The YouTube TV team took to Twitter yesterday to announce that the service now works with 5.1 surround sound on Apple TVs and Amazon Fire TVs. Users will now be able to experience a home theater-like environment with the new upgrade. Only few YouTube TV shows support the surround sound format, but it’s free for all subscribers and available on all devices. Keep in mind that 5.1 audio requires the most recent update of the YouTube TV app.
If you go to the player’s settings and choose “More,” then the bug symbol, and finally the Codecs section, you’ll see a list of the files that can play with 5.1 surround sound. If 5.1 sound is supported, you’ll see “AC-3 / EAC-3” in the list of codecs.
In a tweet, YouTube TV said that the new audio feature is currently only accessible on computers and mobile devices but that the company is trying to make it available on gaming consoles as well.
Three months after introducing surround sound for Google TV, Android TV, and Roku devices, YouTube TV has received a fresh upgrade. As far back as last year, Google has been promising 5.1 surround sound for YouTube TV. The audio functionality has already been made available on Samsung, LG, and Vizio smart TVs, in addition to Chromecast.