YouTube has announced that it is rolling out some new features to the video sharing platform, with the aim of improving user experience on TV screens. Among these updates is a Super Resolution setting, which essentially uses AI to upscale low-res videos.
According to the company, it will automatically generate higher resolutions for videos that are under 1080p resolution. For now, it is bumping the quality up from SD to HD. However, the platform plans on supporting resolutions up to 4K “in the future”.
While this feature is automatic, YouTube assures that creators will still have complete control over their content. In a blog post announcing the changes, the company explained that both the original files and original video resolution are kept intact. Aside from that, the YouTube support page outlines how creators can opt out of these so-called enhancements.
Furthermore, viewers can swap between the upscaled versions and the original resolution via the quality settings. The higher resolutions are clearly marked with a “Super resolution” label.
In addition to introducing AI upscaling, YouTube will be increasing the thumbnail file limit from 2MB to 50MB, allowing creators to upload thumbnails in 4K resolution. The company also revealed that it is testing larger video uploads with certain creators.
Other changes include “immersive” homepage previews on TV. The layout is reminiscent of other streaming services like Netflix. Moreover, the company is adding a contextual search functionality. This feature prioritises content from a specific channel if the user initiates the search from that channel.
(Source: YouTube [blog])
