The Google+ Photos app is giving users one more reason to store their memories in the cloud by extending one-click enhancements to video.
With Auto Enhance turned on, Google will automatically scan any uploaded videos, looking for potential improvements to lighting, color and stability. Users can then compare the original and enhanced videos and choose which version to keep.
It’s worth noting that Google doesn’t apply the improvements to video automatically, like it does with photos. Instead, users must select which videos to enhance through the Google+ Photos desktop Website.
Google’s Tim St. Clair also points out that the comparison video will have a much lower resolution than the actual footage. That’s because Google is applying the effects in real time, and presumably uses lower quality to speed up the preview process. Once users decide to enhance a video, Google redoes the improvements at the video’s original quality. (You can see an example on YouTube: While the quality is low, the enhanced version shows deeper blues and considerably less shake than the original.)
You can also also apply these enhancements manually. When viewing a video on the Google+ Photos desktop site, click the “More” button at the top of the screen, then click “Auto Enhance.” Google will then show the side-by-side preview so you can choose whether to apply the effects.
Why this matters: Google+ Photos has always been a powerful tool for backing up photos and videos, even if you never touch its social features. Videos lasting less than 15 minutes with 1080p resolution or lower won’t count against your Google storage limit, so setting up automatic backups could be worthwhile for the video improvements alone.