Hands-On With the Apple TV's New Color Balance Calibration Feature
With the launch of tvOS 14.5, Apple introduced a new Color Balance calibration option that's available for the Apple TV 4K models and the Apple TV HD models. The feature was technically designed for and introduced alongside the new Apple TV 4K, but it works on existing Apple TV models too.
Available in the video section of the Apple TV settings app, Color Balance asks you to hold your
iPhone to the screen as the television set flashes through a series of colors. Your iPhone reads the colors and compares them to industry-standard color profiles, recommending optimizations.
In some situations, the changes that are recommended are going to be minor and may not look like a significant difference, but some people will see more dramatic and noticeable color profile adjustments. The color changes should help Apple TV content look more realistic, true to life, and as content creators intended it to look.
In the test that Dan shows in the video, for example, the color differences are minor, but others of us here at MacRumors have seen more noticeable results. Apple's demo is below.
The color balance feature is super simple and takes just a few minutes, and it's a much easier process than adjusting a television set's settings. For the feature to work, you need to have an iPhone with Face ID, which includes the iPhone X and later, and it's also worth noting that it can't be used with Dolby Vision.
If you haven't upgraded to tvOS 14.5 yet, it's worth doing so to check out the color balance feature. The update also adds a few other useful features like support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers.
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