Starting with Android TV, Google TV, and Roku
Setting up a full home theater system can really give some life to your TV and movie watching experience. Of course, you may not always get the most out of your gear if the services or content lack support for all of the necessary standards. YouTube TV has been guilty of leaving quite a few people hanging as it has been slow to roll out support for 5.1 surround sound audio on most platforms; but that’s set to change soon for several streaming boxes, starting with those running Roku, Android TV, and Google TV.
About four years after YouTube TV originally launched in 2017, an announcement for the new 4K add-on in June 2021 also brought news that support for 5.1 Dolby audio would be coming soon. However, only “select devices” would be supported initially, which turned out to be a limited set of smart TVs made by Samsung, LG, and Vizio. Original Chromecasts (the non-Google TV versions) were eventually added a few months later.
Now it’s time for the rest of the streaming devices to catch up. Announced through its official Twitter account, YouTube TV is in the process of testing 5.1 surround sound support on Android TV, Google TV, and Roku devices. Barring any unforeseen issues, a rollout should be coming shortly.
A second tweet went on to explain that work is still being done to add Apple TV, Fire TV, and game consoles to the list, but none of these are ready yet. The wording seems to indicate that one or more of these platforms may require permission, changes, or some other kind of special attention from the platform owners before YouTube TV can support 5.1 surround sound.
No definite timelines were given for a rollout to Roku and Android-based streaming hardware, but a public teaser like this is a good sign that the development team is confident. These tweets came just a few hours after an update to YouTube TV v6.11.2 rolled out, which could mean the tests are being performed on that release, and Google may simply flip it on if things go well — so it may be just a matter of days.
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