YouTube will let you opt out of AI upscaling on low-res videos

The platform is optimizing its TV experience with new resolution upscaling and shopping features.

YouTube has announced several new features that aim to improve the viewing experience on TV screens, including an instant shopping tool and visual upgrades for low-resolution videos. Specifically, YouTube says it will start automatically upscaling videos uploaded below 1080p, using AI to bump them to HD resolution, and plans to support upscaling to 4K “in the near future” — but both creators and viewers will be able to opt out.

“Creators will retain complete control over their library, as both original files and original video resolution will be kept intact, with a clear option to opt-out of these enhancements,” YouTube says in the announcement. “And viewers will still be able to watch creators’ videos in the original uploaded resolution, as super resolution will be clearly labeled under settings.”

Almost every major TV brand offers its own form of built-in AI upscaling, as screen sizes have increased and 4K resolution stopped being a novelty, and Nvidia provides a similar feature on its Shield TV streaming devices. YouTube’s opt-out option is notable, however, given complaints from creators that the platform was applying enhancements to their videos without consent, sometimes resulting in undesirable visual distortions.

The automatic upscaling will only apply to videos uploaded in 240p to 720p resolutions, YouTube spokesperson Veronica Navarrete told The Verge. That means the feature won’t be applied to older videos that creators or channels have already digitally remastered to 1080p themselves.

In this example, viewers can still watch a video in its original 240p quality, with upscaled resolution options transparently labeled. Image: YouTube

YouTube is also expanding the current video thumbnail limit from 2MB to 50MB to support 4K images, and says it’s currently testing larger video uploads with select creators. On videos with tagged shopping products, viewers will soon be able to quickly buy whatever catches their eye by using their phone to scan a QR code displayed on the TV, taking them directly to the product page. YouTube is also testing the ability for creators to feature products at specific, timed moments within their videos.

More general viewing updates include immersive homepage previews that make it easier to flip through favored YouTube channels and a new Shows design for creators who’ve organized videos into “binge-worthy” seasons like you would on Netflix or another app. There are also improvements for contextual search on TV when viewers search from a creator’s channel page, prioritizing videos from that channel instead of pulling in content from across the platform.

“The TV screen is our fastest-growing surface, and we remain committed to delivering features that make creator content shine,” YouTube says.

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