Apple Releases tvOS 14.5 With New Color Balance Feature, Expanded Controller Support

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Hmm so color balance didn’t fix the long known issue of android Sony TV.

when HDR is enabled in Apple TV, Sony Android TV forces hdr mode on everything, the result everything is reddish and the brightness is low.
Balance mode didn’t see an issue but I will leave you to judge. (I know HDR must be matched with hdr content but match feature should disable it when the content isn’t supported)

back to disable hdr like I’ve been doing for years

 

[deebinem]

so what's the better controller to get for playing games on Apple TV? or are they all pretty much the same?

I haven't played anything on my ATV in awhile but when I did, I was using a PS4 controller and I found there was a slight bit of lag. Again, this was a bit ago so perhaps they've reduce that BT lag since then? It was enough that it made Dead Cells a bit difficult to time things correctly.

 

[liberte1776]

How come I cannot software update the Apple TV remotely via the Home app on iPhone? Other devices I can do this in that app...

 

[w5jck]

Hmm so color balance didn’t fix the long known issue of android Sony TV.

when HDR is enabled in Apple TV, Sony Android TV forces hdr mode on everything, the result everything is reddish and the brightness is low.
Balance mode didn’t see an issue but I will leave you to judge. (I know HDR must be matched with hdr content but match feature should disable it when the content isn’t supported)

back to disable hdr like I’ve been doing for years

Clarify please. Are you watching content via the ATV or are you watching content via the Android TV built into your Sony’s firmware? The ATV calibration will only affect what you watch via the ATV. It will not change the colors for content viewed via Android TV, Fire TV, Roku, OTA TV, etc.

After rereading your comment it looks like you are watching content via the ATV, but if you set it to use HDR all the time, it messes up. If so, as you said, turn off the forced HDR. I have a Sony Bravia XBR49X800H and I set my ATV 4K to use the Format option of 4K HDR, but I set the Match Content options to Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate. With these settings my TV doesn’t mess up the colors like your seems to do. It could be the difference of the two TVs though.

 

[James Godfrey]

Anyone having issues updating HomePod just keep getting this???

 

[Wagbh]

Tried the sync option on an older Apple TV HD :
The iPhone outline displayed on the screen for calibration is twice bigger than the actual phone (I assume a bad 4K / HD conversion?)
Tried 4-5 times, I get the flashing colours for calibration, but it ends up saying that it failed, and asks to try again....
(As they ask, I hold the phone still 3 centimetres away from the screen)...

Anybody in the same situation?

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Clarify please. Are you watching content via the ATV or are you watching content via the Android TV built into your Sony’s firmware? The ATV calibration will only affect what you watch via the ATV. It will not change the colors for content viewed via Android TV, Fire TV, Roku, OTA TV, etc.

After rereading your comment it looks like you are watching content via the ATV, but if you set it to use HDR all the time, it messes up. If so, as you said, turn off the forced HDR. I have a Sony Bravia XBR49X800H and I set my ATV 4K to use the Format option of 4K HDR, but I set the Match Content options to Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate. With these settings my TV doesn’t mess up the colors like your seems to do. It could be the difference of the two TVs though.

This is interesting, it’s ether you’ve able to fix this issue or you got used to bad color experience.

I only use Apple TV, my Sony tv (XBR-55X930D) which has android firmware (8.0) controls input and pictureforces picture mode to HDR all the time when hdr enabled on Apple TV even if match option is activated.

to test it you got used to bad colors, switch to sdr and change your tv picture back to standard and see if you the picture is much better, you might be shocked

more on it here

The Apple TV 4K’s HDR Nightmare - TidBITS

Plug an Apple TV 4K into a compatible TV and experience ultra-high definition HDR video, right? Unfortunately, as “Take Control of Apple TV” author Josh Centers has found, it’s far from that simple.

tidbits.com

 

[Killbill2]

Dang no color balancing for my 120” projection screen… one inch means a sharp shadow

 

[aardwolf]

Dang no color balancing for my 120” projection screen… one inch means a sharp shadow

Yep... I discovered the same thing with mine.

 

[vipergts2207]

Which is why Apple didn't make it the default, right? They thought the average users was going to know they should make all these changes in order to get the optimal performance.

Because Apple knows your average Joe probably doesn't care if their TV is accurate or not. This is clear based on the atrocious settings most TVs have out of the box that most people proceed to never touch. They should care, but they don't. Match content can also sometimes cause signal issues and I imagine Apple wanted to avoid that for the average user. At a minimum, you get the black screen flash when the ATV changes output settings, which is rather inelegant and could cause people to think they have an issue with some piece of their equipment. In reality the video chain hardware are just renegotiating the signal being used. Of course HDMI 2.1's QMS feature may relieve these issues.

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

I just ran the new iOS 14.5 / tvOS 14.5 color calibration on my Sony Bravia XBR49X800H 2020 4K TV.

I used the Cinema color setting option because most experts say that is the option which Sony claims is the closest to the best out of the box calibration. In other words, it is supposed to be the most color accurate. The ATV color calibration feature appears to have made a very slight change by making the picture a tiny bit warmer. Other than that I cannot see any obvious changes. However, the Sony Bravia TVs do have a reputation for really accurate color calibration out of the box. It will be interesting to see if this makes a big difference with a TV that has poor color calibration.

BTW, the ATV color calibration showed me the attached beach scene to illustrate the before and after differences. However, that is perhaps the absolute worst scene to use as the sandy beach has almost no frigging color in it! Apple really needs to think through what they are doing. I snapped the attached photo of my TV using my iPad Air 2020 and made no color adjustments to it. Comparing the photo to my TV set after the color calibration it does appear that the sand on the left is slightly warmer in color. Apple really should use a better image though that will well illustrate any changes.

I’m happy with the colors on my TV after the calibration, but they are nearly the same as prior to it so the improvement was very slight in my case. Hopefully it can really improve those TVs that need a lot of adjustment. Second attached photo is a better view of my colors after calibrartion, taken with my iPad Air 2020.

You have Apple TV HDR enabled and the Sony system allows you to use other display options other than HDR??
When ATV HDR is enabled, Sony forced HDR and grays out the option to change it.

 

[w5jck]

You have Apple TV HDR enabled and the Sony system allows you to use other display options other than HDR??
When ATV HDR is enabled, Sony forced HDR and grays out the option to change it.

I’ve never encountered the issues you are having. Again, it could be the difference in our TV models. I have format on ATV to use 4K HDR, but I also set the Match Content options to Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate. See the attached image. Setting it to 4K HDR is different from setting it to 4K Dolby Video. I do not have Dolby Vision enabled. Doing so would force DV and HDR for everything. I leave it turned off. If a show is using DV, then it will be applied, but not for all shows.

I also set the Sony’s Android TV HDMI 1 port which my ATV plugs into to use use enhanced signal format. I don’t know if that matters for this though.

 

[vipergts2207]

I’ve never encountered the issues you are having. Again, it could be the difference in our TV models. I have format on ATV to use 4K HDR, but I also set the Match Content options to Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate. See the attached image. Setting it to 4K HDR is different from setting it to 4K Dolby Video. I do not have Dolby Vision enabled. Doing so would force DV and HDR for everything. I leave it turned off. If a show is using DV, then it will be applied, but not for all shows.

I also set the Sony’s Android TV HDMI 1 port which my ATV plugs into to use use enhanced signal format. I don’t know if that matters for this though.

I've never seen this issue either and I have an XBR-55X900E. My ATV is set to output 4K SDR by default, but with HDR enabled and "Match Content" on.

 

[BeefCake 15]

so what's the better controller to get for playing games on Apple TV? or are they all pretty much the same?

Even though I'm a PS guy, I concede to XBox for best controller. I haven't played enough with the PS5 controller yet to judge but it's promosing.

why is the switch pro controller not supported?

Nintendo...

 

[MBAir2010]

hopefully this upgrade wont need an extra 6GB atop of the 6gb already upgradable memory that the ipad needed
hopefully the color balance scheme will not effect the already brilliant picture on the 720dpi TV.

 

[w5jck]

This is interesting, it’s ether you’ve able to fix this issue or you got used to bad color experience.

I only use Apple TV, my Sony tv (XBR-55X930D) which has android firmware (8.0) controls input and pictureforces picture mode to HDR all the time when hdr enabled on Apple TV even if match option is activated.

to test it you got used to bad colors, switch to sdr and change your tv picture back to standard and see if you the picture is much better, you might be shocked

more on it here

The Apple TV 4K’s HDR Nightmare - TidBITS

Plug an Apple TV 4K into a compatible TV and experience ultra-high definition HDR video, right? Unfortunately, as “Take Control of Apple TV” author Josh Centers has found, it’s far from that simple.

tidbits.com

This might be the reason I’m not having the issue: Your TV is running Android TV version 8 and mine is running version 9.

 

[hondo77]

I tried it and it made the colors a bit warmer.

I tried it and it made the colors cooler (I had calibrated it myself two years ago). I liked the warmer so I kept the original.

 

[anthony13]

So just to be clear, even if you have match content on, theres a potential hiccup that is probably still blocking people from using this feature. When you set your default screen resolution, if you pick the obvious top choice, it is 4K HDR (or something like that). What this does, is make the Apple TV menu display using dolby vision, but your content still matches it's intended source. You actually want to make your default 4K SDR, which will then make your menu SDR, and consequently allow you to use the color calibration tool for non dolby vision content. (I'll preface all that with a strong 'I thinkkkk?').

 

[Xeem]

Just updated my AppleTV HD to 14.5 and....

my Steelseries Nimbus suddenly no longer works with it. It is still connected, but no button presses register. Hopefully they fix this soon, because we actually use it quite a bit.

 

[IT Troll]

Other new features include frame rate options of 29.97Hz and 59.94Hz instead of 30Hz/60Hz

Still no mention of 23.976fps and 24fps after reporting on seven betas and the RC. I guess MR don't understand the importance of 24fps for a movie playback device.

 

[Heavy Dude]

Tried the sync option on an older Apple TV HD :
The iPhone outline displayed on the screen for calibration is twice bigger than the actual phone (I assume a bad 4K / HD conversion?)
Tried 4-5 times, I get the flashing colours for calibration, but it ends up saying that it failed, and asks to try again....
(As they ask, I hold the phone still 3 centimetres away from the screen)...

Anybody in the same situation?

I have the exact same problem, ATV HD and Sony TV

 

[MacRalf]

Anyone having issues updating HomePod just keep getting this???

No, the update circle was spinning for about 15 minutes and then decided to show that my HomePod minis are up-to-date (still 14.4)

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I'm going to trust Doby and Sony and their ability to properly work with the software on the Apple TV to calibrate, rather than a nice parlor trick Apple created. I've tried the Apple solution and it's not great. Better than nothing but that's about it.

The issue is Apple’s implementation of DV is pretty lousy. If you set your tv output to DV in the settings then everything you watch will be in Dolby vision, which isn’t ideal.

It’s better to set your output to 4K SDR and then turn frame rate matching and dynamic range matching on.

I have no idea why matching dynamic range doesn’t work when going from HDR default to SDR but only works when going from SDR to HDR.

 

[w5jck]

So just to be clear, even if you have match content on, theres a potential hiccup that is probably still blocking people from using this feature. When you set your default screen resolution, if you pick the obvious top choice, it is 4K HDR (or something like that). What this does, is make the Apple TV menu display using dolby vision, but your content still matches it's intended source. You actually want to make your default 4K SDR, which will then make your menu SDR, and consequently allow you to use the color calibration tool for non dolby vision content. (I'll preface all that with a strong 'I thinkkkk?').

That is incorrect. There is a Format option named 4K Dolby Vision and a different option named 4K HDR. Both can be selected at various frame rates. The Format option named 4K Dolby Vision is not he same as selecting the video option at the top of the menu that is named Enable Dolby Vision. If you select the Enable Dolby Vision then you will force all video into Dolby Video. I’m using the Format option of 4K HDR and I’ve got Match Content set to match dynamic range and frame rate. It does NOT force everything into Dolby Video with those set. Obviously Apple made the menus confusing!

The attached image illustrates my settings. With these settings I am able to run the calibration without issue.

 

[brikra]

I'm having issues with the internet after updating to 14.5. Any video I try to stream can't get 5 seconds before needing to buffer. My iPad and iPhone aren't having any issues so it's not my wifi. Any ideas?