Google Buys Video Tech Company, Plans YouTube Upgrade

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Google has purchased Green Parrot, an Irish video technology company whose software can do amazing things with moving pictures.

Just take a look at the example video above to see what we mean. The shaky, juddering original footage is smoothed out into something much more pleasant to watch. And that’s just one of Green Parrot’s features. Their code can remove noise, flickers, and lens smudges. They can even automagically turn normal footage into lovely slow-motion, without losing quality.

The benefits for YouTube users are clear, and spelled out in detail in a blog post from the YouTube team:

“Take, for example, videos of recent protests in Libya. Although emotionally captivating, they can be jerky, blurry or unsteady. What if there was a technology that could improve the quality of such videos — sharpening the image, reducing visual noise and rendering a higher-quality, steadier video — all while your video is simply being uploaded to the site?”

The deal means that Green Parrot team will be moving to California in the coming months, to start working alongside the YouTube engineers. Asked whether Green Parrot’s technology would still be available to filmmakers, the official reply was: “Google will comply with its contractual obligations and evaluate existing customer relationships per usual.”

You’ve probably already seen the results of Green Parrot’s technology on the big screen, in movies like Lord of the Rings and X-Men. Looks like pretty soon, you’ll have to be happy with seeing it working in back yard videos of your cat.