YouTube adds 4K live streaming for standard and 360-degree videos

YouTube has been able to support 4K videos for the past several years, but today, the service has hitched that support up a notch. It can now support live streaming of videos in 4K resolution. That’s for both its standard clips as well as 360-degree videos for virtual reality headsets. It also supports frame rates at up to 60fps at that higher resolution.

One of the first such examples of 4K live streaming on YouTube will happen on Thursday, December 1. That’s when it will be used to stream the annual Game Awards, which celebrates the past year in video games as well as showing off preview footage of upcoming titles. If you have a 4K TV or monitor, you can watch the Game Awards at the new resolution on YouTube starting at 6p.m. Eastern time.

This is just the latest update for the streaming video service owned by Google. It recently added support for uploading and viewing High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos and a few weeks ago it launched a stand alone VR app that is compatible with Google’s Daydream View smartphone headsets.