Khaberni - In a new step confirming the platform race towards improving the viewing experience, YouTube announced the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies to automatically enhance the quality of low-resolution videos.
The new feature contributes to converting clips under 1080p to HD quality immediately upon playing, with future plans to support 4K resolution soon, according to the technology specialized site GSMArena.
Feature "Super Resolution" on TV sets
The new feature named "Super Resolution" will currently be exclusively available on TV sets, where its option will appear within the video quality settings menu.
The feature allows users to enjoy a clearer viewing experience, even when loading old or low-quality clips, while the platform keeps the freedom to disable the feature in the hands of content creators if they choose not to apply it to their videos.
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Major improvements to the viewing experience
YouTube's updates did not stop at improving resolution only, but also included increasing the maximum size of thumbnails from 2 megabytes to 50 megabytes, paving the way for clearer images with 4K resolution coming soon.
The platform also added the feature of interactive previews on the homepage, with a new design for the Shows feature, to organize clips within sequential playlists that facilitate a continuous viewing experience.
Additional features focusing on TV sets
Among the additions revealed by the platform:
- A new contextual search on TV sets, where channel's clips appear first when searching from its page.
- Smart QR codes that allow viewers to open product pages on their phones directly from the videos.
These successive steps reflect YouTube's growing focus on TV sets, which are currently the fastest-growing platforms in terms of user numbers and viewing duration.
