The popular video and content platform YouTube has announced a major update, particularly for its TV app. Thanks to YouTube’s AI upscaling feature, the quality of videos uploaded at lower resolutions will now be automatically improved. This significant step by the platform aims to provide viewers with a clearer and smoother experience.
How will YouTube’s AI upscaling feature work?
YouTube states that automatic upscaling will only apply to videos uploaded between 240p and 720p. The AI will automatically upscale these videos to HD resolution. This upscaling is expected to be applied to up to 4K resolution in the near future. Furthermore, the original video resolution will remain intact on the platform, eliminating any loss of resolution.
As screen sizes increase, AI image enhancement technology becomes increasingly important. However, YouTube has heeded content creators’ complaints about potential visual artifacts. Therefore, the platform offers them the option to turn off this automatic upscaling feature at any time. Viewers will also be able to easily see whether AI upscaling has been applied within their resolution settings.
The innovations announced by YouTube are not limited to resolution improvements. The platform is increasing the video thumbnail limit from 2MB to a full 50MB to support 4K video.
This will allow content creators to use higher-quality and more eye-catching preview images for their videos. Additionally, in videos tagged with shopping products, viewers can now quickly purchase items they’re interested in by scanning a QR code displayed on the TV with their phones. This feature takes viewers directly to the product page, making shopping easier.
So, what are your thoughts on YouTube’s plan to improve video quality with AI? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
