Today YouTube has announced that it will start automatically AI upscaling low quality videos that are under 1080p resolution. This will initially upscale from SD to HD, but eventually will go all the way up to 4K “in the near future”.
It’s intended for use on TVs only, at least for now, and whenever it’s employed you’ll see a “Super resolution” descriptor underneath each resolution option, as portrayed in the video below. Creators will be able to opt out of this if they want to.
YouTube is also expanding the thumbnail file limit from 2MB to 50MB, so expect “new, stunning 4K-resolution thumbnails” for videos soon. Also, you will be able to flip through YouTube channels with “immersive previews” on the homepage, and the latest Shows design lets creators organize their videos into “binge-worthy collections for the living room”.
There’s also contextual search coming to TVs – when you initiate a search from a channel page, that channel’s videos will be prioritized at the top of the results. Finally, you’ll soon see QR codes that will let you open product pages on your phone for products that are mentioned in videos.
All of these improvements are coming to TVs because TVs are YouTube’s fastest-growing surface.
