Visual Effects & Audio Quality

Make your video look professional and your audio crystal clear. Kolab includes built-in tools for virtual backgrounds, background blur, and AI-powered noise cancellation.

First: Run System Check to ensure your camera and microphone are working properly before adjusting effects.

Virtual Backgrounds

What They Do

Replace your actual background with:

• Solid colors - Clean, professional look
• Images - Custom backgrounds or presets
• Blur - Keep focus on you, soften distractions

How to Enable

1. Click the Settings gear icon near your video preview
2. Select Video Settings or Background
3. Choose from:
   • None - Show your real background
   • Blur - Softly blur your background
   • Image - Select a preset or upload custom

Best Practices

Do:

• Use blur if unsure - it's always professional
• Choose backgrounds that match the session's tone
• Test before your session starts
• Ensure good lighting on your face

Don't:

• Use distracting animated backgrounds
• Pick images with text that appears reversed
• Rely on backgrounds to hide poor lighting
• Use in very low-light conditions (edges get weird)

Technical Notes

• Virtual backgrounds use your device's processing power
• Older devices may experience lag with complex backgrounds
• Blur is less resource-intensive than image replacement
• Solid colors work on almost all devices

Background Blur

When to Use Blur

Blur is ideal when:

• Your real background is messy but you don't want a fake image
• You want a professional look without feeling artificial
• Your device struggles with full background replacement
• You're in a café or shared space with movement behind you

Blur Levels

Kolab offers two blur intensities:

• Light blur - Slight softening, background still recognizable
• Heavy blur - Strong blur, background nearly invisible

Tips for Best Results

1. Sit away from your background - More distance = better edge detection
2. Good lighting on face - Helps the AI distinguish you from background
3. Avoid matching colors - Don't wear the same color as your wall
4. Minimize movement behind you - Motion can cause glitches

Noise Cancellation (Krisp)

What It Does

Kolab uses Krisp AI to remove background noise from your audio:

• Keyboard typing
• Dogs barking
• Construction noise
• Kids playing
• Traffic sounds
• Air conditioning hum

How to Enable

1. Click Settings near your microphone controls
2. Find Noise Cancellation or Krisp
3. Toggle On

When to Use

Enable noise cancellation when:

• You're in a noisy environment
• Others are in the room with you
• You can hear background noise in your own audio
• Participating from public spaces

Consider disabling when:

• You're in a quiet, controlled environment
• You need to share environmental audio intentionally
• You're experiencing audio quality issues
• Playing music or audio that should be heard

How It Works

Krisp uses AI to identify and remove non-voice sounds in real-time:

1. Analyzes incoming audio
2. Identifies human voice patterns
3. Filters out everything else
4. Outputs clean voice audio

This happens on your device before audio is transmitted.

Video Enhancement

Camera Selection

If you have multiple cameras:

1. Open Video Settings
2. Select your preferred camera from the dropdown
3. Preview shows the current selection

Tip: External webcams often provide better quality than built-in laptop cameras.

Mirror/Flip Video

Your video appears mirrored to you (like a mirror) but normal to others. If something appears backwards:

1. Open Video Settings
2. Find Mirror or Flip toggle
3. Adjust as needed

Note: Text on your shirt or whiteboards may appear backwards to you but correct to others.

Video Quality

Kolab automatically adjusts video quality based on:

• Your internet connection
• Number of participants
• Device capabilities

If video seems low quality:

1. Check your internet connection speed
2. Close other bandwidth-heavy applications
3. Consider wired ethernet over WiFi
4. Reduce number of visible video feeds

Facilitator Recommendations

For Yourself (the Facilitator)

1. Always use blur or background - You're on camera the most
2. Enable noise cancellation - Your audio quality matters most
3. Test 5 minutes before - Catch issues before participants join
4. Have backup options - Know how to quickly disable effects if they cause problems

Guiding Participants

At session start:

"If you'd like to blur your background or enable noise cancellation, click the gear icon near your video preview."

For noisy participants:

"Hey [name], I'm hearing some background noise. You might want to enable noise cancellation in your settings - it's the gear icon near your microphone."

For camera-shy participants:

"If you're hesitant about your background, try the blur feature. It keeps the focus on you without showing your space."

Troubleshooting for Participants

Device Compatibility

Virtual Backgrounds

Noise Cancellation

Minimum Requirements

For best experience with all effects:

• Modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge)
• Webcam with decent resolution
• Microphone (built-in or external)
• Stable internet connection
• Adequate device processing power

Run System Check to verify your setup meets requirements.

Privacy Considerations

What Stays Local

• Virtual background processing happens on your device
• Noise cancellation processes audio locally before transmission
• Your real background is never transmitted when using virtual backgrounds

What's Transmitted

• Only the processed video/audio is sent to others
• No raw video with your real background leaves your device
• Processing happens before the stream is shared

Related Guides

• Setting Up Audio & Video - Basic A/V setup
• Troubleshooting - Common issues and fixes
• System Check - Verify your setup