YouTube TV had announced that it was bringing Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound to its platform this summer. And that roll out has now completed. Everyone that has a compatible device will be able to watch YouTube TV in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound now.
This feature is available for both on-demand and live content.
Dolby Digital 5.1 is not quite Dolby Atmos, but it is going to be a noticeable upgrade over what was already available on YouTube TV. If you’re an audiophile, you’ll definitely notice a difference. Of course, that is only if you are on a device that supports it.
What devices work with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound?
YouTube TV is being pretty vague about what devices work with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Noting that “The list of supported devices is not yet available”. But you can find out if your device supports it by going to “stats for nerds” from the player controls menu. If it is playing in Dolby Digital 5.1, you’ll see ac-3 (381) as audio codec.
While we don’t have a complete list yet, we have heard that some LG Smart TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Chromecast with Google TV work with Dolby Digital 5.1. It likely won’t be limited to those, that’s just what we have seen so far.
Many expect that Google will make Dolby Digital 5.1 available on almost every other streaming device out there.
This change makes YouTube TV only the second streaming TV service to offer it. Dolby Digital 5.1 is only available on DIRECTV Stream. And now YouTube TV. Hulu offers it, but only on its on-demand content. While DIRECTV Stream and YouTube TV offer it on live content as well as on-demand.
This is just one of many upgrades that YouTube TV has unleashed this summer. They’ve also added more sports channels and 4K support. As well as the ability to download for offline viewing.
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