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YouTube TV On Apple TV & Fire TV Supports Surround Sound

Pictured: Daniel Golightly
By Daniel Golightly
September 08, 2022
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Support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound for some YouTube TV content is spreading to Apple TV and Fire TV devices, based on a recently reported tweet from the company. And there’s even more support expected to roll out in the future too if that Tweet is any indication.

The change means that users who are watching YouTube TV on those devices will have access to better audio. Vastly improving on the number of devices that support it. Although that will only apply to content that is audio engineered to support the multi-channel audio feature.

Regardless, for supported content, Dolby 5.1 surround sound will work not only for live TV but also for DVR content. On-demand content will be supported as well.

To check whether a specific piece of content offers the feature, users can begin playing the video and then, under player controls for the video, select “More.”

From there, users will need to select the bug-shaped icon to view “Stats for nerds,” which highlights the feature as “AC-3/EAC-3” under the codecs segment of the stats.

Apple and Fire TV devices now support surround sound on YouTube TV, so what’s next?

Now, the second half of the official YouTube TV handle’s tweet is less clear. At the very least, in terms of timing. But it does indicate that the appropriate team is hard at work bringing support to more devices. Specifically, that’s to gaming consoles that support the app.

That means that at some point in the future — hopefully the near future since the top-rated streaming service provider says “as soon as possible” — game consoles such as the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X will support Dolby 5.1 surround sound as well.

The Twitter handle will share information detailing the incoming update as the launch of the feature gets closer. There’s no solid timeframe available for a rollout on that front, however.