YouTube is making some big changes to help creators look better on TV. As more people now watch YouTube on their smart TVs, the company wants to make videos look sharper, easier to find, and more fun to watch.
YouTube is making some big changes to help creators look better on TV. As more people now watch YouTube on their smart TVs, the company wants to make videos look sharper, easier to find, and more fun to watch.
The first big change is about visuals. Creators can now upload thumbnails up to 50MB in size. Earlier, the limit was only 2MB. This means thumbnails can now appear in full 4K quality, which looks much better on large TV displays. YouTube is also testing better video uploads with a few creators to bring more detail and richer colors.
To make older or lower-resolution videos look better, YouTube is adding an AI-powered upscaling feature. This feature will automatically improve videos below 1080p and bring them up to HD quality. Later, it will also support 4K upscaling. Creators can turn this feature off if they want to keep their original video quality, and viewers can also choose what version they want to watch.
YouTube is also working to make browsing channels on TV easier. Soon, viewers will be able to see immersive previews while scrolling through channels. A new format called “Shows” will let creators group their videos like TV series.
Discoverability is also getting better. When people search on a creator’s channel page using a TV, that creator’s videos will now appear first. This small update will help creators get more views directly from their own audience.
YouTube is also improving the shopping experience. People have already watched more than 35 billion hours of shopping videos in the last year, and many of them are now doing it on TV. Soon, when a video has tagged products, viewers can scan a QR code on the screen with their phone to open the product page. YouTube is also testing a feature that shows products at certain points in a video, so viewers can shop while watching.
YouTube says it wants to make the TV experience more powerful for creators. The company believes creators should only need to upload once, and YouTube will make sure their videos look great everywhere.
