YouTube on TV Will Use AI to Automatically Upscale SD Videos to HD

As YouTube is now getting more watch time on TV than mobile in the US, the company announced today that it will now use AI to automatically upscale SD videos to HD on TVs. Upscaling will be limited to 1080p at first, but YouTube is working to support up to 4K in the future.

Most smart TVs today can already upscale low-resolution videos, but results can be mixed. That’s why YouTube will still allow video creators to opt out of these automatic AI enhancements. TV viewers will also still have the possibility to watch videos in their original resolution, with AI-enhanced resolution options appearing with a “Super Resolution” label.

As 4K TVs are becoming mainstream now, YouTube will also allow video creators to upload 4K thumbnails for their videos. The thumbnail file limit will increase from 2MB to 50MB, and YouTube is also testing larger video uploads with select creators to improve image quality even further.

Lastly, YouTube on TVs will start showing immersive previews on the home page of YouTube channels. When searching for something from a YouTube channel, TV users will now see videos from that channel at the top of search results.