How does V100's virtual background API work?

V100 uses MediaPipe's selfie segmentation model to separate the person from the background in real time. The segmentation mask is applied to an offscreen canvas, where the original background is replaced with the selected preset (blur, image, or solid color). The composited frame is then sent as the video track. All processing happens on the client device, so no unprocessed video frames leave the user's machine.

Can I upload custom background images through the API?

Yes. V100's virtual background API accepts custom image URLs or base64-encoded images. You can upload a library of branded backgrounds for your organization and let users select from them, or allow end users to upload their own. Custom images are resized and cropped to match the video aspect ratio automatically.

How does V100's virtual background compare to Zoom's built-in backgrounds?

Zoom's virtual backgrounds are excellent for end users but cannot be controlled programmatically. V100's API lets developers set, change, and enforce virtual backgrounds through code. You can require backgrounds in certain meeting types (e.g., patient consultations), pre-load branded backgrounds, or dynamically change them during a session. Zoom's SDK does not expose this level of background control.

VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS

Video API with
Virtual Backgrounds

Virtual backgrounds are no longer a nice-to-have novelty feature. They are a privacy requirement for healthcare, a branding tool for enterprise, and a professionalism standard for remote work. V100 gives you programmatic control over virtual backgrounds through a REST API -- something Zoom and Teams do not expose to developers. Enable, disable, enforce, and swap backgrounds with a single API call, powered by MediaPipe's selfie segmentation model running entirely on-device.

Get API Key View Code Sample

MediaPipe on-device segmentation

7 presets + custom image upload

No raw frames leave the device

Why Developers Need a Virtual Background API

Zoom and Teams both offer virtual backgrounds to their end users. But if you are building a video application with an SDK, you need programmatic control that consumer platforms do not provide. The gap between "users can pick a background" and "developers can enforce branded backgrounds via API" is the gap V100 fills.

No Programmatic Control in Zoom/Teams

Zoom's SDK lets users choose their own background from the Zoom UI, but you cannot set it through the API. You cannot enforce a branded background for all participants, remove the option to disable it, or dynamically swap backgrounds based on meeting context. Teams is the same -- the background picker is a UI feature, not an API primitive.

Privacy as a Requirement

In telehealth, patients joining from home should not have their living environment visible to clinical staff. In legal depositions, attorneys need to control what is visible in the frame. In enterprise sales, branded backgrounds create a professional impression. These are not optional -- they are business requirements that need API-level enforcement.

Building It Yourself Is Expensive

Implementing virtual backgrounds from scratch requires integrating a segmentation model (TensorFlow.js or MediaPipe), managing an offscreen canvas pipeline, handling WebGL fallbacks, testing across browsers and devices, and maintaining performance on low-end hardware. V100 packages all of this behind a single API parameter.

How V100 Virtual Backgrounds Work

V100's virtual background system uses a three-stage pipeline: segmentation, compositing, and output. The entire pipeline runs on-device in the browser, which means no unprocessed video frames are ever transmitted to V100's servers or to other participants.

Stage 1: MediaPipe Segmentation

V100 uses Google's MediaPipe Selfie Segmentation model to generate a per-pixel mask that separates the person from the background. The model runs at 30fps on modern hardware and degrades gracefully to 15fps on lower-end devices. It processes each frame through a lightweight neural network optimized for real-time performance in WebAssembly.

256x256 input resolution for the segmentation model

Sub-5ms inference per frame on modern GPUs

Edge smoothing to prevent harsh cutout boundaries

Stage 2: Canvas Compositing

The segmentation mask is applied to an offscreen HTML5 Canvas. The background region is replaced with the selected preset -- a Gaussian blur of the original background, a custom image, or a solid color. The foreground (person) is composited on top. The result is captured as a MediaStream via canvas.captureStream() and substituted as the video track.

WebGL-accelerated compositing where available

CPU fallback for devices without WebGL support

Automatic resolution matching to source video

7 Background Presets Plus Custom Upload

V100 ships with seven built-in background presets that cover the most common use cases. Each preset is selectable via the API and can be changed mid-session without interrupting the video stream.

Light Blur

Gentle Gaussian blur (sigma 10). Background is visible but not legible. Good for casual meetings where context matters but details should be obscured.

Heavy Blur

Strong Gaussian blur (sigma 25). Background is completely unrecognizable. Standard for privacy-sensitive contexts like healthcare and legal.

Office

Professional office environment. Clean desk, neutral tones, bookshelf. The default for enterprise meetings where a professional backdrop is expected.

Nature

Soft natural landscape. Warm lighting, greenery. A calming option for therapy sessions, coaching calls, and informal conversations.

Solid White

Clean white background. Ideal for headshot-style framing, product demos, and recordings that will be post-processed or composited.

Solid Black

Pure black background. Professional look for podcasts, interviews, and video content where the speaker should be the sole focus.

Brand Color

Solid color set via hex code through the API. Match your company's brand color exactly. Common for sales calls, webinars, and customer-facing sessions.

Custom Image

Upload any image via URL or base64. Auto-cropped and resized to match the video aspect ratio. Load a library of branded backgrounds for your organization.

V100 vs Zoom vs Teams: Virtual Background Comparison

Zoom and Teams offer polished virtual background experiences for end users. If you are building a consumer video product, that matters. But if you are building a video application and need developer control, the comparison shifts significantly.

Capability	V100	Zoom SDK	Teams SDK
Set background via API	Yes	No	No
Enforce background (no opt-out)	Yes	No	Admin policy only
Swap background mid-session via API	Yes	No	No
Custom image upload via API	Yes	User UI only	User UI only
Per-participant background control	Yes	No	No
On-device processing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quality of segmentation	Good (MediaPipe)	Excellent (proprietary)	Excellent (proprietary)

Honest trade-off: Zoom and Teams have invested heavily in their segmentation models and they produce slightly better edge quality, particularly around hair and fine details. If segmentation quality is your highest priority and you do not need API-level control, their built-in implementations are hard to beat. V100's advantage is programmability, not pixel-perfect edge detection.

Integration Guide

Enable virtual backgrounds with a single parameter when creating a session. Change backgrounds dynamically during a meeting through the REST API or client SDK.

Create Session with Background

Set the default background when creating the meeting. All participants will start with this background applied.

Enforce or Allow Override

Set enforced: true to lock the background, or allow users to select their own from your approved library.

Change Mid-Session

Update any participant's background during the meeting via the REST API. The change takes effect within one frame.

virtual-backgrounds.js

// npm install v100-sdk
import { V100 } from 'v100-sdk';

const v100 = new V100('YOUR_API_KEY');

// Create a session with a default virtual background
const session = await v100.meetings.create({
  name: 'Sales Demo Call',
  virtualBackground: {
    enabled: true,
    preset: 'blur-heavy',        // 'blur-light' | 'blur-heavy' | 'office' | 'nature'
                                      // 'solid-white' | 'solid-black' | 'brand-color'
    enforced: true,               // Participants cannot disable
    allowUserOverride: false,     // Lock to this preset
  }
});

// Upload a custom branded background
const bg = await v100.backgrounds.upload({
  name: 'Company HQ',
  imageUrl: 'https://cdn.example.com/office-bg.jpg',
  orgId: 'org_abc123'
});

// Change a participant's background mid-session
await v100.meetings.updateParticipant(session.id, 'participant_xyz', {
  virtualBackground: {
    preset: 'custom',
    customImageId: bg.id          // Apply the uploaded background
  }
});

// Set a brand color background
await v100.meetings.updateParticipant(session.id, 'participant_xyz', {
  virtualBackground: {
    preset: 'brand-color',
    color: '#4F46E5'               // Any hex color
  }
});

Or use the REST API directly:

terminal

curl -X POST https://api.v100.ai/v1/meetings \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Branded Sales Call",
    "virtualBackground": {
      "enabled": true,
      "preset": "blur-heavy",
      "enforced": true
    }
  }'

Use Cases for Virtual Background API Control

Programmatic background control unlocks workflows that manual background selection cannot achieve. Here are the scenarios where API-level control makes a measurable difference.

Telehealth Patient Privacy

Automatically enable heavy blur for all patients joining telehealth sessions. Enforce it so patients cannot accidentally disable it. Protects patient home environments from being visible to clinical staff, which is both a privacy best practice and a HIPAA consideration.

Enterprise Brand Consistency

Pre-load your company's approved background images and enforce them for all external-facing meetings. Sales teams present a unified brand. Support teams maintain professionalism. No more messy bedrooms or distracting kitchens on customer calls.

Legal and Compliance Settings

In legal depositions, the visible environment of a witness or attorney can create distractions or introduce bias. Enforce a neutral solid background for all participants in legal video sessions to maintain a professional and unbiased visual record.

Content Creation and Recording

Use solid white or black backgrounds for recordings that will be post-processed. Green screen workflows become trivial -- set a solid color via API and the recording is ready for compositing without physical green screen equipment.

Pricing

Virtual backgrounds are included on all V100 plans at no additional cost. There is no per-background fee, no per-participant charge for background processing, and no premium tier requirement. Background processing happens on-device, so it does not consume V100 server resources.

Free Tier

$0/mo

All 7 presets included.

7 background presets

Custom image upload

API toggle

60 minutes/month

RECOMMENDED

Pro

Usage-based

Unlimited backgrounds and enforcement.

Everything in Free

Background enforcement

Org-level background library

Per-participant control

Enterprise

Custom

White-label background management.

Everything in Pro

Custom segmentation models

Background analytics

Priority support

Add Virtual Backgrounds to Your Video App Today

Free tier includes all 7 presets, custom image upload, and API control. No credit card required. Start building in under five minutes.

Get API Key — Free Tier HIPAA Video API

Related Resources

Feature

Video API with
Virtual Backgrounds

Why Developers Need a Virtual Background API

No Programmatic Control in Zoom/Teams

Privacy as a Requirement

Building It Yourself Is Expensive

How V100 Virtual Backgrounds Work

Stage 1: MediaPipe Segmentation

Stage 2: Canvas Compositing

7 Background Presets Plus Custom Upload

Light Blur

Heavy Blur

Office

Nature

Solid White

Solid Black

Brand Color

Custom Image

V100 vs Zoom vs Teams: Virtual Background Comparison

Integration Guide

Create Session with Background

Enforce or Allow Override

Change Mid-Session

Use Cases for Virtual Background API Control

Telehealth Patient Privacy

Enterprise Brand Consistency

Legal and Compliance Settings

Content Creation and Recording

Pricing

Add Virtual Backgrounds to Your Video App Today

Related Resources

Noise Suppression API

HIPAA-Compliant Video API

Screen Recording API

Video API withVirtual Backgrounds

Why Developers Need a Virtual Background API

No Programmatic Control in Zoom/Teams

Privacy as a Requirement

Building It Yourself Is Expensive

How V100 Virtual Backgrounds Work

Stage 1: MediaPipe Segmentation

Stage 2: Canvas Compositing

7 Background Presets Plus Custom Upload

Light Blur

Heavy Blur

Office

Nature

Solid White

Solid Black

Brand Color

Custom Image

V100 vs Zoom vs Teams: Virtual Background Comparison

Integration Guide

Create Session with Background

Enforce or Allow Override

Change Mid-Session

Use Cases for Virtual Background API Control

Telehealth Patient Privacy

Enterprise Brand Consistency

Legal and Compliance Settings

Content Creation and Recording

Pricing

Add Virtual Backgrounds to Your Video App Today

Related Resources

Noise Suppression API

HIPAA-Compliant Video API

Screen Recording API

Video API with
Virtual Backgrounds