Videos as desktop background: Windows 11 well-hidden feature in beta
Windows 11 introduces animated backgrounds in a new beta version. Previously, this function was only available in Windows Vista.
(Image: Curt Bauer / Shutterstock)
Windows 11 can play MP4 and M4V files as animated desktop backgrounds in its latest preview version. A similar function called DreamScene already existed in the Ultimate Edition of Windows Vista.
As the user phantomofearth wrote on X, he has now found a comparable function in a settings dialogue of the latest developer/beta build (26x20.6690) of Windows 11. In a short video in X, he shows how he replaces the familiar standard background image “Bloom” from Windows 11 with an animated version.
Videos by heise
The function of using videos as animated desktop backgrounds was previously only available in Windows Vista and only in the Ultimate Edition.
Under Windows 11, The Register has not yet discovered any restrictions regarding the length or size of video files. It also states that even videos with 4K resolution and a playback time of over 5.5 minutes can be played without complaint. Videos are always scaled to fit the entire screen and cropped at the sides if the aspect ratio does not match.
Microsoft tests such functions from time to time and then discards them. As Microsoft has not officially announced this feature either, it is not yet clear whether it will make it into a final version of Windows 11 beyond the beta.
(aki)
