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.

apple tv color balance
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.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)

Top Rated Comments

matrix6028 Avatar
38 months ago
I have 3 TVs.
Each one error during the process. It never worked.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wolfshades Avatar
38 months ago
Tried mine about half a dozen times. Failed each time. I gave up.
_________________________________________________________-
UPDATE:
I finally got it to work. Prior to that, each time it would begin to calibrate, get halfway through and then fail.

I looked on Reddit for solutions. One guy said to turn off HDR+ on your TV set and then re-run the color calibration. I don't have that setting on my TV but in the video section of my TV settings there's one for "dynamic video" or "standard video". It was set to "dynamic" so I switched it to "standard" instead. Then I re-ran the color calibration and this time it worked!!

That's the good news.

The bad: totally not worth the time and effort. I ended up using the original (brighter) settings.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aardwolf Avatar
38 months ago
Unfortunately it doesn't support a projector... since to put your phone one inch from the screen the shadow blocks the image it's supposed to be looking at.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phuz01 Avatar
38 months ago
Am I the only person who had a surprisingly positive experience with this feature? Yes, it took two attempts to work; the first time, I wasn't holding the phone close enough to the screen. But the ability to toggle between the two options allowed me to see which one I found to be preferable, and the color balance was much richer and more realistic.

I like the fact it calibrates the Apple TV and not my 8-year-old Samsung (I have an extensive 3D BluRay collection and will not move to a 4K monitor until it dies), and I went down a rabbit hole last night watching scenes from favorite films just to see how much better they looked.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmylrea Avatar
38 months ago
My fails every time when the the test cycles to the off-white (sort of a warm white) color. It stays on that color for a few seconds and then gives the error and asks to try again.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macintosh IIvx Avatar
38 months ago
Just seems to crank up the warmth from everything I've seen from others.

My TV has 4K Doby Vision which takes care of balancing things between the Apple TV and the TV. Seems to do a much better job of adjusting based on content on its own.

It's a bit like those that try to use Mac Fan Control to adjust the fans on their Mac. Pretty sure the engineers who designed it know how to better operate it than you do. I'll trust the pros.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...