YouTube enhances its TV service with AI: better picture quality, search capabilities, and shopping.

YouTube's bet on the Artificial intelligence on the big screen It accelerates: The company is preparing a series of new features for the TV app that improve image and sound, facilitate content discovery, and open the door to purchases. Direct without getting up from the sofa.

According to Kurt Wilms, senior product manager, The living room has become the new "prime time" for creatorsInternal data indicates that Channels that achieve six-figure revenues via television grew by more than 45% last year and that, in Taiwan, connected users spend on average more than 3 hours a day Watching YouTube on TV.

AI-powered image and sound quality

The platform will begin to implement its own models for the videos uploaded to 240p, 360p, 480p or 720p play automatically in high definition (1080p) in the TV app. In a later phase, the goal is to bring that intelligent upscaling to 4K, always keeping the original files intact and with a visible "Ultra High Resolution" label in the Settings menu.

In addition to the image, YouTube will adjust the audio to balance volumes, reduce background noise, and enhance vocalsAll processing is done in the YouTube cloud, so any TV or device, no matter how modest, benefits. without relying on the user's GPU.

The company differentiates this improvement from traditional upscaling: it is not a simple bilinear or bicubic methodInstead, neural networks reconstruct detail and correct compression artifacts. Similar technologies exist on the client side (such as some PC solutions), but here the work is done on YouTube's servers so that the result reaches everyone equally.

It's worth remembering that very low-resolution clips have little information, and AI can "invent" details, which sometimes leads to minor inaccuracies or artifactsTherefore, creators retain full control: they can disable the enhancement and viewers can switch between the original and enhanced versions whenever they prefer.

Clearer and more attractive channel navigation on TV

To make finding content easier on your TV, YouTube is preparing an immersive channel preview directly on the TV app's home pagedesigned to help you discover more videos without getting lost in menus.

Also A new design called “Shows” is comingwhich helps organize series and lists into collections ready to watch all at once, with a more convenient presentation for marathons in the living room.

The update of the contextual search It will prioritize the results from the channel from which the query originates.so that when searching within a creator, their relevant videos are displayed first, avoiding unnecessary jumps to other channels.

On the visual plane, YouTube raises the thumbnail limit from 2 MB to 50 MB to generate and serve 4K cover images that look best on large TVsIn addition, the platform is testing the platform with some creators. uploading larger video files to reinforce quality at the source.

Sofa shopping with QR codes and product moments

In videos with purchase information, a scannable QR code which opens the product page on the user's mobile device, reducing steps and friction. YouTube is also testing to show products at specific times from the video, aligning the card with what is seen on the screen.

The company is seeing a global boom in shopping content, with 350.000 million hours watched in the last 12 monthsIntegrating shopping into the TV viewing flow allows creators to improve conversion and give more visibility to their brands without interrupting the experience.

For those who watch YouTube in Spain and other European countries, where Consumption on connected TVs is growing, and mobile phones are usually readily available., this system It links television and smartphones. naturally: inspiration comes on TV, while payment and management are completed conveniently and securely on your phone.

With a gradual rollout and clear options for creators and audiences, YouTube aims to ensure that recording and uploading once is enough for the content to look good on any screen.: improved image and audio through AI, more refined channel navigation, 4K thumbnails, and a direct path from the couch to the cart when the video warrants it.