to subtly adjust lighting levels and smooth out facial features to customize your appearance,” wrote Microsoft.
The company first announced its intention to introduce Microsoft Teams video filters in summer last year, before then targeting an August 2021 release window until today's update.
It added that the feature could prove useful to a range of users, especially those working out of a dimly lit home office or using a poor-quality webcam.
Filters are also already present in competing offerings such as Google Meet, which recently revealed a new settings panel to help both you and your workspace look the best you can when joining video calls.
With Google Meet's new settings panel, users will be able to quickly access effects such as background blur, background images and styles before and during a video call.
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