YouTube TV Tests Picture Improvements, Upgrades Apple TV App, More

We are fresh off yet another price increase and YouTube TV wants to tell those still-subscribed that it has improvements in the works. Google’s streaming TV platform could see a major boost to the quality of live video by this summer, Apple TV users are getting a big upgrade, 5.1 sound sync issues might be resolved, and more.

In a reddit post to share news on the “April Update from YouTube,” a YouTube TV community manager shared specifics on all of those topics I first mentioned. The first I’d point out is in video quality, because as a long-time user of the service, I can confirm that the quality of video feeds in 1080p on YouTube TV has always been lacking.

Google says they are “testing transcoding changes, including a bitrate increase for live 1080p content” that’ll happen over the next several weeks. These changes will “target devices that support the VP9 codec with high-speed internet connections.” Should these “go well,” YouTube TV would make the changes permanent by this summer and that means you should get a better picture. Love that.

In the Apple TV department, YouTube TV says that a “major” update is rolling out that resolves a number of items including a black screen bug, 4K playback issues, and HDR:

Apple TV: Since our last post, we’ve rolled out a major update (1.13+) for Apple TV. These fixes should resolve the issues with the app opening up to a black screen, enable YouTube TV’s HDR implementation, and address some 4k playback issues. Some of you have also recently flagged an issue with the app crashing on the 1st gen 4k when left on and a fix for that will be in the app store imminently.

Finally, in the April update, we get confirmation that Google has figured out a 5.1 surround sound bug that was causing sync issues and is working on a fix. They are also continuing to work on multiview as we approach the NFL season, so don’t be surprised if you see experiments involving it over the coming weeks and months.

Still hanging onto YouTube TV after the last price increase? I’ve got to admit that I finally cancelled after all these years.

// reddit