Augmented Reality Enhancement of Moving Images

A media enhancement system includes an augmented reality (AR) device having a display, processing hardware, and a memory storing software code. The processing hardware executes the software code to monitor media content including a sequence of moving images displayed on a display screen separate from the AR device, receive playhead data indicating a playhead state of a media playout device playing out the media content, and detect, based on monitoring the media content, one or more image(s) in the sequence of moving images as one or more anchor image(s). The software code is further executed to obtain, using the anchor image(s), one or more AR effect(s) associated with the anchor image(s), and render, based on the playhead data, the AR effect(s) on the display of the AR device, wherein the AR effect(s) is/are spatially and temporally aligned with the sequence of moving images being displayed on the display screen.